“Two months ago, 40 state and local elected leaders joined me in calling on the BART Board and their unions to take steps to restore the public’s trust in the financial management of the BART system. Councilmembers and former mayors, Jim Diaz, Clayton; Karla Brown, Pleasanton and Tim Grayson, Concord, representing the coalition of leaders, joined me this morning at the Walnut Creek BART station to offer our assessment of the tentative agreement announced yesterday by BART management and unions.

"Given what we know today, this proposal takes a positive step forward in restoring our trust. However, I encourage BART to take more steps to improve the financial and operational management of the system. If the agreement is approved by the unions and the BART Board, we can at least know that there will be continuous train operations for the next five years without debilitating strikes."

Read East Bay Times' Gary Peterson's column here.