The new leadership of Tulare County Association of Governments started their two-year terms on Tuesday. Tulare County Supervisor Phil Cox is the new board chair, and Tulare City Council Member Craig Vejvoda is the new vice chair. Both were unanimously selected at the May 19th meeting of the TCAG Board.
Supervisor Cox is a lifelong Visalia resident. He attended College of the Sequoias, and has owned and operated C & C Construction since 1985. Before being elected to the board of supervisors in 2004, he served on the North Visalia Advisory Committee (1991-1998); was a member of the Visalia City Planning Commission (1998-2001) and served as a Visalia City Council member (elected 2001). Cox served as Visalia’s vice mayor from 2004-2005. He was re-elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2012.
Cox represents the board of supervisors on the Tulare County Employee’s Retirement Association. He is also chairman of the Tulare County Association of Governments, the California State Association of Counties’ Administration of Justice Committee, and serves on the Tulare County First 5 Commission. He serves on several local and statewide committees including the Consolidated Waste Management Authority, and is the board of supervisors’ representative on the Tulare County Gang Prevention Task Force.
“Working with TCAG has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have had as an elected official,” said Cox. “The next two years, as we work on and implement the next phase of Measure R, will set the pace for the next six to ten years of road construction and clean air projects in Tulare County. Measure R is a true success story and proof that each and every vote counts in local elections and that as we take control of our tax dollars at the local level we can accomplish great improvements and be proud of what we are doing as elected leaders joined in a common cause.”
Council Member Vejvoda is a lifelong Tulare resident. He attended COS where he was the ASB president in 1977 and 1978, before going on to earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Humboldt State in 1980 and a master’s degree in financial services from the American College. He has owned and operated Vejvoda Insurance and Financial Services since 1983. Before being elected to the Tulare City Council in 2004, he served as president of the Tulare Jaycees in 1984, as president of the Estate Planning Council of Tulare-Kings Counties in 1987, as president of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Tulare in 1992, as president of the Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors Sequoia Chapter and as president of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, Fresno Chapter.
As a member of the Tulare City Council, Vejvoda served as the chairman for the Tulare Relay for Life in 2005, the co-chair for the Tulare Community Blood Drive from 2005 to 2007, mayor of Tulare from 2006 to 2010 and a board member for the COS Foundation and Boys and Girls Club from 2006 to 2012.
Vejvoda currently serves as the vice mayor of the City of Tulare, co-chair of the Tulare Prayer Breakfast, vice chair of the Tulare County EDC, board member of the Tulare Downtown Association and Central California Blood Center, and a member of the Tulare Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. He is also the immediate past president of the South San Joaquin Division of the League of California Cities.
The next two years at TCAG will likely see the completion of a Countywide Long Range Transit Plan, a Comprehensive Bicycle/Active Transportation Plan, an updated Measure R Strategic Work Plan, several individual transit plans, a transportation modeling upgrade for the next Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy, and the next wave of transportation projects that include road, trail and transit improvements.