RTD picks newest leader
Long Beach transit executive to be first woman to lead Denver metro agency
The Regional Transportation District selected Debra Johnson as its next general manager and CEO on Tuesday night, choosing the first woman to lead the Denver metro area’s transit agency in its 51-year history.
Johnson has been the deputy CEO of Long Beach Transit in California for the last six years and has experience at several large transit agencies. RTD’s board approved the designation of the new CEO 14-1, pending the negotiation of a contract and salary.
She was among three finalists, all women. The others were Adelee Le Grand, a vice president at Transdev North America, a private transit operator; and Tina Quigley, who retired in November as CEO of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, a regional planning organization that oversees the Las Vegas bus system.
“These three women were the most amazing, dynamic women leaders I’ve had the privilege to interview,” board chair Angie
Rivera-Malpiede said. “I just have to say to you, this was probably one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made.”
It’s notable that after the board culled the pool of 58 applicants, it ended up with three outside finalists. The two most recent CEOs of RTD were promoted internally — Phil Washington in 2009 and Dave Genova in 2016. Genova retired in January.
“We made history tonight, and I look forward to making a lot more positive, good history through this agency,” Director Troy Whitmore said after the vote.
The position at RTD will be Johnson’s first permanent job at the helm, though she has worked in several management positions at other transit agencies, mostly in California. Her resume includes a short stint as the interim CEO of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, in 2011.
Prior to Long Beach, she spent nearly two years as deputy chief operations officer for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
“I have been preparing to lead at this level for more than 25 years,” Johnson said during a video presentation posted on RTD’s website this month, citing her executive experience. “... I am a skilled negotiator and consensus-builder who has worked with diverse communities, elected and public officials, and other stakeholders.”
In an RTD news release Tuesday night, she said: “I am extremely humbled and equally excited about this opportunity. I look forward to working with the dynamic men and women who have made RTD such a progressive transportation agency.”
She will take over as RTD faces significant short-term and long-term challenges. When the coronavirus pandemic hit in March, it sent both ridership and sales tax revenue plummeting, straining the agency’s budget with a shortfall projected at $166 million next year.
Even before that, RTD had been struggling to close large funding gaps in its FasTracks rail-expansion plan. The agency also has been reviewing its existing service and plotting out its future as part of the “Reimagine RTD” planning effort — one that has been complicated by the pandemic, with some activities now expected to be delayed.
The board deliberated privately for about two hours, ending a process it launched last spring with help from an executive search firm.
Earlier, RTD released results of a public survey it had posted online last week along with roughly 15-minute video presentations by each finalist. Nearly 700 people responded to the anonymous survey; comments left about each ranged from highly critical to glowing.
The public feedback varied little, with all three candidates receiving a rating of 10 out of 10 — “very qualified” — from roughly a third of respondents. Johnson’s average rating was highest, at 7.72, while Le Grand averaged 7.36 and Quigley averaged 7.33.
Now the board and agency leaders will turn to negotiating a contract with Johnson, including figuring out her start date. Interim CEO Paul Ballard likely will help with the transition.
Among the issues to settle: the new CEO’s salary. That was a sticking point for Director Natalie Menten, who cast the only “no” vote not because of the candidate but, she said, because of the likelihood that RTD would pay her too high a salary, as it has for prior CEOs.
RTD’s long-standing job description for the job sets a salary range of $218,501 to $405,787, depending in part on experience. RTD’s board approved a $350,000 salary plus benefits while Ballard is in charge, while Genova’s final salary was $295,000 a year.
Menten, a fiscal hawk, wants to see that decreased by about $100,000. While she’s not the only director with that concern, Director Shontel Lewis suggested that reducing the pay when the first woman takes the job would present an equity issue.