D.C. Councilman Michael Brown plans to step down from Metro’s board of directors, the latest change to hit the transit agency that has experienced record amounts of turnover. Brown, who has been an alternate on the transit agency board since January 2009, said he hopes someone with a transit background will fill the seat, arguing the agency needs more expertise. His departure was first reported by the Washington Post.
The at-large councilman has had the worst attendance record of any board member. He missed two-thirds of Metro’s board meetings over 18 months, as The Washington Examiner reported in August. Since then, he has continued to miss many — or show up for small parts — of the bimonthly meetings.
Brown acknowledges he hasn’t been to many of the meetings. He said he has been busy working on redistricting for the D.C. Council and says the schedule of an at-large council member makes it difficult to attend more meetings.
“That is an important part of being on the Metro board,” he said. “But it’s not the only part.”
Instead, he said he has represented Metro at community meetings.
“I continue to do it well,” he told The Examiner. “The one thing I don’t do well is the attendance record.”
He said he and D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown already have interviewed a handful of replacements.
“I proposed it and he understood my concerns about having transit expertise on the board,” he said.
He said he doesn’t know how long it will take to fill the slot but hopes someone will be in place by the fall. He plans to remain in the role until the replacement is found.
In the past six months, seven others on the 14-person board have left. Two seats remain vacant. Maryland, Virginia, the District and the federal government each have four seats on the board, two voting and two alternate.
With Brown’s departure, the District has two slots to fill, Brown’s seat and the one previously held by Tony Giancola, who now holds one of the federal alternate positions. The federal government still has to fill its other alternate slot.
