Rider safety topped the list of priorities for all 12 candidates vying for a seat on BART’s governing board this November.

The concerns over safety come on the heels of a spate of high-profile crimes, including the July stabbing death of 18-year-old Nia Wilson, as well as a 70 percent increase in the number of aggravated assaults over the past four years, which the candidates cited as a major factor for the decline in the number of people riding BART.

The candidates fall largely into three camps when it comes to their approaches to stemming crime: those who want more police officers patrolling stations and trains, those who want more civilian ambassadors serving as the “eyes and ears of the system,” and candidates who are looking for some combination of the two.

“Quality of life” issues around cleanliness and fare evasion also rose high in the list of priorities shared by many candidates, who pointed to needles left on seats and people using stations as bathrooms as critical issues the district must address.

There are four seats up for grabs in the election, three in the East Bay and one in San Francisco. The directors aren’t involved in the day-to-day operations of the system, but they do set priorities for BART and can decide which items get more or less funding. For a snapshot of each director and his or her priorities, scroll through the slideshow above.

Continue reading for a closer look at each race.

District 2: Antioch, Brentwood, part of Concord, Oakley, Pittsburg, and part of unincorporated Contra Costa County

(Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group) Joel Keller, a candidate for BART Board of Directors District 2 is photographed in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Mark Foley, a candidate for BART Board of Directors District 2 is photographed in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

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Incumbent Director Joel Keller has served on the BART board for the past 24 years. A former police officer, Keller has been a long-time champion of increasing the number of police on trains, including advocating for the addition of a new police beat to serve the Pittsburg and Antioch eBART extension. But, he also recognizes adding more officers on trains and at stations could instill fear in some patrons, who have had negative encounters with overzealous cops in the past, he said.

“Everyone who sits in the seat will have the same problem I have,” he said. “The urban core is more interested in social justice — not that I’d want to do anything that’s discriminatory, but they are less willing to support law enforcement — and the suburban areas I represent would be thrilled to see more police officers on trains.”

Looking to unseat Keller is Mark Foley, a systems analyst for the East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD). He shares Keller’s concerns over safety and wants to ramp up BART’s fare evasion program. But, he’s jumping into the race largely out of frustration over the design of the eBART extension, which uses a different type of train than the rest of the district, called electrical multiple units that are similar to Caltrain, and which Foley describes as inferior to full BART.

“These stations were built with too few parking spaces, no station agent booths and no on-site BART employees,” he said, adding that the district should fast-track construction of more parking spaces and prioritize staffing of the station agents booths, concerns Keller also shares.

District 4: Part of San Leandro, part of Oakland, city of Alameda

Robert Raburn, a candidate for BART Board of Directors District 4 is photographed in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

(Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group) Paul Cummings, a candidate for BART Board of Directors District 4 is photographed in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

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Board president Robert Raburn will defend his eight-year record against challenger Paul Cummings, a retired Naval officer. Both candidates cited rider safety and station cleanliness as two of their top priorities for the district. But, they differ in their approaches to development around BART stations.

Raburn has long been an advocate for building high-density apartment and office buildings around BART, especially at urban stations, even if it means eliminating parking. Cummings opposes eliminating parking in lieu of development.

“I will work to ensure that any future development at BART stations maintains at least the current amount of parking,” Cummings said. “BART is not just for people who live over the BART station.”

“Growing ridership equates to revenue growth,” Raburn said. “(We should) build capacity and transform BART’s core stations — those served by three or more lines — into vibrant centers.”

District 6: Fremont, part of Hayward, Newark, Union City, parts of unincorporated Alameda County

(Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group) Anu Natarajan, a candidate for BART Board of Directors District 6 is photographed in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

(Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group) Liz Ames, a candidate for BART Board of Directors District 6 is photographed in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

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Thomas Blalock, who served as a BART director for the past 24 years overseeing Fremont, Union City and South Hayward, is not seeking reelection, leaving an open race for leadership of the district’s southeastern region. Jumping into the race are Anu Natarajan, a former Fremont city councilwoman and vice mayor, and civil engineer Liz Ames, the chairwoman of Save Our Hills Union City, an open space advocacy organization.

Both support increasing rider safety on BART, but each has her own idea for how best to do it. Ames sees more police officers as the best and most viable solution. BART has struggled to hire officers, despite offering generous hiring bonuses, but Ames said she would support increasing officers’ wages to recruit and retain more officers — though she didn’t offer any areas of the budget she would cut to pay for those increases.

Natarajan thinks the district should partner with other agencies to have the greatest impact for the least amount of money. That means increasing coordination with local police agencies to better patrol areas around stations, while also working with social service agencies — similar to BART’s homeless outreach team in San Francisco — to address the root causes of the problem: homelessness and mental health needs, she said. Both candidates support hiring more community service officers and curbing fare evasion.

And, while Ames would like to see BART less involved in development, unless it’s for office buildings near stations, Natarajan would like dense housing, office and retail near stations.

District 8: Part of San Francisco (Balboa Park, Embarcadero and Montgomery stations)

Janice Li is a candidate for the District 8 seat on BART's Board of Directors. (Courtesy photo)

Melanie Nutter is a candidate for the District 8 seat on BART's Board of Directors. (Courtesy photo)

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Jonathan Lyens is a candidate for the District 8 seat on BART's Board of Directors. (Courtesy photo)



William Walker is a candidate for the District 8 seat on BART's Board of Directors. (Courtesy photo)

Brian Larkin is a candidate for the District 8 seat on BART's Board of Directors. (Courtesy photo)

Eva Chao is a candidate for the District 8 seat on BART's Board of Directors. (Courtesy photo)



San Francisco board Director Nick Josefowitz declined to run this year in lieu of a bid to serve as a city supervisor, creating the most competitive race in the election for the BART board with six candidates vying for just one seat.

Janice Li is one of two candidates, along with urban planning student William Walker, who identifies as LGBTQ. The Hong Kong native grew up in Buffalo, New York, before moving to the Bay Area five years ago. Like Natarajan, Li supports increasing customer service-oriented staff at BART while also partnering with other agencies, rather than emphasizing a greater police presence, to combat perceptions that BART is unsafe and address the homeless population at stations and on trains.

It’s an approach that’s shared by two of her competitors, Melanie Nutter, a consultant focused on transportation and sustainability issues, and Jonathan Lyens, a contract analyst with the city of San Francisco. Of the six candidates, Li, Lyens and Nutter share the most similar views on safety, increasing affordability, and ensuring BART’s stations and trains are clean and well-maintained.

Walker differs from other candidates in his emphasis on reducing fares for low-income residents and creating discounts for riders who take trips during non-commute times as a way to get more people to ride the trains at night and on weekends. He also thinks BART should take a leading role in the consolidation of the Bay Area’s 27 transit agencies.

Former BART employee Brian Larkin also differs from his fellow board hopefuls in his focus on expanding BART to western San Francisco, including the Richmond and Sunset districts.

And, on the other end of the political spectrum is San Francisco businesswoman Eva Chao, who has been endorsed by the San Francisco Republican Party and the BART Police Officers Association. She opposes building housing near stations and social service programs to address homelessness, preferring the district focus instead on operating a reliable train service and keeping stations clean.