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The AC Transit Board of Directors has begun the process of filling the remaining two years of the term of former At Large Board member Rebecca Kaplan, who resigned from the board after her election last November to the At Large Oakland City Council seat.  

A whopping 17 candidates have filed for the seat, including:  

• Oakland engineer and transportation planner Gerald Cauthen,  

• Oakland attorney and campaign field director for State Senator Loni Hancock Joel B. Young, 

• Oakland auditor and finance manager Ronald V. Tuzon,  

• Oakland AC Transit Rider Advisory Committee member Bruce De Benedictis,  

• Hayward small business owner Steven Oiwa,  

• Oakland environmental policy consultant Bob Feinbaum,  

• Obama-Biden presidential transition team member and former Google executive Elizabeth Echols of Oakland,  

• San Pablo community organization program developer/coordinator U. Joyce Harry, 

• Oakland assistant United States attorney and former environmental attorney Drew Caputo,  

• retired City of Vallejo General Manager of Public Transit Pamela Belchamber, of Berkeley, 

• former AC Transit and BART board member Roy Nakadegawa of Berkeley,  

• retired AC Transit and Key System bus driver and Street Academy High School Board of Directors Vice President Al D. Miller of Oakland,  

• Alameda County Central Labor Council, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, and East Bay Community Law Center consultant and Mills Grove Christian Church senior pastor Clarence L. Johnson of Oakland,  

• former U.S. Postal Service administrative assistant and delivery supervisor and Lake Merritt Business Association member Susan G. Wilson of Oakland,  

• retired Oakland architect, former unsuccessful AC Transit board candidate and transportation advocate Joyce Roy of Oakland,  

• Albany Traffic and Safety Commissioner Raymond Anderson, and  

• Disability Rights California volunteer Lisle Boomer of Berkeley. 

Applications and resumés of the board candidates are available online at the AC Transit website. 

Board members held five-minute public interviews of the 17 candidates on Wednesday. The board has not yet settled on a final schedule for its decision.