More changes are slated to come to Metro’s board of directors after Virginia’s governor unexpectedly won a power play to secure a seat on the 14-person board. But it’s not clear when the new person will take the seat — or exactly who will be pushed out in the game of musical chairs.
Some observers believe Fairfax County will lose a seat on the board, but Arlington or Alexandria could lose their direct roles in Metro affairs instead. Either way, the change means yet more upheaval at the transit agency. Seven of Metro’s 14 seats have already changed hands in the past four months, with long-time veterans fleeing the board both by choice – and by force.
| The Va. power struggle for Metro |
| Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell had been trying to secure a seat on Metro’s board for almost a year: |
| • In June, he threatened to withhold $50 million from Metro unless the state was able to appoint two of the four Virginia representatives to Metro’s board. He lost that high stakes game of chicken at the last minute. |
| • Then Del. Jim LeMunyon, R-Loudoun, introduced a bill securing the seat for McDonnell. Though it cleared the House, it was killed in a Senate committee. |
| • Finally, the seat was attached at the last minute as a budget amendment, then approved, in what Northern Virginia Transportation Commission spokeswoman Kala Quintana Leggett called a “three-pointer at the buzzer.” |
Now, after nearly a year of effort, Gov. Bob McDonnell has secured a single voting seat on Metro’s board in an amendment tacked onto the state budget.
Virginia now has four seats on the board of directors, two of them voting members and two alternates. (Maryland and the District also have four seats apiece, and two others are reserved for federal appointees.) Typically, Virginia’s seats are given to two elected Fairfax County officials, one Arlington politician and one elected official from the cities of Falls Church, Fairfax or Alexandria. Virginia’s Metro slots are chosen by the 20-person Northern Virginia Transportation Commission.
Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation Director Thelma Drake said Fairfax County would likely lose its alternate seat, currently held by Fairfax County Supervisor Jeff McKay. Arlington would lose its voting seat, shifting to an alternate role, she said. She would step down from the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission so that a “transit professional” from Northern Virginia could take on the role there and at Metro – a person they are already looking for, she said.
But McKay said it’s too early to determine. Fairfax contributes more than twice the amount that Arlington, Alexandria or Falls Church do to the transit agency, he said, so it deserves to have a bigger say in the agency’s affairs. Instead the jurisdictions might rotate, he said.
Drake, meanwhile, also said the change could take place immediately as the act takes effect immediately upon the signing of the bill. But she said that it could take a while to find the right person but certainly by July 1.
But McKay said the bill did not outline a timeline for the change. Furthermore, board members just began new terms in January and they are currently mired in negotiating Metro’s budget for the coming fiscal year. The Virginia budget, which the seat was tied to, doesn’t start until July 1. “One has to have sensitivity about all the different timelines,” he said.
