Denver RTD forms 2019 board, fills communications post

The Regional Transportation District (RTD) of Denver recently elected board officers for 2019 and swore in seven members for its 15-member board.

The newly elected members are Shontel Lewis, Angie Rivera-Malpiede, Vince Buzek, Troy Whitmore, Shelley Cook, Lynn Guissinger and Peggy Catlin.

Doug Tisdale, who served as chairman in 2018, will retain that title for 2019. He is the former mayor of Cherry Hills Village and president of law firm Tisdale & Associates LLC. In addition, the following members will hold officer posts this year: Catlin, first vice chair; Rivera-Malpiede, second vice chair; Jeff Walker, secretary; and Cook, treasurer.

Meanwhile, RTD also has appointed Pauletta Tonilas assistant general manager of communications, effective Feb. 4. She currently is chief communications officer for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, where she has served for three-and-a-half years.

Prior to that, Tonilas served RTD for 12 years as senior manager of public relations and public information, public information manager for the FasTracks program, and public information manager for the transportation expansion light-rail and highway project. She previously was a public information officer for the city of Englewood, Colorado, and a television news anchor and reporter in Des Moines, Iowa.