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BART chief executive Grace Crunican announced Thursday that she would retire, saying she had been in the position longer than her predecessor and that the new leadership would be beneficial.
His announcement at the BART board meeting apparently took the eight people by surprise.
BART faces a host of challenges, including a $ 25 million per year tariff evasion problem, aging infrastructure and trains, and growing customer frustration with crime, homeless users and the cleanliness of the transit system. Last week, the BART police chief announced that he would retire in May. This week, the entire department launched an "emergency staffing" process to combat crime and "quality of life" issues in BART.
Crunican said his last day would be July 6th, a few days after his 64th birthday. She has been on BART for seven years.
"Everyone has to retire from time to time," Crunican told The Chronicle. "It's hard work, but it's really in good hands. There is a good group of leaders in place. "
She added that her greatest pride was "doing a lot to ensure the future of the agency," which meant guiding the new fleet of cars, which had been delayed. She also stated that she was proud to improve working relationships, overseeing the addition of a travel planning application for clients and overseeing billions of dollars in business. 39 improvements planned or underway for the train control system, the power system and other system elements. system.
And now, she said, "It will be nice to have new eyes in this seat."
BART administrators did not learn that the news of Crunican was coming at their regular meeting on Thursday. After she made her announcement, there was a short pause before the jury gave her a standing ovation. They hired Crunican for his work improving the rail and safety fleet.
"It will be difficult to fill your shoes," the director, Debora Allen of Contra Costa County told The Chronicle. "She is a strong and direct leader. There are so many moving elements, hidden agendas and political agendas, and I think she has done a great job balancing all the interests at stake here. But I also understand that people are tired. Maybe it was just the case here. "
"The dividends are paying off in the renewal of the system," said Oakland director Robert Raburn.
Some critics have pointed out, however, that Crunican was leaving at a tumultuous time for BART, a backbone transport system for the Bay Area with a budget of $ 2.3 billion and 425,000 passengers a day. A survey presented to the board of directors in January showed that customer satisfaction dropped to 56% last year, compared to 69% three years ago, despite the agency's efforts to repair old machines, improve security and clean the stations.
A memo issued by Police Chief Carlos Rojas, obtained by The Chronicle, ordered the entire department to be staffed by "emergency personnel" in order to solve the jumping problems. tariffs, "quality of life issues and BART crime" starting Monday. Complaints about homelessness in trains have increased. On Thursday, NBC TV Channel 11 released a recording of a BART officer allegedly telling a runner that it would be "a waste of resources" for the runner to report that he would have been stolen under the threat of A gun in a station.
State Senator Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, a frequent critic of BART, admitted that running the agency was difficult and demanding. But he criticized his performance.
"I would say that there has been a big dysfunction in the agency in the last 10 years," he said. "There has to be a responsibility for that at all levels, from the director general to the board of directors. And it's not a very good record. "
For all that Crunican has done to improve the BART, it has also contributed to its lingering problems, said Glazer.
"Even though she has ensured that all BART trains are equipped with security cameras, we still face serious security problems," he said. "She has found money to buy new BART cars, but their acquisition is years behind – years."
Glazer also raised issues related to excessive overtime imposed on employees, a fine for violating the BART campaign during the election of Measure RR infrastructure bonds and two 2013 strikes that blocked the system, disturbing hundreds of thousands of BART commuters.
"These are difficult points of analysis," he said, "but they are accurate."
The opinions were shared between the BART riders while the news reverberated on the wagons.
"Well, maybe they will hire someone who can make changes," said 69-year-old Mike Nash, at the Civic Center station, as he prepared to board a train bound for Antioch "It's time for BART to turn a new page and do something better than they did, maybe they need a reshuffle."
Mike Davis, older, was of average age and was waiting in the same station for a train to Pleasanton.
"I do not think she was doing a bad job," he said. "Maybe she was stressed by the work. There are many things to emphasize. "
The board will now be responsible for choosing the replacement for Crunican. On Thursday, she suggested Deputy Director General Robert Powers.
Crunican has been Executive Director since August 2011. She joined Seattle's Transportation Department and succeeded Dorothy Dugger, who led BART for four years as the first Executive Director of the system.
Crunican was hired as General Manager of BART at the time of major unrest at the transit agency.
Dugger had just been sacked by the board of directors following a very divided vote. The agency was attacked for two shots fired by BART police – including Oscar Grant's incendiary assassination at Fruitvale Station in 2009 – and for shutting down the cell phone service to stop a demonstration against the BART police.
But the new CEO promised a change at BART and said that she loved the challenge. From the beginning, Crunican has forged a reputation as a right shooter. During her hiring interview, former director Lynette Sweet said that she had explained to the directors what they were doing wrong and that they needed to focus on the job. # 39; essential.
"She made us feel uncomfortable," said Sweet in a 2011 interview. "She told us what we did not do as a board, why we had to do things differently, and talked about a variety of reasons."
Crunican arrived about a year after leaving his position as head of Seattle's transportation department. She had resigned after failing to keep the city roads open during a major snowstorm, which made her more politically responsible.
Chronicle editor Erin Allday contributed to this report.
Gwendolyn Wu, Kevin Fagan and Michael Cabanatuan are editors of the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Twitter: @gwendolynawu, @ KevinChron, @ctaun
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