A Republican congressman on Tuesday gave an unofficial certificate of appreciation to the new Washington, D.C. Metro general manager because he “took action and fired people.”
Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said at a Tuesday hearing that he created the “special congressional recognition” after being impressed that Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld responded to his request to fire people over new safety and reliability issues about the rail system.
Wiedefeld fired 20 managers last week, including seven senior managers, as part of his “restructuring” of WMATA since he took the job November 2015.
“If we can get more people in other agencies — TSA, the EPA, on and on — to take the action you have we’d have much better government. Thank you for stepping up to the plate and doing your job responsibly,” said Rep. Mica as he gave the award to Wiedefeld, who was testifying at the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure committee hearing focusing on improving the transit system.
Mica said this is the first time he has given the recognition in his 24 years as a congressman. He said he plans to grant gold, silver, and bronze level awards to public servants who display similar leadership. Mica awarded the WMATA general manager the silver level award.
Mica said if the WMATA does not improve safety, service, and accountability to his standards, he plans on introducing a “very nice privatization bill to turn this over to private management.”
Lois Frankel, D-Fla., responded to her colleague’s action by arguing that “a better award would be for training.” Wiedefeld testified his focus is on improving employee education as the last thing he wants to do is let someone go, though he understands it is sometimes necessary.
