By the time the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Board came out of the executive session last Tuesday night, it was late. Board members had spent more than two hours deliberating behind closed doors, the audience slowly filing out as their patience wore thin. While board members themselves had remained tight-lipped about candidates for DART’s new CEO up until this point, three contenders for the role had been released the week before.
First was Nathaniel P. Ford Sr., the CEO of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA). Second was Dee Leggett, the current Director of Business Operations at Herzog Transit Services and the former Executive Vice President/Chief Development Officer at DART. Monica Tellez-Fowler, the President/CEO of the Central Ohio Transit Authority, which operates in the Columbus area, rounded out the group of finalists.
On Saturday, all three candidates appeared at a public forum. “I think a lot of people, number one, appreciated the process and appreciated DART extending the opportunity for them to come in and introduce themselves,” said DART Board Chair Randall Bryant, adding that the mayors and city managers of DART member cities, as well as union officials, had also met with the candidates…