Apr 21, 2008

NDNU benefit roasts Czar of Caltrain

By Adria Murray / Society Columnist

Mike Scanlon may be known to most people as the CEO of SamTrans, but to those close to him he is affectionately known as the Scan-man, Transportation Czar or, perhaps most notably, as Mikey No-socks.

Opening the Notre Dame de Namur University School of Business and Management's 6th annual Celebrity Roast via video from Washington, D.C., newly elected Congresswoman Jackie Speier and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo tried to imagine how Scanlon's sockless reputation came to be.

Growing up in Pittsburgh, Speier and Eshoo hypothesized, Mike had taken to using his socks as mittens during the cold Pennsylvania winters, "and when he moved to California, he decided he didn't need socks at all."

"Don't let anyone pressure you into wearing socks," Speier said, adding, "It's the one interesting thing about you."

Other celebrity roasters offering praise and mock resentment at the April 17 benefit at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Burlingame included event emcee and Service League of San Mateo County executive director Mike Nevin, SamTrans General Counsel Dave Miller, Shelley Kessler of the San Mateo County Central Labor Council and Burlingame City Manager Jim Nantell.

In Nantell's remarks, he congratulated Scanlon on the impressive speed of his trains, "...that whiz by the Broadway station, the Atherton station, the Burlingame station ...," he said in jest, about Caltrain's non-Express Train stops. "Maybe you should call it an observation platform."

Some pokes at Scanlon centered not on his running trains, but on driving his "workhorses." Scanlon has been known to stop employees leaving after a long day's work with a "Heading out for lunch?" said roaster Kessler. To which SamTrans Director of Rail Transportation Bob Doty responded, "I just found out we get lunch breaks."

Scanlon, Miller believes, was chosen to be roasted because "He has a genuine commitment to making peoples lives better. He gives of himself." A caricature depiction of Scanlon on the event's program fittingly portrayed a man at the helm (of a unicycle), who juggles his posts with the United Way of the Bay Area, American Public Transportation Association, American Heart Association and the Redwood City Sequoia Awards Board with poise.

Former Redwood City Mayor Daniela Gasparini apologized on behalf of Scanlon's friends and herself when she said, "I'm sorry, but whenever we get a call from people asking us to join their boards, we tell them 'Mike Scanlon will do it.'"

Having a good laugh the entire evening through was Scanlon's wife Cindy, who appeared to enjoy the exaggerated tales and wink-and-a-nudge spirit of the event.

Other "friends" of Scanlon's joining in the roast in good cheer included his assistant Mark Simon, San Mateo City Council Member John Lee, San Mateo County Supervisor Jerry Hill, District Attorney and former roastee Jim Fox, Colma Vice Mayor Helen Fisicaro, and Dean of the NDNU School of Business and Management James Fogel. Scanlon was also surprised to see his brother Jack from Pennsylvania in attendance, as well as his daughter Megan.

A "Scanlon-ism" that held particularly true that night for the man of the hour was: "It just doesn't get any better than this." Scanlon thanked his friends for their kind and humorous words and said he was very "honored, humbled and relieved."

"Relationships are the real treasure of our existence," Scanlon said, and added in closing, "It's not just transit, it's a way of life."

As Scanlon exited the stage, he said to his pal Nevin, "You had me almost in tears, Mikey."

But if what Nantell alleged earlier in the evening is to be believed, that would have been the first time Scanlon showed an emotion.

Just had to get one last rib in.