JOHN TREVINO, BOARD MEMBER

John Treviño has dedicated nearly his entire life to serving others. His commitment and dedication to public service has left a lasting impression on the people of Central Texas.

John had his first taste of public service at eight years old when he volunteered as an altar boy in the Catholic Diocese of Austin.

At age 17, John volunteered to serve our country in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division for three years.

Upon returning to Austin, he took an active role in the St. Vincent de Paul Society, a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to helping the poor and needy.

In 1965, he was chosen to be the first Director of the Community Action Program in Austin, a federal anti-poverty initiative. His many accomplishments included persuading the director of the Internal Revenue Service to send staff to help citizens from poor neighborhoods prepare their tax returns. Later he supervised volunteers from the federal VISTA program who developed "Meals on Wheels" and the Austin Tenant's Council.

In 1966-67, John began a bulk-trash collection program in East Austin. Years later, the city adopted this model for all of Austin.

In 1968, the School of Social Work at the University of Texas nominated him to attend an International Conference on Social Welfare held in Helsinki, Finland. John was one of only 13 Americans invited.

In 1975, he became the first Hispanic elected to the Austin City Council. He served for more than thirteen years, eventually becoming Mayor Pro Tem and Acting Mayor.

John accomplishments on the City Council include:

• Helping to create what was the forerunner of the Department of Small and Minority Business Resources.
• Persuading the city to establish a systematic review of hiring practices to ensure that women and minorities had fair access to city jobs.
• Leading efforts to establish clinics throughout the city to give the poor and needy more accessible and immediate health care.
• Helping establish the Social Policy Advisory Committee to ensure equitable distribution of funding to social service agencies.
• Promoting the representation of women and minorities represented on city boards and commissions.
• Playing a significant role in establishing policies for the fair allocation of space to vendors using the Renaissance Market on Guadalupe.

In 1988, John left the City Council but continued his commitment to public service. At the University of Texas, he has helped develop programs for Historically Underutilized Businesses. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He has served on the International Board of the U.S./Mexico Sister Cities Association, and was a founder of the Austin-Saltillo Sister City initiative.

While at Capital Metro, John has been working directly with the community and the City of Austin to establish an affordable housing and transit oriented development plan for the neighborhood surrounding Plaza Saltillo in East Austin.

He also serves on the Board of the Capital Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO).

In 2006, the City of Austin named a park at Morrison Ranch after John.

Board of Directors e-mail address is:  boardofdirectors@capmetro.org

Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority
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