Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District
Welcomes
New Board Member James R. Hooper
On Thursday, October 9, 2003, James R. Hooper took
the oath of office joining the 19-member Board of Directors of the Golden
Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, Hooper is the newly
appointed director representing Del Norte County and follows John E.
Fraser who retired on August 8, 2003 after serving 16 years on the Board.
Del Norte County voted to join the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District
in 1925, after which in 1928, the six member counties (San Francisco,
Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Del Norte) voted to form a Special
District that would be responsible for building and maintaining the
Golden Gate Bridge - initially the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District,
and in 1969 it became the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation
District. Hooper is the eighth appointment to the Board of by Del Norte
County Board of Supervisors since 1928.
Since 1957, Hooper has been a resident of Crescent City, CA where he
has practiced business and public law full-time until February 1992
when he began practicing in a limited consulting basis.
Throughout these many years, Hooper has gained extensive experience
in working with public agencies at all levels and in working with members
of the U.S. Congress as well as members of the California legislature.
In Del Norte and Humboldt counties, he has created a solid ranking as
a major contributor to the advancement of local and regional civic,
governmental and economic affairs. He has provided invaluable legal
counsel to numerous agencies and governments including the City of Crescent
City and its Redevelopment Authority, Harbor District, and Housing Authority
as well as the Tri-Agency Economic Development Authority, and the Humboldt
Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District. Following the floods
and tsunami of 1964, he was instrumental in assisting in the successful
redevelopment of Crescent City.
At the state and national level, Hooper actively supported numerous
programs to benefit local government, and most notably assisted in obtaining
more than $50 million in economic development and public works funds
for Del Norte and Humboldt counties. He also received a Presidential
appointment to the Western Regional Advisory Council of the National
Park Service and was subsequently instrumental in the National Park
Service opening its headquarters for the Redwood National Park in Crescent
City.
Hooper was born in North Carolina and received his law degree from the
University of San Francisco School of Law, San Francisco, CA. He is
married to Sophia Hooper.
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The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway, and Transportation District Board of
Directors is comprised of 19 members representing the six member counties:
San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, and Del Norte. Directors
are appointed for two-year terms and earn $50 per meeting day, up to
a maximum of $5,000 a year, except the Board President who may earn
a maximum of $7,500.