Ald. Moore insists that CTA board members who oppose Mayor Johnson’s prez pick, the alder’s ex-COS, would be “backbiting snakes”

"He's a cold-hearted snake... he don't play by rules"

- Paula Abdul, "Cold Hearted"

At yesterday's regularly scheduled CTA board meeting, South Side Ald. David Moore (17th) warned directors that they would be "backbiting snakes" if they don't support Mayor Brandon Johnson's pick for CTA president, John Roberson.

Ald. Moore's reasoning was that four of the seven board members are mayoral appointees, so they should respect the current mayor's wishes. But perhaps not coincidentally, Roberson, who is currently the City's chief operating officer, was previously Ald. Moore's chief of staff.

The search for a new CTA president

Long-time 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.

In April, a group of transit advocacy organizations and advocates sent a letter to Mayor Johnson and CTA Board Chair Lester Barclay. They requested "a thorough, nationwide search [for a new president] after engaging in robust stakeholder engagement with community, advocates, and CTA advisory committees."

They advocates also asked that the decision be delayed until after current negotiations in Springfield over funding and governance reform end this month. Streetsblog has posted the letter on Twitter, Bluesky, and Facebook. Here's a list of the signees:

Access Living
Active Transportation Alliance
Better Streets Chicago
Center for Neighborhood Technology
Commuters Take Action
Elevated Chicago
Metropolitan Planning Council
Katanya Raby, Chairperson, CTA Citizens Advisory Board Laura Saltzman, Chairperson, CTA ADA Advisory Committee

On May 6, Crain’s Chicago Business reported Mayor Johnson’s intention to appoint Roberson.

The CTA board held a special meeting last Thursday. It never confirmed that the hearing was about the hiring of the next president,and the directors came out of a closed session without taking a vote.

There was no closed session at yesterday’s meeting and, once again, the board didn’t make any president-related decisions.

Public comments: Request for an update on Narcan distribution

One of the speakers during the public comment period was former social worker Sheila Haennicke, a co-chair of the West Side Heroin Opioid Task Force CTA subcommittee. She asked for an update on the seemingly stalled pilot initiative to bring vending machines with opioid overdose-reversing Narcan to six 'L' stations throughout the system.

The task force and the CTA began discussing this idea in December 2023.  Haennicke said that by 2025 the project evolved into a collaboration between the task force, the CTA and the Cook County Department of Health. These vending machines will be installed and maintained by CCDH, and addiction recovery nonprofits will restock the Narcan. 

Haennicke noted that this is a personal issue for her. In November 2021, her son David died of an accidental overdose in 2021 while riding the Blue Line. Although he had Narcan in his pocket, there was no one on the scene who could use it. By the time EMTs arrived, David was pronounced dead.

Haennicke mentioned that the Rosemont Blue Line station is planned as one of the pilot stations. She said the CTA and Cook County Health seemed to be close to an agreement in February, but progress seems to have hit a roadblock. "Every day the pilot is delayed is the day someone can overdose," Haennicke said.

Acting President Leerhsen assured Haennicke that the process is simply taking longer than the CTA expected, but the agency is was still committed to the pilot. She told the board that agency staff will give a presentation on the program next month. 

Alderman Moore's rant

Barclay allowed Ald. Moore to speak after the regular public comment period ended. In his remarks, Ald. Moore talked up Roberson, who has little or no prior transit expertise, arguing that he has previously hit the ground running in other department where he had no experience. He derided the transit advocates who had been asking that the decision process be expanded and delayed as "usually young white people trying to be saviors."

Ald. Moore added that while he understands board members being wary of simply being yes people for the mayor, he thinks a search for a more qualified wouldn't be fair to Roberson. "If you want a search and all of that, put it in your policies next time," he said. "Do the work and get 26 members of the City Council to pass a resolution that says going forward, there’s got to be a search every time. Do not change the goalposts and don’t change the rules in the middle of a game."

"Work with the mayor that put you here," Moore argued. "Don’t be a backbiting snake."

Out of the CTA's seven board members, four are picked by the Chicago mayor, while three are selected by the Illinois Governor. Here's the current breakdown:

Eaddy didn't attend yesterday's meeting. Therefore, Requejo was the only Johnson-appointed director present. That made the alder's exhortation for directors to "Work with the mayor that put you here" even more absurd.

After Ald. Moore cautioned the directors against acting like disloyal serpents, Ortiz, a Pritzker appointee, asked Barclay if the alder's comments were appropriate.

"I’m not saying that," the board chair responded, but added that Ald. Moore should be allowed to finish. The alderman quickly wrapped up his remarks.

Board members respond to Ald. Moore's speech

At the end of meeting, Barclay said board member Rev. Dr. Jakes had told him that the alder was in the audience and wanted to speak.

Ortiz, Jha and Requejo argued that Ald. Moore's speech broke procedural rules. They noted that Moore was allowed to speak after the public comment period ended, he wasn’t required to sign up, and he wasn’t subject to the usual three-minute time limit. Therefore, they said, everything that happened afterwards during the meeting was out of order. Barclay responded by asserting that he had exercised his discretion as chair.

Rev. Dr. Jakes said he had no idea what Moore was going to say. He compared the comments to public speakers calling board members stupid. "I don’t think that’s acceptable, but we have to take it," he said. "I’m not pleased with what the alderman did, and I want that on the record, [but] he has a right to say what he said, like any other public comment."

Ortiz said that she was "taken aback" by Moore's comments. "I don't think any of us should have witnessed the kind of disrespect that was [shown] today, and I want that on record," she said. 

Jha said she agreed with Ortiz that Ald. Moore should have been treated the same way as any other public speaker. However, she argued that the outrage at Moore’s comments was hypocritical given some of the comments directed against former present Carter. 

Requejo responded that, as an alderman, Moore already has more of a platform than regular citizens, and simply letting him speak without requiring him to sign up ahead of time wasn’t "fair and equitable."

While both Ortiz and Jha said they support conducting a nationwide search for a new CTA president, Reguejo took a slightly different tack. He said he is in favor of a search process that would involve the board, the mayor and the governor. "I believe in collaboration, I believe in having as many voices as possible," he said. "I do support the national search, but most importantly, I support the process where we’re collaborating with the Mayor’s Office, with the Governor's Office.”

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