B4
Some candidates may be put off by structural changes, officials say
BY ANN SCOTT TYSON Candidates for the job of run-
ning Metro may have second thoughts amid major initiatives to overhaul the agency and rede- fine the responsibilities of its gen- eral manager and board of direc- tors, transit industry experts say. “Of the people I know who
have some interest, they would rather know, as every prudent person would,whoismy bossand what ismy title going to be,” said former Metro general manager John B. Catoe Jr., who left the agency in April. “Who would go into a job
knowing that would change?” asked Catoe, who runs the Catoe Transit Group consulting firm in SantaMonica, Calif. Metro officials and others with knowledge about the interview process have declined to identify candidates for the general man- ager’s job. “You’dwanttoknow. . . if there
is going to be a change, what the powers are of the general manag- er or CEO or whatever title they
Auditor is expected on Dulles rail project
BY DEREK KRAVITZ
An independent auditor will probably be appointed to oversee Metrorail’s extension to Loudoun County as the costs of the 23-mile line to Dulles International Air- port and beyond continue to climb, according to U.S. Rep. Frank R.Wolf (R-Va.). Wolf, a 16-term congressman
whose district encompasses much of the so-called Silver Line route, wrote Tuesday to Charles D. Snelling, board chairman of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, urging him to appoint a group of auditors to conduct independent investiga- tions and report to the board on a quarterly basis. He pointed to cost overruns
involving other transportation projects,
including Boston’s
$22 billion “Big Dig” and the scrappedHudson River train tun- nel betweenNewJersey andNew York City. “I do not want the Dulles rail
project to become Virginia’s ver- sion of the ‘Big Dig,’ ” he wrote. Airports officials, who are
tasked with building the rail ex- tension by December 2016, say they expect costs to plummet when portions of the second phaseof the line—fromReston to Loudoun—are competitively bid next year. But in a short state- ment, Snelling said he shared Wolf’s “interest in cost controls and has long intended to include independent audit oversight in the implementation of phase two of the rail project.” “We look forward to meeting
withMr.Wolf to pursue our com- mon objectives in this regard,” Snelling
said.The informal agree- ment between the two parties would likely result “in some form of an auditor being used,” Wolf said Tuesday night. The use of an outside auditor
on the second phase of theNorth- ern Virginia construction project is the first significant action tak- en since a consultant’s report released in September found that the entire line could cost $1.3 bil- lion more than original esti- mates. The first phase is costing
$2.75 billion, the authority said. Early estimates had placed costs of the 11.5-mile second phase in the same range. The latest calcu- lations increase the cost by at least $690 million and potential- ly twice as much. Those overruns could mean
higher rates on the Dulles Toll Road, a source of funding for the project. Tolls are scheduled to increase by 25 cents at the main toll plaza Jan. 1 and again in 2012. Also complicating matters is
the placement of the Metro stop at Dulles, which is tentatively slated to include two miles of tunnels and an underground sta- tion. Moving the station above- ground and away from the termi- nal would save at least $640 mil- lion, engineers say. A consultant working on the project has ar- gued the station could be built underground without the extra costs. A decision is expected by January.
kravitzd@washpost.com
EZ SU
KLMNO NextMetro chief faces an agency in transition
will have,” said William Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association. Two recent reports recom-
mended changes in Metro’s gov- ernance structure, criticizing the 1970s framework as outdated and lacking accountability. The Na- tional Transportation Safety Board has blamed the culture for producing a string of fatal acci- dents and perennial mechanical breakdowns, diminishing confi- dence in a bus and rail system that records more than a million trips each weekday. Thereports—onereleased last
month by a joint task force of the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Govern- ments and another issued last week byMetro’s Riders’ Advisory Council—concluded thatMetro’s board of directors micromanages the agency and takes a parochial approach to issues, weakening the role of the general manager. The Board of Trade report
called for the creation of a seven- person Metro governance com- mission and for allowing the ex- ecutives of Maryland, Virginia and the District to each appoint a member of the board of directors. The 16-member board is appoint- ed by Maryland and Virginia transportation commissions, the
D.C. Council and the federal gov- ernment. The general manager reports to the board. Millar said that the Washing-
ton transit system is considered a “prestige agency,” in part because it is in the nation’s capital, so candidates “may be willing to tolerate a little more uncertainty coming here than some other place.”
BoardmembersChrisZimmer-
man and Jim Graham said that possible changes in the structure might give some candidates pause. But the transit agency has at-
tracted some “pretty superb” ap- plicants, Graham said. “If there was a dearth of qualified candi- dates, we would be very alarmed at this point. Not only would the search have failed, but everything else would have gone to pieces with it,” he said. Metro board Chairman Peter
Benjamin said he doubted that the governance debate would cause hesitation among top can- didates. “Being the chief executive offi-
cer ofWashingtonMetro is inher- ently a complex job that requires someoneuptoamajorchallenge,” Benjamin said. “I don’t think mi- nor changes in a major challenge is going to matter. I don’t think that will scare people away.”
Bundled up and unfurled against wintry winds Catoe’s departure in April led
to the hiring of formerNewJersey Transit chief Richard Sarles as Metro’s interim general manager on a one-year contract. Benjaminsaid theboard’s four-
person search committee could finish its interviewswith a pool of about six to eight candidates by the end of this month. The search committee would then bring about four people before the full board for consideration, he said. “I would love to have it happen
by the end of the year,” said Benja- min, who added that he would prefer not to remain as board chairman after his term expires next month. “It’s not where I want to be at
this point,” he said. “This was a very difficult year; this is a volun- teer activity.” Metro’s board of directors launched an international search across industries for a new per- manent Metro executive in the spring. Millar said that transit agen-
cies across the country have occa- sionally brought in leaders from outside the industry with mixed results. “We have seen success and
failure with that,” he said, adding that if the top person is not a transit expert, “the number twois expected to be really strong in
operations.” But a top-notch manager could
be better equipped to deal with overarching issues facing Metro, said David Alpert, a member of the Riders’ Advisory Council. “A strong CEO not from the
transit industry. . . could deal with the bigger organizational issues, cost efficiency, labor rela- tions, and that sort of thing,” he said. However, some transit experts
said they think Metro needs an experienced transit executive to tackle theproblemsinvolved with maintaining the subway system. “They need somebody that
knows how to run the damn sub- way system, that knows signals,” said veteran transit professional David Gunn, who served as Met- ro’s general manager from 1991 to 1994. He conducted a wide-rang- ing assessment of the problems at Metro this year. Gunn criticized the search
committee, saying that it was “running a beauty contest” in looking for a skilledmanager out- side the industry. “The place is collapsing, and
the problem starts at the board,” he said. “No good operating per- son is going to go to work for that board.”
tysona@washpost.com
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2010 LOCAL DIGEST MARYLAND
Trucker sentenced for taking 11-year-old A Texas trucker who took an
11-year-old PrinceGeorge’s Coun- ty girl fromher home and had sex with her was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison, federal authorities said. Elmer Zelaya-Robles, 41, of
Grand Prairie, Tex., a friend of the girl’s family, picked her up Feb. 13 and took her first to Virginia, then toTexas, according to court records. Authorities said Zelaya-Robles
called the girl’s father and said he was in love with the child. Zela- ya-Robles and the girl had talked on the phone in the months before. The girl’s parents reported her
missing, and Zelaya-Robles was stopped by police the night of Feb. 13 at a rest stop in Jackson, Tenn., authorities said. The girl was found in the sleeper area of his tractor-trailer. Zelaya-Robles pleaded guilty
to transporting the girl from Maryland to engage in sex. —Maria Glod
VIRGINIA
Cuccinelli: Medicaid opt-out study needed Virginia should study opting
out of the federal Medicaid pro- gram, state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) told reporters and editors attending the annual AP Day at the Capitol in Rich- mond on Tuesday. The state has also moved be-
yond the pointwhere it needs the federal government to oversee and approve its legislative redis- tricting process, he said. On Medicaid, Cuccinelli said
he supported a suggestion by Gov. Rick Perry (R-Tex.) that states consider withdrawing from the massive partnership with the federal government that provides funds for health care for disabled and low-income resi- dents. “It’s worth noting that that’s
LINDA DAVIDSON/THE WASHINGTON POST
Flags at theWashingtonMonument fly at half-staff on PearlHarbor Remembrance Day, but bitter temperatures and gusty winds keptMall visitors to a minimum. Sunny but cold weather is expected to last until the weekend, with highs in the next fewdays barely above freezing.
Details of Discovery standoff emerge
At forum, police official offers insights into hostage situation
BY DAN MORSE Twenty-three days before
James J. Lee strapped a bomb to his back, walked into the Discov- ery building in Silver Spring and took three hostages, he sat down and made a simple entry into the calendar on his computer: “The End,” he wrote for Sept. 1. That detail came to light Tues-
day during a training seminar on preventing workplace violence that was held at a nearby confer- ence center. It was one of many new revelations about the nearly four-hour standoff that surfaced during a 75-minute presentation byMontgomery CountyAssistant Police Chief Wayne Jerman. Among the details: lOne of the first officers to respond, Ed Paden, was off duty but heard about the bomber on his radio.He got inside the build- ing and worked his way to a control room, where he could watch Lee on security cameras. lSnipers quickly took posi-
tion outside the building and ideally would have taken Lee out, but they were concerned the glass
walls were too thick for a good shot. lAs tactical officers slipped
through the building to get near Lee, one of them — in a move evocative of the film “The Bourne Identity” — spotted a small evac- uation-route diagramon the wall, ripped it off, and used it as crude blue prints to set up position. lOne particular hostage ne-
gotiator was on the phone with Lee throughout the ordeal, at times offering to meet the bomb- er’s bizarre demands, and at oth- ers trying to dissuade him from blowing himself up. “I have nothing else to live for,”
Lee said, according to recordings played Tuesday. “Now why do you say that,Mr.
Lee?” the negotiator asked. “What do you mean you have nothing else to live for?” “This is it,” Lee said. “This is
the end, all right!” Lee, a militant environmental-
ist, wanted to air his views on overpopulation on a national net- work. But just before 5 p.m., two hostages ran from him and he tried to chase them—prompting two tactical teams to run in from behind walls and fatally shoot him. All three hostages survived. By coincidence, the seminar—
planned months ago—took place within two blocks of the Discov- ery building in downtown Silver
Spring. Jerman walked his audience
through the Discovery incident, showing snippets of internal sur- veillance videos and recordings of Lee and others talking. One of the images showed Lee
about 1 p.m.,whenhe walked into the lobby wheeling at least one box on a dolly. He can be seen removing items and strapping on a backpack frame, which held twopropane tanks and an oxygen tank on the back. Closeup photos of the device also showed a pipe bomb and an initiator built out of model rocket launcher. Jerman played recordings of
Paden, the off-duty officer, saying he was getting close to the sus- pect. Paden also warned of a low battery, indicating that his radio might go dead. Police quickly observed Lee
holding a large switch — about the size of a staple gun — in his hand. He also had a pin that he kept on a lanyard around his neck. Lee placed the pin in the switch when he moved the switch from one hand to the other. Police feared it was a “dead man’s switch” that would set the bomb off if Lee was shot. A veteran hostage negotiator
arrived before the command bus, and he started talking to Lee on his cellphone. On recordings, Lee can be
heard getting irritated. “Don’t bull [expletive] me, man. I know what you’re trying to do. Don’t bull [expletive] me.” “No, no, no,” the negotiator
calmly responds. “I’m not trying to bull [expletive] you. I’mactual- ly sitting in my car in a parking garage, and I’mtrying to help you out so we can resolve this.” Jerman also showed video of
the moments immediately before tactical officers moved in. Lee can be heard demanding
network time. The negotiator suggested that he could get a written promise from someone. “We’re going to get you a docu- ment, notarized,” he said. “Oh,wow,”Lee said sarcastical-
ly, before saying with great agita- tion: “No, no, no, no, no. It has to be broadcast on the, on the, on the, on the, on the network.” Out of sight of the camera,
there was a commotion: The hostages were running away. “Hey! Hey! Hey!” Lee yells, just before the officers make their moves. Jerman said that during the
crisis, police were trying to find out where Lee lived to search his home. But they couldn’t. Then the next day, Jerman said, his landlord called police. They searched his home and found the Outlook calendar entry.
morsed@washpost.com
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not a mandate,” he said. “No- body’s ordered to doMedicaid or Medicare. As somany things that we call mandates are, a big huge pot ofmoney is held out there by the federal government, and they say, ‘If you conformto all of these rules ... then we’ll give you this big pot of money.’ No state has turned down the big pot of money yet. But it’s gotten to the point where it’s bad enough that states are looking at it. And I think that’s a healthy thing.” — Rosalind S. Helderman
O’Malley offering government workers in Maryland a buyout
Move is attempt to trim payroll and state’s budget deficit
BY JOHNWAGNER WithMaryland facing a loom-
ing budget shortfall ofmore than $1 billion, Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) offered a buyout plan Tues- day to state employees willing to resign by the end of nextmonth.
State workers who agree to
participate in the “voluntary sep- aration program” will receive a lump-sum payment of $15,000, an additional $200 for each year of service and three months of health benefits. O’Malley, who was reelected
last month, said the program is intended to “cut costs in a fiscally responsible way” and help avoid layoffs in his budget proposal due to the General Assembly in mid-January. “Under this program, I hope to
continue to decrease the size of our workforce by allowing em- ployees to voluntarily elect to leave state government,” O’Mal- ley said in a letter e-mailed to state employees. O’Malley spokesman Rick Ab-
bruzzese declined to say how much the program might save, saying the administration would have to see how widely utilized it is.
PatrickMoran, director of AF-
SCMEMaryland, the state’s larg- est employees union, said his
group had encouraged the ad- ministration to adopt such a program for years and had worked to negotiate terms as generous as possible. “We’re happy to see it’s finally
been taken up,” Moran said. “At the end of the day, if it will alleviate potential layoffs, it’s a good thing.” Moran said the scope of the
state’s buyout offer was similar to those of other states that have tried such things. “We don’t think it will entice a
huge number of people,” he said. “It’s there to entice people who’ve been considering retiring or are on the cusp of retirement or have other job possibilities.” As Maryland has grappled
with budget shortfalls in previ- ous years, state employees have been subject to furloughs and temporary salary reductions. About 4,200 state positions have also been eliminated, according to O’Malley’s office.
wagnerj@washpost.com
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