When the long-awaited Metro Safety Commission gathers for its orientation Wednesday, the group will include two former chairs of the National Transportation Safety Board , the former head of the nation's largest transit system , and a onetime executive of perhaps the country's best-known transportation advocacy group.
"We've got a very strong group of commissioners with a very wide variety of experience," said Jennifer Mitchell, director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. "I think they're going to work very well together."
More than two years after the Federal Transit Administration took over safety oversight of the rail system, the new panel is moving toward federal certification after a lengthy legislative and appointment process. Founding legislation has been enacted at the federal, state and D.C. levels, and eight of nine commissioners have been appointed. But significant tasks remain: the hiring of an executive director, legislative confirmations of the commissioners and the selection of a chair from among their ranks.
The FTA has withheld $15.8 million from the District, Maryland and Virginia for their failure to establish the group by a February 2017 deadline — money that will be restored upon the commission's launch.
The D.C. Council held public hearings Monday on the District's three appointees, including former city administrator Robert Bobb, former Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency director Christopher Geldart, and — perhaps the highest-profile of the commission's appointees, former National Transportation Safety Board chairman Christopher A. Hart.
Bobb and Geldart were appointed by Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and would serve as principal and alternate members, respectively. The council appointed Hart. All three are subject to council confirmation, with a vote expected Tuesday.
As vice chairman and later chairman of the NTSB, Hart oversaw investigations into both of Metro's most high-profile safety incidents, including its most deadly — the 2009 Red Line crash near the Fort Totten station that killed nine, including the train operator. He also oversaw the investigation into the 2015 Yellow Line smoke calamity that killed 61-year-old Carol I. Glover and sickened scores of others.
"What I bring to the table is expertise in transit safety," Hart, who said he rode Metro to the hearing, told the D.C. Council on Monday. "I've been extensively involved with every serious mishap that Metro has had since 2009 with Fort Totten, so I think I am intensely qualified to look at the present state of the system and how to make it better."
Meanwhile, Geldart faced the most serious questioning in light of a recent Washington City Paper report highlighting the D.C. Office of the Inspector General's findings that he committed ethics violations during his time at HSEMA, findings that were later dismissed by D.C.'s Board of Ethics and Government Accountability (BEGA).
Among the inspector general's findings were that Geldart used his authority as a government official for the private gain of a "close personal acquaintance" and that he used a government vehicle for personal purposes. But the ethics board later dismissed the investigation, saying "insufficient evidence exists to support a reasonable belief that a violation has occurred."
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said at a news conference before the hearing that BEGA's conclusion was unlikely to put Geldart's nomination in jeopardy.
"My sense is that's not going to imperil the nomination," Mendelson said. "There's always concerns, but the question is how great the concerns are. The fact that BEGA concluded that there was not an ethics violation is satisfactory."
Geldart, who serves as chief operating officer of a software firm, defended himself against accusations of misconduct.
"I don't believe there was a breach of ethics in the things that I did in my five years with District government service," he said.
Bobb, the former D.C. administrator and emergency financial manager for Detroit public schools, is a turnaround specialist who owns a consulting business but lacks experience specific to transit. Pressed by Mendelson on his relevant experience, he pointed to his extensive work with cities and local entities, some with troubled histories.
"I have been city manager of a number of jurisdictions across the country," Bobb said, having earlier touted his "history of service with the District of Columbia government."
He pledged to oversee Metro's safety in similar fashion, "including performing inspections, investigating certain practices and incidents" with the commission. "This is a weighty task and one I take seriously," Bobb said. "The lives of millions of people annually depend on the work we will do here."
A spokeswoman for Bowser defended both of her picks in a series of written statements on Monday.
Geldart has "20 years of homeland security experience and a strong track record of leading large governmental agencies," the Bowser spokeswoman said. Bowser's office did not address the ethics concerns raised against Geldart in the hearing.
In addressing Bobb's experience, the spokeswoman said his public finance credentials fit the terms of the commission's founding legislation, which specifies appointees should have experience in fields from transit safety and transportation to "relevant engineering disciplines, or public finance."
Bobb "has more than 40 years of executive management experience in both the private and public sectors, including public financing," the spokeswoman said.
Virginia's and Maryland's appointees are awaiting confirmation by state legislative bodies, the Virginia General Assembly and the Maryland Senate, a process that is expected to be complete by spring. The Maryland Senate is expected to hold confirmation hearings Feb. 12, according to Del. Marc A. Korman (D-Montgomery).
Virginia's appointees are Greg Hull, former vice president of the American Public Transportation Association, and Mark V. Rosenker, former chairman of the NTSB.
Maryland's appointees are Howard H. Roberts Jr., former president of New York City Transit and Debra A. Farrar-Dyke, who formerly served as a Metro liaison for disadvantaged business enterprises and currently serves on the Maryland Transportation Commission. Virginia has yet to appoint an alternate, while Maryland selected John Contestabile, program manager for homeland security for the applied physics lab of Johns Hopkins University.
Mitchell said commissioners are considered as seated amid the confirmation process, and Wednesday's orientation at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and an upcoming action meeting are necessary steps ahead of FTA certification.
At Monday's hearing, Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who serves as Metro board chairman, raised broad questions about the mission of the safety body. Would appointees' decisions be made with the safety of the system in mind, for example, or would their interests be with the jurisdiction that appointed them?
The Metro board has been criticized for its complex structure — involving eight voting and eight alternate members, with dual loyalties to Metro and their appointing jurisdictions.
Evans used the example of Metro's late-night hours, which were curtailed by General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld in an action set to expire after the 2019 fiscal year.
"Critical to the District's economy is late-night hours, which we stopped last year — because we need more track time," Evans said, referring to vital maintenance windows. "You guys represent the District. Where do you come down on that?"
"I would have to come down on the part of safety," Bobb said.
Questioning by council member Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) took a similar tack. She noted Wiedefeld's unprecedented decision to close the system for a day amid critical safety concerns in March 2016.
"How will you make that type of decision?" she asked, as officials noted the commission would have the power to compel a shutdown of all or parts of the rail system.
Hart said he had great respect for Wiedefeld's decision, which involved putting his job on the line.
"That's obviously a last resort if things aren't going well," he said. "That's a last resort — if all else fails."
Bobb said such decisions should be made with precise, methodical consideration.
"It should be based on really great analysis, rationale-wise — so it doesn't give the impression that [it] is just making a rash decision that could affect thousands of individuals who use the system every day," Bobb said.
Fenit Nirappil contributed to this report.