Metro’s new general manager has reorganized the top ranks of the agency just over a year into the job and has chosen an insider as one of his top two lieutenants. General Manager Richard Sarles had pledged to reform the agency and find the “best and the brightest” to help him rebuild it. To do so, he has been on a hiring spree, undoing the effect of past layoffs by seeking to increase the agency’s head count to more than 11,000 and offering bonuses as large as $20,000 to top administrative workers.
His latest change, announced in a memo obtained by The Washington Examiner, includes the creation of six deputy chief positions. He has reorganized which divisions report to whom, as well, such as putting the MetroAccess program under the chief financial officer as the agency looks to seek a new contract for the paratransit service.
He also chose Dave Kubicek to be the deputy general manager over operations of the transit agency. Kubicek, an employee at the agency since 2007, had been filling in at the job since late 2009 when Gerald Francis was shuffled out in a management shake-up after a series of safety problems.
Sarles had conducted a national search to find a permanent person for the role, choosing from what he called “a lot of applicants” from both inside and outside the organization. Kubicek took on the new mantle officially Monday.
“He’s a good leader and one of the important parts of the team to turn this place around and rebuild it,” Sarles said.
Kubicek previously served over the rail division, leading it during its period of greatest turmoil when the June 2009 Fort Totten crash happened, four track workers were killed in three separate accidents, and a series of derailments and safety missteps occurred.
Sarles, though, credits Kubicek with embracing safety reforms. “He really grabbed a hold of the issues and tried to rectify them,” he said.
As acting deputy general manager, Kubicek made $231,000 per year, then the third-highest salary at the agency, according to Metro records. His new salary is $240,000, Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said.
Besides Kubicek, four members of Sarles’ 14-person executive leadership team have changed positions in the past year, with one departure and three new faces.
