Board of Directors

The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) District Board of Directors, established in 2002, is governed by a 12-member Board consisting of elected officials appointed as specified by AB 2224: two county supervisors each from Marin and Sonoma counties, three appointed City Council members from each county and two representatives from the Golden Gate Bridge District. 

The SMART District is charged with planning, engineering, evaluating and implementing passenger train service and corridor maintenance from Cloverdale to Larkspur.

To view information on SMART Board Member compensation, click here.

SMART Board of Directors

 

Eric Lucan, Chair
Marin County Board of Supervisors 
Phone: (415) 473-7331

Eric Lucan was elected to the Marin County Board of Supervisors in 2022 representing District 5 which includes the majority of the City of Novato and the unincorporated communities of Bel Marin Keys, Loma Verde, Black Point, Green Point, Rush Creek/Atherton Corridor, and Indian Valley.

Prior to serving on the Marin County Board of Supervisors, Eric served on the Novato City Council for 11 years, with three rotations as Mayor. Eric previously served as a member of the SMART Board in 2012-2014 and 2016-2022 as a City Council appointee. He is a strong advocate for improving and expanding multi-modal public transportation options, and in addition to serving on SMART, Eric serves on the Transportation Authority of Marin Board of Commissioners and the Marin Transit Board of Directors. Eric holds an MBA from Georgia State University. He lives in Novato with his wife Kiley and their two children Noah and Selah. 

 

Melanie Bagby, Vice Chair
Sonoma County Mayors' and Councilmembers' Association
Phone: 707-894-1712

First elected to Cloverdale City Council in 2016, Melanie Bagby served as 2019 Mayor, and was re-elected in 2020. In 2021, she was appointed by the Mayors & Councilmembers of Sonoma County to SMART and serves on Cloverdale’s Planning & Sustainability Subcommittee; Sonoma Clean Power Board of Directors; Sonoma County Transportation Authority/Regional Climate Protection Authority Board of Directors; and CalCities’ Governance, Transparency & Labor Relations and Environmental Quality policy committees.

Previously, she served on the Cloverdale Planning Commission 2009-2015, five as chair; as the 4th District appointee to the Sonoma County Economic Development Board; and was a Cloverdale appointee to Climate Action 2020. She holds a BA in Political Science from Pepperdine University and is a 2009 Fellow of the Leadership Institute for Just and Resilient Communities.

 

Kate Colin
Transportation Authority of Marin
Phone: 415-458-3005

Kate Colin is the first female to hold the office of Mayor since the city was incorporated in 1847.  She joined the San Rafael City Council in January 2013 and was a Planning Commissioner the 8 years before that.  She has lived in the Sun Valley neighborhood since 1996 with her husband Jeff where they raised their two children.   

Mayor Kate’s goals for the City include focusing on four key policy areas for 2023 – economic growth, homelessness/housing, sustainability (focusing on wildfire prevention and sea level rise) and social justice. She strongly believes in working with the community to find solutions that reflect our community values as well as partnerships with local residents, businesses and neighborhoods to make San Rafael the best it can be.  

In addition to Kate’s role as Mayor of San Rafael, she is the Chair of the San Rafael Sanitation Agency. She also represents San Rafael on several regional boards including TAM (Transportation Authority of Marin), SMART (Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit), BayWAVE (Bay Waterfront Adaptation Vulnerability Evaluation) and the BCDC Elected Official Task Force (Bay Conservation and Development Commission). She is a strong advocate for gun safety and is the only elected city official consistently participating in the Marin County District Attorney’s Gun Safety Collaborative. Mayor Kate also engages with Mayors across the United States and is a member of the Climate Mayors, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Mayors for Guaranteed Income. 

Kate has a MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a BA from Dartmouth College. She is a life-long athlete who is often seen running the trails or cycling through our city streets. 

 

Chris Coursey
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Phone: 707-565-2241

Sonoma County Supervisor Chris Coursey had a 30-year career in journalism before he turned to public service in 2007.

A long-time news columnist for The Press Democrat, he became spokesman for the SMART rail district in 2007, helping the commuter train project win the support of nearly 70 percent of Sonoma and Marin county voters in 2008.

He was elected to the Santa Rosa City Council in 2014. He served as vice-mayor of the city in 2015 and was chosen by his colleagues to serve as mayor at the end of 2016.

As mayor he was tested by one of the most devastating wildfires in California history. The Tubbs Fire and other blazes in October 2017 killed 22 people and burned more than 5,300 homes in Sonoma County, including more than 3,000 homes in Santa Rosa. Coursey spent the bulk of his two-year term leading the recovery, working closely with his elected colleagues at the county, state and federal levels and providing a caring, empathetic presence for fire victims and the many other residents traumatized by the disaster. His term ended in December 2018.

He was elected 3rd District Supervisor in March 2020 and took office in January 2021.

Chris has four adult children, three of whom live in Sonoma County, and three grandchildren.

 

Rachel Farac
Transportation Authority of Marin Board of Commissioners
Phone: (415) 798-7172

Rachel Farac was elected to her first term on the Novato City Council in 2022, representing District 2, which includes northwest Novato. Rachel works at Michael Baker International, a leading engineering, transportation, and government consulting firm. She is a member of the leadership team that oversees the FEMA- Community Engagement and Risk Community contract focused on flood mitigation.  

Rachel also serves on the Transportation Authority of Marin Board of Commissioners. She obtained a Master's in Public Administration from Indiana Wesleyan, which emphasized intergovernmental relations and economics. She loves traveling and experiencing different preferred transit methods worldwide. Rachel lives in Novato with her husband Colm, children Ethan and Amelia, cat Tina and dog Trixie.   

 

Debora Fudge
Sonoma County Mayors' and Councilmembers' Association
Phone: (707) 522-8481

Debora Fudge has worked to change Windsor from an exit on the highway to a town with a heart, helping to create Windsor’s Downtown and Town Green. She has previously served as Chair of the Board of Directors of SMART (Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit) and is excited to be a Board member during startup of passenger rail service in Marin and Sonoma Counties. She is working hard to extend the train north to Windsor, Healdsburg and Cloverdale. She has undergraduate and graduate degrees in community development and environmental planning. Creating greenbelts, transit oriented development, and now commuter rail service are her life’s work which she has been pleased to be able to contribute to Sonoma County. 

 

Patty Garbarino
Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District
Phone: 415-485-5648

Patty Garbarino, while serving as president of Marin Sanitary Service, Marin Recycling Center and Marin Resource Recovery Center, blazed a trail as the first woman president of the California Refuse Recycling Council.  Today, Patty is responsible for policy development and implementation and the overall management and oversight of the operations of the company.  Patty also remains directly involved in all aspects of the company’s governmental and community relations as well as the public education program.  Patty has been recognized for her civic and community contributions, including being inducted into the Marin Women’s Hall of Fame, honored with a Women In Business Award for Environmental Service, and Citizen of the Year by the City of San Rafael.

 

 

Gabe Paulson
Marin County Council of Mayors and Councilmembers
Phone: (415) 927-5002 

Gabe Paulson has been an active community volunteer for 20 years and joined the Larkspur City Council in 2019.  He had been working in Marin since 1999 and became a Larkspur homeowner in 2010 where he lives with his wife and son.  He joins the City Council planning to engage and give voice to citizen and business concerns, improve fire, flood and earthquake readiness, expand high quality services by collaborating with other agencies and maintain fiscal and operational excellence.

 Gabe is the founder and owner of a custom software business which has employed over 30 people and delivered over 200,000 hours of software consulting services. His teams have served the US Coast Guard since 2001 and Marin/Bay Area businesses since 1996.  He originally studied to be a research professor at Princeton (BA physics) and UC Berkeley (MA physics) and taught at both UC Berkeley and Mills College in Oakland.

 In his spare time, Gabe is an avid traveler, guitarist and reader. After visiting 49 countries, he still feels some of his best adventures have been in Marin, for example running the Dipsea Race (five times), cycling the Marin Metric Century, camping and kayaking throughout the county.

 

David Rabbitt
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Phone: (707) 565-2241

Supervisor David Rabbitt was elected in November, 2010 and is serving his second term representing the diverse blend of urban and rural comprising the Second District of Sonoma County. He has served as a Director on the SMART board since 2013. He has served two consecutive terms as Chair of the Board of Supervisors in 2013 and 2014 and is currently Chair Pro Tem for 2017.

In 2017, Supervisor Rabbitt’s regional assignments include the Golden Gate Bridge District, Association of Bay Area Governments, and the North Bay Water Reuse Authority. Supervisor Rabbitt’s countywide assignments include Sonoma County Employee Retirement Association, Sonoma County Transportation Authority/Regional Climate Protection Authority. He was appointed by the Governor to the California Seismic Safety Commission in 2013. Supervisor Rabbitt is an architect, and resides in Petaluma with his wife and three children. 

Chris Rogers
Sonoma County Mayors' and Councilmembers' Association 
Phone: 707-543-3017

After being elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2020, Chris was selected by his colleagues to serve a two-year term as the youngest Mayor in the history of Santa Rosa. Mayor Rogers represents District 5, which includes the neighborhoods of Downtown Santa Rosa, Railroad Square, St. Rose Historic District, and Luther Burbank. 

Prior to his council career, Chris served as a legislative aide in Sacramento during his tenure with the California State Senate and State Assembly. He has also worked on renewable energy financing and is currently an administrator for a nonprofit environmental organization. Currently Chris serves on the 

Sonoma County Transportation and Regional Climate Protection Authorities, Sonoma Clean Power, and Sonoma County Health Action. Chris also service on the California League of Cities Mayors and Councilmembers Legislative task force and the Association of Bay Area Governments executive committee. 

Chris has represented all nine Sonoma County cities on the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) board of directors since 2019. Chris lives with his wife, Sarah, a local nurse, their two cats Leo and Flora, and four chickens Beaktrix, Egret, Minerva, and Ethel. Chris has a Masters in Public Administration from Sonoma State University and a Bachelors in Political Science from U.C. Santa Barbara.

Mary Sackett
Marin County Board of Supervisors
Phone: 415-473-7331

Mary Sackett was elected to her first term on the Marin County Board of Supervisors representing District 1 and took office in December 2022. District 1 covers Lucas Valley and Marinwood and extends south to 4th Street and east to Pt. San Pedro Road. Mary is committed to closing gaps in our multi-modal transportation system and also serves on the Transportation Authority of Marin Board of Commissioners, the Marin Transit Board of Directors, and the Great Redwood Trail Agency. She has a B.A. from the University of Iowa in Geography and a J.D. from West Virginia University. Mary and her family have resided in Terra Linda since 2002.