The San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG) Board of Directors at its latest meeting welcomed a new member from the state’s youngest city.
Mountain House Mayor Andy Su joined the SJCOG Board at its Aug. 22 meeting, the first for the board since Mountain House became a city in July. Mountain House City Councilmember Daniel Harrison will be the alternate.
“This is a very exciting time for this agency,” Lathrop Mayor and SJCOG Board Chair Sonny Dhaliwal said. “Just weeks ago we broke ground on the region’s biggest infrastructure project in years – the State Route 99/120 Connector project – and now we are welcoming a new board member from the state’s newest city. Both are truly historic events for SJCOG. Together, we will continue to work on projects and programs that improve the lives of people living, working and traveling in San Joaquin County.”
Adding Mountain House also bolsters the regional planning agency into the future.
“Members on the SJCOG board stand behind the motto that we are ‘Stronger Together,”’ Stockton Mayor and SJCOG Board Vice Chair Kevin Lincoln said. “Including Mountain House will make this agency that much stronger to help people throughout the region. I can’t wait to see how we continue to harness the power of our partnerships.”
Mountain House voters earlier this year approved city incorporation and selected its city council members on the way to becoming California’s 483rd city. It also now becomes the ninth SJCOG member jurisdiction. Lathrop was the most recent municipality to join SJCOG shortly after it became a city 35 years ago.
“Becoming part of SJCOG means a lot for a new city,” Su said. “We become a part of an agency working to collaborate with other regions to make life better throughout the Central Valley and the Northern California Megaregion.”
The SJCOG Board is responsible for all policy decisions for SJCOG, and the San Joaquin Regional Housing Fund Inc., and SJCOG Inc., the agency’s nonprofit arm that manages the San Joaquin County Multi-Species Habitat Conservation and Open Space Plan.
SJCOG is the planning, financing and coordinating agency for the San Joaquin region overseeing transportation, housing and habitat conservation. SJCOG’s broad range of responsibilities include managing Measure K, the half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements in San Joaquin County.
The agency partners with a network of local governments, private organizations and community groups to deliver a variety of local, state and federal programs that support the streets, roads, highways, public transit, and other transportation resources that help our residents get where they need to be. It is also responsible for assigning each city and the county its fair share of affordable housing.
The SJCOG Board includes one elected official each from Escalon, Lathrop, Lodi, Manteca, Mountain House, Ripon and Tracy; three representatives from the San Joaquin County; and three representatives from the city of Stockton. Nonvoting ex officio representatives come from Caltrans District 10, San Joaquin Regional Transit District, and Port of Stockton.