Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell says he will “absolutely” continue to push for state representation on the Metro board of directors despite resistance from Northern Virginia officials. “It’s mind-boggling to me that Virginia would be the only jurisdiction that pays big money into Metro but doesn’t have a seat at the table,” McDonnell said. “Everybody should understand that.”
The Virginia House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would give the state a seat on the board.
McDonnell said his staff met with representatives from the offices of Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray over the past few months to discuss ways to reform the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority that runs Metro.
“One of those ideas is Virginia having a seat at the table,” McDonnell said in an interview with The Washington Examiner. “I think one way or the other, we will accomplish that. I’d just like it to be sooner rather than later.”
McDonnell and state lawmakers have taken aim at the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, which picks Virginia’s four representatives to the Metro board. The commission now gives two Metro board seats to Fairfax County, one to Arlington County and one to an elected official from either Falls Church, Fairfax City or Alexandria. None of the seats goes to a representative of the state government.
Maryland and D.C. each have four seats, and the state of Maryland appoints two of its four representatives. Two other seats are reserved for federal appointees.
The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission last month wrote to McDonnell indicating they would be willing to support an appointment from Virginia to the board, but not at the expense of the four seats now assigned to local officials.
Kala Leggett Quintana, the transportation commission’s outreach coordinator, said that while D.C. and Maryland pay 100 percent of the Metro bill, the bulk of Virginia’s funding comes from localities, not the state, and so the current allocation of seats is proper.
“We’ve tried to negotiate in good faith, and I think the governor feels he’s negotiated in good faith,” she said.
The wrangling has been going on since June, when McDonnell threatened to withhold Virginia’s share of a $150 million annual local match for Metro’s capital expenditures unless the state gets representation on the board.
