Allen Winning BART Race
By Sativa Peterson

In the race for director in BART district four, Carol Ward Allen appeared heading for victory over Richard E. Armstrong, with nearly all of the vote counted Tuesday.

Allen had 30 percent of the vote to Armstrong's 25 percent, with 96 percent of the vote counted. Teresa R. Limon trailed with 15 percent.

TuesdayÕs district four election was a low key but packed contest, with six candidates vying for the single seat. Besides Allen, Armstrong and Limon, Van Parish, Hadi Monsef, and Stanley Hagwood were also in the race. Comprised of Alameda and most of Oakland, district four had been represented by Margaret Pryor for the past 18 years, but she is facing bribery charges and chose not to seek reelection.

The new director in district four will join a board that must decide two critical issues in the near future:

- Whether to expand rail lines out to the Warm Springs district of Fremont, a project that would cost $165.5 million.

- Whether to spend $1 billion on train station renovations.

Allen, 54, is in favor of spending on improvments to urban stations. Other concerns she listed were providing quality jobs and transportation to seniors, disabled people and women in transition from welfare to jobs.

Allen is an educator and businessperson who unsuccessfully ran for Oakland City Council last June. A political moderate, she is a former president of the Oakland Port Commission.

Armstrong, who describes himself as a mass transit specialist, said he would like to increase BART ridership, expose fiscal irresponsibility and "lead BART into a new era of integrity and public service."

Limon said she opposed BART expansion. She has worked as an aide to Democratic Congress members Pete Stark and Barbara Lee, former Oakland Council member Dezie Woods-Jones, and the late Charlie Santana, who was an Alameda County supervisor.

Parish, 39, said too much emphasis has been placed on BART expansion and not enough on the existing infrastructure. A public affairs consultant, Parish supported the station renovation project and has won the endorsement of the Bus Riders Union and the Alliance for AC Transit.

Monsef is an electrical engineer and businessman and a big supporter of BART expansion. He is a former vice mayor and council member for the city of Alameda.

The final candidate, Stanley Hagwood, said he was opposed to fare hikes.

BART has a total of nine board directors, each elected to a four-year term. Directors are paid $12,000 a year and make decisions on multi-million dollar projects and contracts that shape the direction of the rail system and public transit in general in the Bay Area.

Outgoing director Pryor was indicted on 11 counts of federal extortion charges in connection with a BART contract. She has pleaded innocent to the charges. Pryor faces up to 114 years in prison and fines in excess of $2 million in fines if convicted. She also has been fined $53,000 by the Fair Political Practices Commission for failure to report nine campaign contributions of $100 or more in a past election.