Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON- Pink slips have gone out to 20 managers, including seven senior ones, with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
“Consistent with the Customer Accountability Report (CARe), I began restructuring by reducing my direct reports from 21 to 9, and departments are currently being realigned under the new structure. This includes streamlining management to improve effectiveness and accountability,” General Manager Paul Wiedefeld wrote in a memo.
One-third of the people fired worked on the rail side with others from administrative areas and procurement.
Congresswoman Barbara Comstock said she’s pleased to hear the head of procurement is one of the people given the axe Friday.
“We know there’s been a long-time maintenance and parts aren’t available, just really basic things that aren’t there that should be. You know the people involved should be held accountable, and that’s really what’s going on here,” said Comstock. At a Congressional hearing on Metro in April she urged Wiedefeld to get rid of the dead wood.
CARe also recommends getting rid of redundant positions, something Wiedefeld said he is now looking into.
A WMATA spokesperson told WMAL they can’t comment because this is a personnel matter. Council Chair Jack Evans also referred all comment to Wiedefeld saying the board was not involved in the process.
This is the email sent on behalf of General Manager/Chief Executive Officer Paul J. Wiedefeld:
Consistent with the Customer Accountability Report (CARe), I began management restructuring by reducing my direct reports from 21 to 9, and departments are currently being realigned under the new structure. This includes streamlining management to improve effectiveness and accountability.
As part of this restructuring, 20 managers are being released from WMATA, including seven senior managers. More than one-third are from the rail side of the house. Others are in administrative areas, including procurement, for example. I hope you will join me in respecting the privacy of these individuals, and note that I will not be commenting about individual employees. CARe also calls for the elimination of redundant positions, and that review is underway.
Please stay focused on safety first and foremost, particularly as we advance the new SafeTrack plan. It’s also important that we all continue to progress actions planned under the CARe initiative to improve safety, service reliability and financial management.
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