Commissions

Dr. Cris B. Liban, P.E., serves as the Sustainability Officer of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro). He has worked at LA Metro since 2003 and has grown his agency’s environmental and sustainability practice into one of the most progressive and forward-looking in the country, implementing over 150 sustainability initiatives to date. He is working to ensure that $140B in capital projects that are programmed for the next 40 years are sustainable, climate-adapted, and resilient for the more than 10 million people of Los Angeles County. Many of these are to be completed in time for the 2028 Olympics.

Dr. Liban is the Chapter Lead of the recently released Fifth National Climate Assessment Transportation Chapter. He held previous political appointments as a member of the USEPA’s National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology and the California Climate Safe Infrastructure Working Group. He was the Chair of the LA County Beach Commission for two years. He is currently a member of the California Green Bonds Development Committee.

Cris previously received the Philippines’ highest civilian honor for Filipinos living overseas, the Pamana ng Pilipino Award, from Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. In addition, because of his singular focus on building a sustainable transportation system that is also economically and socially beneficial to all levels of society, Cris was awarded the Engineering-News Record's (ENR) 2020 Award of Excellence. He was elected as a Member of the National Academy of Construction in 2021; and a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2022.

Dr. Liban has degrees in geology, civil engineering, and environmental science and engineering.

Jazmin Ortega is Deputy Press Secretary at the California Department of Insurance. She graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a Bachelor of Arts in English. Ms. Ortega also serves on Metro’s Citizens Advisory Council.

Mr. Douglas Tohom has 5 years of experience in parking and transit with the Cities of Beverly Hills and Pasadena. He is a Los Angeles native who grew up and still resides in Echo Park. Douglas focuses his work on grant and capital project management and transit operations. His career is focussed on good governance and ensuring that transportation services are distributed equitably. Douglas has hands-on experience with parking, transit, and transportation funding policies. Douglas has an established track record of working with City Councils and City Commissions.

Douglas has a Bachelor's Degree in urban planning from UC San Diego and a Master’s in Planning and Public Administration from USC. Douglas is a resident of CD 13 and is of Central American descent.

Erin Pak serves as the CEO of Kheir (pronounced ‘care’) Clinic, a non-profit Federally Qualified Health Center, which provides culturally and linguistically appropriate Medical, Dental, Optometry, and Adult Day Health care services to low income, underserved residents of Los Angeles. Under Erin’s leadership, Kheir grew 678% in its annual revenue and over 3000% in total assets. In the recent years, Kheir was honored as the 2022 California Assembly (AD54) Nonprofit of the Year, 2020 Los Angeles Business Journal Community Clinic of the Year, and also recognized by the US Health & Human Services Department as a national leader in its innovative COVID vaccination response. Kheir Clinic remains the only nonprofit health clinic in the nation that delivers full suite of services in English, Bengali, Korean, Spanish and Thai. 

Prior to joining Kheir Clinic, Erin held several marketing leadership positions with Fortune 500 companies and set revenue records in new markets. As an education consultant, Erin personally authored and secured $125 million in federal grants for California public schools over a 3-year period. A dedicated community advocate, Erin has volunteered with various organizations to improve public school education and to raise community awareness and engagement levels in many areas, including voter registration, health and cancer screenings, and increased public library hours. For City of Los Angeles, Erin has served on the Ethics Commission, Commission on Community & Family Services, President's Joint Commission on LAUSD Governance, and the Getty House Board of Directors. In 2017, she was appointed to the First 5 California State Commission. Her current activities include Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center Board of Directors, SoCalGas Community Advisory Board, and Clinic Mutual Insurance Company Purchasing Group Board of Directors, which provides professional liability insurance exclusively for nonprofit community clinics in the western states. 

For her critical work on reducing health disparities in Los Angeles, Erin has been honored by the American Cancer Society, Turbo Air Foundation, the Korean American Health Coalition, and, by the California State Assembly, as part of Women's History Month (Woman of the Year 2010 and 2017). Erin holds a BA and Master of Science degrees from University of Southern California.

Selika Josiah Talbott is a leading industry voice for the adoption of New Mobility: Connected, Autonomous, Shared, Electric and Digital Transportation. The Founder of Autonomous Vehicle Consulting, LLC and Solutions 4 New Mobility Education, LLC., she provides strategic advice to companies and organizations in the mobility space and educational materials for youth and adults on new mobility. She is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California and Co-Directs the UC Davis Institute for Transportation Studies' Environmental Justice Fellowship and is the Director of Special Projects at Autonomous Vehicle Computing Consortium.

Selika has extensively published in Forbes.com and is considered a go-to expert media source as well as a highly sought-after speaker. She is the author of a children’s mobility book series, Sammie and Sally Move Around Town. 

Selika has had a Distinguished career in public service at the federal, state, and local levels. She served at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and State of New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and held policy positions in County and City Commissions.

As an attorney she practiced product liability defense representing franchises, taught continuing legal education and authored several papers on insurance and product liability defense. 

Selika has a J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law, a B.A from SUNY Stony Brook with a Political Science Major, and a Minor in Socio-legal studies. She also holds Certifications in Executive Leadership from American University and Diversity Equity and Inclusion from Cornell University and Corporate Board Readiness from Santa Clara University.

Viggen Davidian is Vice President with Iteris, Inc., a leading national transportation consulting and mobility technology firm and is currently the Transportation Planning Practice Leader for Iteris. Viggen has over 42 years of professional and leadership experience in transportation and civil engineering in both private and public sectors. He holds a Master of Science Degree in Transportation Engineering from University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from Iowa State University. He is a registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) in California, a Fellow of Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and a Life Member of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

Viggen has been a key member for planning, design, and implementation of many major infrastructure projects in southern California during the past four decades, including several of Los Angeles County’s transit lines and highway corridor improvement projects. Throughout his career Viggen has worked closely with the City of Los Angeles’ Department of City Planning, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Engineering as well as several council districts as part of transportation infrastructure and policy development efforts.

Viggen has also volunteered his time over the past four decades serving in significant leadership roles with community-based and non-profit cultural, educational, and youth organizations, including the Armenian General Athletic Union and Scouts (Hemenetmen) and the Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California, currently serving as a member of its Board of Governors.

Andre Colaiace has been with Access Services since 2006 and previously served as the Deputy Executive Director of Planning & Government Affairs.

Prior to joining Access Services, Mr. Colaiace spent 4 years at the Culver City Transportation Department as a Senior Management Analyst. He previously served on the Access Services’ Board of Directors from 2002-2005. He was also the Director of Government Affairs with Foothill Transit and a Committee Administrator for the Transportation and Transit Committee with the Minnesota House of Representatives.

He earned a B.A. in English from Carleton College. He is a member of the 2008 Leadership APTA class.

He is a resident of CD 5.

Section 22.488 (b) of the Administrative Code states: “The Taxicab Commission shall be comprised of five members. Membership qualification shall include, to the extent feasible, that three of the five members of the Commission be selected to provide representation from the tourism industry, senior or disabled citizen advocate groups, the Department of Airports, and/or the taxicab industry.”

As the Executive Director of Access which employs the taxicab industry to fill gaps in Access Services’ mission to provide complementary ADA paratransit services to persons with disabilities, the MOCS transportation team believes that Mr. Colaiace is familiar with the industry and its clientele and understands the need for a healthy taxi industry that is trusted by the public.

We’ve reviewed Mr. Colaiace’s work background with the City Attorney and in their opinion Mr. Colaiace’s nomination does not present a conflict of interest.

Mr. Spiegelman is the Sole Practitioner at the Spiegelman Media Law and Consulting. Mr. Spiegelman graduated as Class President from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law; J.D.

Ms. Martinez is a Project Coordinator with Metabolic Studio. She was a graduate of Michigan State University with a BA in Communication. Ms. Martinez is active in the Los Angeles Bicycle community.

As the Starbucks Regional Head of Government and External Affairs for the Western Region, Mary oversees local issues that involve our operations in California, Hawaii, Colorado, and Arizona. She monitors policy changes that impacts the quick service Industry and establishes partnerships with community stakeholders.   Mary’s career continues in the community and government relations space with various industries. for over 20 years.  In addition, she was a gubernatorial appointee by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as Deputy Director of the Department of Consumer Affairs.  Her community involvement has been steadfast in the area of diversity and inclusion for Latinos, advocacy for those without a voice or a seat at the decision making table. Mary serves on the Board of Directors for Vision Y Compromiso, a statewide organization providing training to promotores that deliver services to low-income communities. Mary was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley and is a resident of Granada Hills, CA.

Mr. Welliver is the Executive Director of Hollywood Partnership Community Trust and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for The Hollywood Partnership. He holds Master of Public Administration and Master of Urban Planning degrees, both from USC Sol Price School of Public Policy where he was a City/County Management Fellow.