While some folks in Albany want to lower the next MTA CEO’s salary, Streetsblog has handicapped the race to replace Jay Walder. In an extensive piece that examines both internet and external candidates for the job, Noah Kazis offers up thumbnails on those who could be under consideration. If Gov. Cuomo looks internally, he could tab Transit head Thomas Prendergast, LIRR president Helena Williams or current COO Charles Monheim. The external names are more intriguing.
First, Kazis runs down the list of those who have MTA experience. He mentions bringing back Elliot Sander, but with the ongoing signal scandal and various other issues stemming from Sander’s last term atop the MTA, that’s a non-starter. Marc Shaw’s name will resurface, but he wasn’t too popular the last time around. The two names that intrigue me the most in the Streetsblog piece are Nat Ford, former head of the San Francisco MTA, and Edgar Sandoval, the first managing director of TransMilenio in Bogota. An international pick could signal an attempt at true reform that has evaded the MTA over the past decade.