Greanias takes"interim” helm at METRO

Frank Wilson resigns

Jay Blazek Crossley, May 10, 10.

Following a week of speculation, Frank Wilson has resigned as CEO of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO), and the METRO board, including 5 new members appointed by City of Houston Mayor Annise Parker, has hired George Greanias as interim President and CEO, according to Houston Chronicle.

Greanias recently served as Chair of Mayor Parker’s transition team focused on METRO. He previously served on the Houston City Council and as Controller, where he fought unsuccessfully against Mayor Bob Lanier’s effort to divert one fourth of METRO’s funding, and then ran for Mayor in 1997, as detailed in a 1997 Houston Press article.

Wilson agreed to a deal with the METRO board to terminate his contract in exchange for payments totaling $456,000, about half as much as many speculated in recent weeks. While he has brought METRO to the brink of constructing 5 new light rail lines that will connect 65 neighborhoods and 4 of Houston’s 5 largest employment centers, Wilson’s legacy is marred by various allegations, most notably that METRO may have violated federal ‘Buy America’ rules, as described in the Chronicle article.

Many Houstonians worry about the threats to funding of Houston’s transit strategy, but City of Houston Mayor Annise Parker believes that the problems can be solved: “It is a new day for openness and transparency at Metro ... Now that a new board and chief executive officer are in place, I am committed to working hand-in-hand with the new leadership and the (Federal Transit Administration) to achieve the next phase of light rail in Houston.” US Representative Shelia Jackson Lee, who appeared on stage with US Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last week in Houston, believes “the federal grant is not in jeopardy because we have a good team in Washington [working to secure it],” as quoted in the Chronicle.

ABC 13 News spoke with George Greanias, who told them that he is committed to the existing light rail plan, and that he will work to minimize the impact of construction for communities and businesses: “Part of my job will be to make sure that we do everything, everything that’s reasonable and humanly possible, to help everyone get through that construction period as painlessly as we can.”