Negotiations Start on New Contract for Catoe
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Friday, May 29, 2009
Metro's board of directors wants to keep John B. Catoe Jr. at the helm of the transit authority and is negotiating a new contract, members said yesterday.
Catoe took over Metro in January 2007. His contract expires in January. The board is working out terms of a new contract, board Chairman Jim Graham said. Catoe's salary is about $326,000 and he has a $60,000 living allowance. Faced with ongoing budget issues at Metro, he recently took a voluntary pay cut of 3 percent, or about $9,780 a year.
"I would like him to stay," Graham said, adding that the Washington native has strong support from every member.
"He's doing a very, very good job," said Vice Chairman Peter Benjamin.
Catoe, 61, was named the nation's top public transportation manager for 2009 by the American Public Transportation Association, an industry group. The award was announced yesterday at a Metro board meeting. It was the first time in 20 years that a Metro general manager has won the award.
Graham praised Catoe for Metro's "nearly flawless performance" on Inauguration Day, "when the eyes of the world were upon us . . . when 1.5 million people needed to get around this city and this region." Metro provided an unprecedented 17 hours of rush-hour service that day, making it the highest ridership day in the agency's 33-year history.
