Per an e-mail from the MTA, Gov. David Paterson has accepted Elliot Sander’s resignation as the transportation authority’s CEO and executive director. Sander had tendered his resignation to Paterson earlier this year once it became clear that any MTA funding package would join the chairman and CEO positions at the MTA.
Sander commenced his CEO-ship on January 1, 2007 and, through no fault of his own, has overseen some of the rockier financial moments in the MTA’s history. His resignation is effective May 22, 2009. In a statement e-mailed this afternoon, he said:
“It has been a great honor to lead the 70,000 hard-working men and women who run the world’s greatest public transportation system. I am tremendously proud of our accomplishments making the MTA a leaner, more efficient and effective organization. Each of the MTA’s agencies is performing at peak levels, the relationship with our employees is dramatically improved and we communicate more frequently with our customers. The integration of the MTA’s three bus companies, the merging of back office functions across 7 agencies and the introduction of line general managers on the subway system will save the MTA millions and improve the agency’s performance. New innovations like rider report cards, text message alerts and Select Bus Service have improved the customer experience.
There is more work to be done, but I leave confident knowing the MTA is headed in the right direction. I am grateful to Governor Paterson and Governor Spitzer for this wonderful opportunity. I wish Governor Paterson the best of luck in choosing a successor who will build on the progress the MTA has made over the past two and a half years.”
News of this resignation came just a few hours after the Senate approved a bill merging the MTA leadership. In March, The Post speculated that Marc Shaw could take over the top spot.
Under the new state-mandated leadership structure, the CEO and Chairman will be the leader, and he or she can appoint an executive director to help guide the seven-agency behemoth.
Much will be said about Sander’s rocky term in the upcoming days and weeks, but in the end, I believe he did as good a job as he could have done considering the circumstances.
5 comments
Interesting and somewhat surprising. I wonder if the resignation was coerced or if it was of his own free will. Maybe he’d just had enough…
Not unlike a rat fleeing a sinking ship…
Except that’s a character assassination not borne out by any of the following news to be released about this. Sander was booted out by Gov. Paterson, and he shouldn’t have been. It’s clear that he actually knew what he was doing and was handed the reins to a sinking ship. Do you prefer Peter Kalikow or some other no-nothing crony at the head of the agency?
[…] yesteray, current MTA CEO and Executive Director Elliot Sander dropped a bombshell on us when he announced his resignation. While it sounds as though this move had been in the works for some time, the suddenness of it was […]
[…] Transportation Authority, will go to work for the last time in his current position. Sander, who announced his resignation on May 7, is being forced out by New York Gov. David Paterson as part of the MTA rescue package approved by […]