WMATA fires general manager
WMATA has fired longtime general manager Richard A. White. He had held the post since 1996, making him the agency's longest-serving GM. His tenure started out well, but the past few years have been very rocky for him.
The 53-year-old White's finances won't suffer: his severance package gives him a six-figure income for life. How fitting that during his tenure he insisted that "CEO" be added to his title: just like his private-sector counterparts, he's got his golden parachute. Even his wife will get $58,000 a year after White dies. He also gets free travel aboard Metrorail and Metrobus for life. (Will he use that?)
White's interim replacement is Dan Tangherlini, who is (and I guess now, was) on the Metro board and whose main claim to fame with me is launching the D.C. Circulator, a bus line that usually runs empty. Hopefully as GM, Tangherlini will put money into the heavily crowded bus routes that serve District residents, rather than buying shiny new buses that carry no one. On the bright side, Tangherlini often rides buses and rail. White rode Metro he first took the top job, but then his Metro-issued SUV tempted him into driving. Let's hope the spoils of the job don't put Tangherlini into a car for his commute to Metro headquarters.
I'm glad to see White go. I would have canned him years ago when millions of dollars went missing from Metro parking collection booths. But then, I'm not on the board.
This weekend I'm off to New York, which has an interesting tie to Washington: former WMATA GM Lawrence G. Reuter left DC to take the top transit post in New York.
Post Author:
massysett | 11:17 PM |
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I found the article about the ousted Chief of Metro and his compensation package quite disheartening. My husband was the worker who died back in October as a result of errors made by others at Metro when he was hit by a train. The compensation I'm receiving is a drop in the bucket compared to what Richard White will be receiving. And if I die or get remarried all compensation stops, leaving my 13-old son with nothing. I ride Metro to work everyday, with not even an offer of free rides.
