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Senate names former lawmaker to rail board

The Associated Press | Tuesday, Jun 13 2006 4:15 PM

Last Updated: Tuesday, Jun 13 2006 4:15 PM

Senate leaders on Tuesday appointed former Sen. Quentin Kopp to the state's high-speed rail board.

Kopp, an independent from San Francisco, served 12 years in the Senate before being termed out in 1998. As a legislator, he served as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee and helped create the predecessor to the current rail board.

Kopp, 77, served five years as a San Mateo County Superior Court judge after he left the Senate before retiring in 2004. As a retired judge, he still presides over cases through the Assigned Judges Program.

He was a San Francisco supervisor for 14 years before he won a Senate seat in 1986.

Kopp replaces Bob Giroux, a lobbyist and former Senate staffer, on the nine-member High-Speed Rail Authority board, which is overseeing planning for a 700-mile high-speed rail system that would link California's major cities with trains running at top speeds of more than 200 mph.

A $9.95 billion bond measure that is currently on the November ballot would provide partial funding for a startup line between San Francisco and Los Angeles, but legislation moving through the Senate would postpone that vote until 2008.

"Mr. Kopp's intelligence and tenacity make him a perfect choice for the High-Speed Rail Authority as it works to launch one of California's most ambitious and important transportation projects," Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, said in a statement.