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An AC Transit bus at El Cerrito Pllaza BART

The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District board of directors considered four qualified candidates to succeed the late director H.E. Christian Peeples and chose two finalists during a special meeting on Monday, Oct. 27.

Peeples, one of the longest-serving board members in AC Transit history, died Aug. 8, 2025.

The finalists to succeed him are Joanna Pace and Harpreet Sandhu.

One of them will be appointed AC Transit Director for Ward 1, which includes El Cerrito, and will serve until the winner of the Nov. 3, 2026 election is certified.

Pace, a retired teacher and an El Cerrito resident, is a community activist who recently got involved with AC Transit in an effort to keep the Number 7 bus on Arlington Avenue running frequently. Service on the line was cut back due to insufficient ridership but the 7 continues to run once an hour, Pace said. She had consulted Chris Peeples on how to advocate effectively.

Since August, Pace told the board, “I have ridden every AC Transit line in Ward 1: the 7, 18, 27, 52, 70, 71, 72, 72L, 72M, 74, 76, 607, 667, 669, 675, 678, 681, 684, 689, the G, the L and the 800 Night Owl.”

“More than a year ago Chris Peeples gave me advice on how to advocate for our neighborhood bus,” she said. “Now I want to take that advice and my enthusiasm and my dedication to advocate for our entire system.”

Sandhu, a Richmond resident, is senior district representative to U.S. Rep. John Garamendi. In that role, he has worked on transportation and infrastructure issues. Garamendi helped to obtain transit funding, including about $25 million for zero emissions buses. Sandhu also has been a community activist and served from 2006 to 2008 on the Richmond City Council.

Sandhu said public transit has been part of his family’s life since the 1970s, when his mother rode public transit to her job as a cook in San Francisco. As a student at Contra Costa College, transit was his only means of transportation and he still uses transit every day, he said.

The road ahead for transit is not easy, Sandhu said, and it will be important to make sure the SB 63 tax passes.

The two other applicants who made presentations at the special meeting on Monday were Jovanka Beckles and Nick Pilch.

Beckles, a Richmond resident, previously served on the AC Transit Board and the Richmond City Council. She ran for the state Senate in 2024.

Pilch lives in Albany and has served on the Albany City Council and several commissions. He’s active in the Sierra Club and works as a BART train operator.

The two finalists, Pace and Sandhu, will be interviewed at a special board meeting on Wednesday morning at 1600 Franklin St., Oakland. The agenda lists a Zoom link. https://actransit.zoom.us/j/98487175063 Phone (669) 900 6833 Webinar ID: 984 8717 5063