COUNTYWIDE : OCTA Imposes Fee Cap for Meetings

No longer will it be possible for county transportation officials to collect double pay for attending meetings.

Under a new policy adopted unanimously Monday, the 11-member Orange County Transportation Authority board limited meeting fees to $100 a day or a maximum of $500 per month.

Because of an administrative oversight, some Transportation Authority board members had qualified for $200 per day or as much as $900 a month after the Orange County Transit District board and the Orange County Transportation Commission merged under the OCTA banner in June. Despite that, OCTD remains a separate legal entity, although it is a division of OCTA.

Tustin Councilman Richard B. Edgar, a member of both the OCTC and OCTD boards, previously said he favored keeping the higher pay limits even though he was already receiving more in meeting fees than any other elected official in Orange County because of the large number of boards and commissions he serves on.

But the new compensation limits--requested by Transportation Authority Chairman Roger R. Stanton--were approved without comment from Edgar or any of his colleagues during the authority board meeting Monday.