SACRAMENTO (January 20) - Placer County Supervisor Ted Gaines today was sworn in as the new chair of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) Board of Directors. Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo was sworn in as Vice Chair.

Gaines, who was elected to his second four-year term on the Placer County Board of Supervisors in March 2004, had served as Vice Chair of the SACOG Board of Directors since January 2004. An owner and partner of Point West Insurance Associates, Gaines is active in a number of civic and local government groups and served on the City of Roseville's Planning Commission from 1997 to 1999. He cites public safety, transportation, parks and land use as his primary policy interests.

"It's an honor to serve as Chairman of SACOG at such an exciting time in our history," said Gaines. "This year we will begin the implementation of our nationally recognized Blueprint in jurisdictions in the Sacramento region that voluntarily choose to realize the benefits of this innovative method of transportation and land use planning. At the same time we will vigilantly pursue our responsibility for funding and the timely delivery of transportation projects."

Fargo was elected Mayor of Sacramento in November 2000 and re-elected in 2004. She was first elected to the Sacramento City Council in 1989 and won re-election in 1994 and 1998. Fargo currently serves on the boards of directors of the Sacramento Flood Control Agency, Sacramento Transportation Agency, Sacramento-Yolo Port Commission, Sacramento Regional Sanitation District, League of California Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The Sacramento Area Council of Governments is responsible for the award-winning Blueprint Project, a bold vision for growth that promotes compact, mixed-use development and more transit choices as an alternative to low density development. SACOG is also the transportation planning and funding agency for the six-county Sacramento region. SACOG provides a dynamic forum for regional planning and collaboration in the greater Sacramento region. For further information, contact Joan Medeiros at 916-321-9000, or visit the SACOG Web site, at www.sacog.org.

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