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Garden Grove Mayor Steve Jones Selected as New OCTA Chairman

Director Andrew Do, Orange County’s First District Supervisor, chosen as Vice Chair

ORANGE – Garden Grove Mayor Steven R. Jones was unanimously selected today as the new chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors, which guides transportation-improvement projects and public transit for all of Orange County.

Jones served as the OCTA board’s vice chairman for the last year. He replaces outgoing Chairman Tim Shaw, also a City Councilman from La Habra, who remains on the board representing Orange County’s Fourth District.

“OCTA’s mission to keep Orange County moving is vital to the quality of life here in our county and it’s a true honor to be chosen by my colleagues to help deliver a balanced and sustainable transportation system,” Jones said. “We are underway on several major transportation improvements, including on I-405 and, in my backyard, I’m excited to see progress on building the OC Streetcar. I’m eager to work with my colleagues and with the public to ensure these important projects efficiently move forward.”

Jones began serving on the Garden Grove City Council in 2007, and in 2016 was elected mayor. He has been on the OCTA board representing the county’s First District since 2013.

He has held various leadership roles, including this last year serving on OCTA’s Transit and Finance & Administration committees.

In his other service to the community, Jones is a past president and current board member of the Garden Grove Community Foundation, where he has served since 2007. He is also a founding board member of the Association of California Cities and is on the board of the Orange County Sanitation District.

Jones was born in Garden Grove and is a lifelong resident. He graduated in 1986 from Rancho Alamitos High School before continuing his education abroad at Kings College, Cambridge University, England in 1988. He then returned to the states and earned a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Southern California, graduating with honors, with a dual emphasis in finance and real estate.

In his professional life, Jones is president of Olympia Capital Corporation, which he founded in 2001, specializing in real estate investment and development.

Jones and his wife, Manivone, are the proud parents of sons Jaden and Ashton.

Selected by the board to serve as vice chair was Andrew Do, also Orange County’s First District Supervisor.

The OCTA board is composed of 18 members including the five county supervisors, two members from city councils in each of the five supervisorial districts, two public members and the Caltrans District Director serves in a non-voting ex-officio capacity.

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