After secret meetings, MARTA names interim CEO

The discussions in those meetings led to Hunt’s selection and to the appointment of an “operations committee” that will advise him on his executive decisions.

Credit: Handout

Credit: Handout

The committee, which will meet with Hunt weekly, is made up of Peter Aman from Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens office; Katie Kirkpatrick, head of the Metro Atlanta Chamber; Anna Roach, executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission; and Keith Parker, MARTA’s former chief and the current CEO of Goodwill of North Georgia.

Parker is the only person on the committee with transportation expertise.

There could be as many as three additional members appointed.

Hunt declined to speak with reporters after his appointment, but during the meeting thanked the board for their trust in him.

“I’m accepting this role A) with a humble heart, B) knowing everything we need to do to move forward,” he said, adding that with everyone’s help, “I know we’re going to build an even better MARTA going forward.”

The secret board discussions were apparently contentious at times, with MARTA board member Valencia Williamson from Clayton County saying during public comment the decisions around appointing an interim have “not been easy” and divided the board at times.

Those disagreements seemingly delayed the naming of an interim; Chair Jennifer Ide said the goal had been to pick someone July 24.

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

The search committee was supposed to gather that day, apparently, but the meeting was canceled in lieu of a full board meeting, which had been advertised. When asked why the search committee meetings had not been advertised, MARTA spokeswoman Stephany Fisher said it was a mistake and that future meetings would be.

Fisher said she didn’t know about the four other ad hoc meetings until Thursday.

It’s unclear when they were held. The acknowledgment they happened at all came in the resolution approved by the board naming Hunt, which Ide read aloud before the board voted. In an interview after the meeting, Ide walked that back.

“I should say, we had four rounds of discussions,” she said. “We never had an in-person meeting. It was phone calls of different members of the committee deciding where we should go next.”

Richard T. Griffiths, a former CNN executive and Georgia First Amendment Foundation board member, said the four meetings should have been public and disclosed as such.

He said the state’s open meetings act is clear. “If they had four meetings, those all should have been public meetings.”

Credit: Contributed

Credit: Contributed

Ide said the debate was over who to appoint and whether to go with an internal or external candidate. That led to the decision to appoint both an internal candidate and an external advising board.

“This was the best solution we could come up with for not losing speed and momentum but bringing fresh thought and play,” Ide said.

One of the external candidates the board was interested in was Parker, she said, but “Goodwill wasn’t willing to do without Keith.”

“This is the way that I am able to get Keith’s input, is by having him serve on the strategic committee,” Ide said.

The committee interviewed three internal candidates, she said.

In addition to Hunt, they interviewed Chief Financial Officer Kevin Hurley and Rhonda Allen, who has served as chief in an acting capacity since June. Ide said they didn’t interview external candidates but that she talked with “four or five” possibilities herself.

It’s unclear exactly what the advisory board’s role will be, or how it is different from the MARTA board, which is itself tasked with overseeing the chief. The resolution appointing the advisers said they are to work with Hunt “on a weekly basis” and with the MARTA board monthly.

The announcement of the advisory committee won praise Thursday from Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, who said in a statement he was encouraged the board turned to executives “who are deeply committed to the success of metro Atlanta and have experience leading transformational change efforts.”

Credit: Ben Hendren for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Credit: Ben Hendren for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“MARTA is a critical ingredient to our success, and the Atlanta region is counting on them to build the world-class system that residents deserve,” the mayor said.

Kirkpatrick, from the metro chamber, was the only one of the four appointees to respond to a request for comment. She congratulated Hunt and said she is looking forward to working with him.

“This is a moment that calls for bold, visible leadership,” Kirkpatrick said.

MARTA has been besieged with problems in recent months. Since Greenwood’s resignation, Ide has said twice the board recognizes the urgency needed to “turn the ship around.” She said Thursday she’s aware business and civic groups are frustrated with the board itself, and members could be more transparent.

“We need to talk about bad news as much as we talk about good news,” Ide said. “That’s hard as a leader, I think, to acknowledge when things aren’t going smoothly.”

Hunt and the advisory board will oversee MARTA and its $1.55 billion budget during a pivotal time for the agency. It is in the process of launching a bus network redesign, new rail cars and new fare gates, all of which are expected to roll out in the next year. There is also a major renovation at Five Points station and construction for the system’s first rapid bus line that are underway — and behind schedule.

There is additional pressure to ensure MARTA is ready for the World Cup next summer. Greenwood previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s editorial board the agency was “more than ready,” but several recent smaller events have had snags, most recently when an escalator malfunctioned after a Beyoncé concert.

Before his early retirement, Greenwood had led the agency as chief for almost three years and as deputy for two years before that. It’s unlikely the next chief executive and general manager will come from within, Ide said. Neither Hunt nor Allen are interested, she added.

Ide said the past month has shown the need to build MARTA’s internal capacity.

“We need to make sure … that we are planning for successions and transitions,” she said. “Three to five years from now I would love to see a much deeper bench here.”

It’s also possible the next chief won’t come from the transit industry, an idea pushed by Atlanta’s business and civic community.

The board has selected Diversified Global to conduct a national search. Ide said the board opted against using search firms MARTA has used in the past and went with Diversified Global because it has experience running searches beyond the transportation industry.

“We don’t want to limit ourselves to perhaps the same pool of candidates that might sort of naturally come to mind,” she said.

Ide said she was in favor of public meetings to solicit feedback on what the board should look for in its next chief.

Ideally, she said, a permanent leader would be in place before next summer’s FIFA World Cup.

AJC reporter Zachary Hansen contributed to the article.