"If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."
- Rush, "Freewill"
Yesterday's special meeting, where the CTA board was widely expected to appoint a new permanent agency president, ended with the directors not taking any vote at all.
Streetsblog was unable to confirm whether that was the previously planned discussion subject, and the posted agenda provided no details on exactly what the day's hot topic would be.
But during the hearing, which took place at the CTA headquarters, 567 W. Lake St., the agency's attorney who stated the reason for going into a closed session cited Section 2(c)(1) of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. That deals with employment-related matters, and Section 2(c)(3), which addresses collective bargaining.
Thursday’s meeting was announced the same day Crain’s Chicago Business reported that Mayor Brandon Johnson was already looking to appoint City of Chicago Chief Operating Officer John Roberson as CTA president. Dorval Carter resigned from the job in January, and his former chief of staff Nora Leerhsen has been filling in as acting president.
At the special meeting, Leerhsen was conspicuous by her absence. Board Chair Lester Barclay said she was in Springfield lobbying legislators, but he didn’t elaborate beyond that.
While on paper, the CTA board is responsible for hiring the agency's presidents, in practice, it tends to defer to the Chicago mayor's wishes. Four out of seven board members are mayoral appointees, with the remaining three appointed by the Illinois governor.
The next regularly scheduled board meeting is Wednesday, May 14, at 9:30 a.m. at the CTA HQ. Under the Open Meetings Act, the agency could theoretically schedule another special meeting for Tuesday, May 13, or after the regular meeting.
Mayor Johnson was previously criticized for appointing politically connected West Side pastor Michael Eaddy to the CTA board. The City Council approved that appointment without much fuss.
However, when the mayor tapped another West Side faith leader and ally, Pastor Ira Acree, to the board of the Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees CTA, Metra, and Pace, there was considerably more backlash. That was particularly true after Pastor Acree admitted that he rarely rode transit, and had never even heard of the region's impending post-COVID budget crisis. The clergyman eventually withdrew his nomination.
(In fairness, Johnson is hardly the first Chicago mayor to make transit board appointments based on political clout rather than any kind of transit expertise.)
On April 18, a group of transit advocacy organizations and advocates sent a letter urging the Mayor Johnson and the transit board to take their time with the search for a new CTA chief. Streetsblog has posted that document on Twitter, Bluesky, and Facebook.
Any funding bill passed in Springfield to avert the looming $770 million Chicagoland transit fiscal cliff or, ideally, double that number to $1.5 billion to for improvements, will likely involve public transportation governance reform. The Illinois General Assembly is currently considering legislation that would at the very least strengthen the RTA's oversight role, or else harmonize the quartet of transit boards into a single Metropolitan Mobility Authority.
So the letter signees argued that it makes sense to hold off on the presidential appointment until after the current legislative session wraps up at the end of May. By then, the funding and governance issues will hopefully be settled.
The advocates urged the transit board to hire a search firm to "conduct a thorough, nationwide search after engaging in robust stakeholder engagement with community, advocates, and CTA advisory committees."
"Leading a transit agency is a highly specialized role, and given the specific challenges CTA riders have weathered over the last several years, they deserve an experienced, world-class transit leader who is ready to tackle the system’s challenges on day-one," the letter stated.
The signees want the new president to have experience running a transit agency, regularly use public transportation, and have experience with securing federal funding. They also want this person to have a "record of a commitment to values of equity, transparency, collaboration, and accountability," and be able to develop a longterm plan for Chicago transit.
During the public comment portion of yesterday's hearing, advocates reiterated the points in the letter. Kyle Lucas, executive director of Better Streets Chicago, said he was dismayed that, in the time since the letter was sent, The exact opposite of a transparent and collaborative process was underway," with the search not happening, and the meeting only announced two days ahead of time – the minimum required under the Open Meetings Act.
Lucas argued that there is no reason to replace Leerhsen. "Over the past four months, CTA made strides in rebuilding trust and rolling out improvements" such as shortening headways on several major bus routes," he said.
Nora Leerhsen presents the “Mayor” of the Armitage Brown Line station, CSA Janice Martin with a sign for her home at Martin's retirement party last February, Photo: John Greenfield
Olivia Gahan, who has volunteered with Commuters Take Action, urged the transit board not to bow to political pressure. "Use your appointed power to take the time and set up the future, where CTA isn’t just chugging along, but is once again the best transit agency in the country," she said.
Former CTA board member Kevin Irvine, who attended via Zoom, said that, given the challenges CTA faces, it's important to have a president who will understand the issues CTA faces, and voiced support for the advocates' letter. He also mentioned that "had a pleasure" of working with Leerhsen.
CTA Citizen Advisory Board member Caroline Pavlecic said she was concerned that her board wasn’t consulted on the new appointment. She added that their mandate is to advise the transit board, and "we can't carry this out unless you take our voice seriously." Dorval Carter resigned months ago, she noted, so there was plenty of time to start the process and get them involved.
Adelaide Lee, who said she's lived car-free in Chicago for 16 years, also urged the transit board to take its time. "It might take time to find the right person, but i believe this is a job worth doing right," she said.
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