September 5, 2008

County Supervisors Appoints Maria Marinos as Clerk of the Board

The County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors has appointed Maria Marinos to the position of Clerk of the Board, effective Oct. 6. Marinos, who began working with the County in March in the role of Chief Deputy Clerk, will replace longtime Board Clerk Phyllis Perez who announced her retirement earlier this month.

“In appointing Maria, the Board took into account the depth of her experience and the breadth of her formal education,” said Supervisor Pete McHugh, Chair of the County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors. “Since joining the County, she has impressed the Board with her integrity, even temperament and strong work ethic.”

Maria Marinos

Before coming to the County, Maria served as the Board Secretary to the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), which is the VTA’s equivalent of the County’s Clerk of the Board. She directed and managed the Office of Board Secretary which maintains the minutes and official records of the VTA Board of Directors. Her responsibilities also included administrative support to the Board, their three standing committees, five advisory committees and five policy-advisory boards. The Office of the Board Secretary at VTA has 28 full-time employees.

Before becoming Board Secretary at VTA in 2005, Maria served as a Senior Transportation Planner for Programming and Grants at VTA. For almost five years in this capacity, she executed the grant programming and administrative activities for VTA projects including developing funding proposals for capital improvement programs. She also coordinated with VTA’s fiscal division staff on project accounting and assisted with State and Federal audits in the areas of procurement, financial management and organizational performance.

Prior to joining VTA, she held prominent administrative roles at King’s College and Seminary in Los Angeles. She served as Assistant to the Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer and as Secretary to the Board of Trustees. Before King’s College and Seminary, Maria worked for the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transportation District from 1979 through 1998. She served as the District Administrative Coordinator and then became a Grants and Legislative Analyst.

Maria holds a Masters Degree in Divinity from King’s Seminary and a Bachelors Degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz. At Santa Cruz she majored in both sociology and community studies. She has also completed some of the course work required to obtain a Master’s of Public Administration at San Jose State University.

“The Office of the Clerk plays a pivotal role supporting the Board of Supervisors,” said Marinos. “It is a responsibility of public trust and I am honored to have the Board’s vote of confidence.”

The San Jose resident will be paid $137,003 annually.