High-Level Personnel Changes At Metro

Tangherlini Shifts MetroAccess Chief

In his first personnel reshuffle since taking over Metro 3 1/2 months ago, Dan Tangherlini has removed the manager of MetroAccess, the agency's troubled service for the disabled, and is forcing out two other senior managers.

Tangherlini, the District's former transportation director who was tapped in February to become interim general manager at Metro, also is streamlining the bureaucracy to ensure that those in charge of trains, buses, MetroAccess, police and safety answer directly to him. That change is designed to strengthen his oversight of a transit system that employs 10,000 people and transports more than 1.1 million riders daily.

"The idea is to reduce the distance between me and the customer and between me and the employee," Tangherlini said. He said the changes are designed to foster a team approach, something he favors over Metro's traditional reporting hierarchy, which sometimes meant that "issues that are brewing don't get to the top soon enough."

In an early meeting with senior staff, Tangherlini said that if they were enamored of their ranks and titles, "the military is hiring."

Under the reorganization, Pamela Wilkins, who had been responsible for MetroAccess, will be shifted to a job overseeing workers' compensation claims. Christian Kent, her deputy, will become acting chief operating officer for MetroAccess.

MetroAccess has long been the target of complaints, and a group of disabled riders filed a lawsuit last year contending that the service is so poor that it violates federal law. About 16,000 elderly or disabled people are eligible to use it.

Wilkins was in charge when Metro switched MetroAccess contractors Jan. 15, a transition that led to record numbers of complaints from riders who were stranded or delayed. The situation attracted the interest of a member of Congress and the region's Transportation Planning Board, which blamed weak management and poor monitoring. The chief executive of MV Transportation, the company that took over the service, called it the worst transition he had ever seen.

Tangherlini assembled a team to reduce the number of missed and excessively late MetroAccess trips. In an initial report, an advisory group named by the Metro board said it was unusual for one company, such as MV, to be in charge of everything -- from reservations to scheduling to dispatch -- likening the situation to the "fox guarding the henhouse."

Tangherlini was chosen to replace Richard A. White, who was forced out by the Metro board after a tenure marked by strides in fixing complex funding problems but struggles with daily crises, including broken escalators, faulty rail cars and preventable accidents.

White was an aloof executive and a self-described introvert who was never comfortable mingling with the rank and file. By contrast, Tangherlini is personable and outgoing. He roams work sites to talk with employees at all levels. Many have said they are pleased and energized by his attention.

The management shake-up marks a significant change from how White ran the company. White installed Wilkins to run MetroAccess, and when problems erupted in January, he put part of the blame on riders, saying they expected too much.

The two departing managers are William F. Scott II, deputy general manager in charge of employee and labor relations, human resources and procurement, and P. Takis Salpeas, deputy general manager for planning, development, engineering and construction. Severance packages are under negotiation, according to agency sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.