The chair of MARTA’s board said Thursday she does not have confidence in General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood’s leadership, a statement she walked back after the meeting.
MARTA board chairwoman Jennifer Ide, who represents the city of Atlanta, made the declaration during a heated discussion at an audit committee meeting where Greenwood reasserted his objection to findings from the city’s auditor that concluded the agency overcharged for “More MARTA” enhanced bus services to the tune of nearly $70 million.
The transit agency hired its own auditing firm that found the figure is far less — about $865,000. The primary difference between the two audits is the methodology used to determine how much was spent on enhanced bus service in Atlanta.
Greenwood said he cannot support a “meet in the middle” approach because it would unfairly take money from taxpayers in DeKalb, Fulton and Clayton counties who pay into the general operating fund that would absorb the cost of any improperly billed expenses. Along the way, Greenwood disparaged the city’s auditing firm.
Ide told her colleagues she was stunned by Greenwood’s remarks, and said resolving how much is owed to each account should require board members’ approval even if other accounting true-ups don’t come before them.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
“I don’t think it is right, without a board discussion, to make a pronouncement that (MARTA’s method) is the sole and only right method of getting to the number,” said Ide, who is an attorney and former Atlanta City Council member. “It’s not what the city of Atlanta believes they signed up for.
“This will do irreparable harm to the relationship with the city of Atlanta and frankly, as I’m sitting here today, I’m not feeling confidence in your leadership, Mr. Greenwood.”
A testy exchange then followed between Greenwood and the woman who leads the board to which he reports.
“It’s MARTA’s decision and it is not a resolution item” needing a vote, Greenwood said. “We are giving it much more profile than we ever have any of these other million-dollar moves because we recognize the significance of the relationship with the city of Atlanta. But we also recognize there is a larger landscape at play here. We serve more than the city of Atlanta.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
“Well I would say buyer beware then for any other jurisdiction that is thinking about putting (their) additional tax money on the line,” Ide said. “You will have the GM of MARTA deciding how that money will be spent.”
Ide said in an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the meeting that she regrets her comments about Greenwood.
“I was clearly frustrated today, and I took Collie’s comments to be shutting the door on further discussion about the correct method of assessing the allocation of More MARTA enhanced bus fees,” Ide’s email said. “It caught me off guard, and I wish I had not said that it was affecting my confidence in him as the GM. Collie and I have a fairly significant disagreement about this issue, but I am sure we will be able to resolve it and continue to work together.”
The meeting comes one week after a similarly heated meeting in which Mayor Andre Dickens told the MARTA board that the report from the transit agency’s auditors was “a slap in the face” to Atlantans. During that meeting, MARTA board member Jim Durrett said he hopes the city and the agency can refrain from public disputes and work together more constructively.
How MARTA is using a half-penny sales tax to expand transit in Atlanta — indeed, whether MARTA has expanded transit in the city at all — has been a point of contention for years. The disagreement intensified recently and appears to have stalled progress on at least one of the projects the sales tax is funding — the Five Points Station makeover. It also comes at the same time the region is preparing for big events like next year’s FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Super Bowl.
Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC
Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC
The disagreement with Atlanta has also shown signs of dividing a normally tight-knit MARTA board. DeKalb appoints four members, Fulton appoints three and Clayton appoints two, in addition to a representative appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp and three appointed by Atlanta.
Board member Freda Hardage, who represents Fulton County, told her fellow board members she’s worried about the overall reputational hit MARTA is taking as these issues play out publicly.
“I’m very concerned about this for everyone and what it looks like for the agency,” she said.
Hardage and other non-Atlanta representatives said they want to find a solution that works for every jurisdiction. She proposed the creation of an ad hoc committee with representatives from each locality, an idea that was backed by other board members, including Ide.
“I think the conversation has probably gotten a little more emotional than it typically does but I think everyone on this board wants fairness,” said Fulton representative Al Pond, who added that he understands the unresolved concerns his Atlanta colleagues have about the audit methodology.
“Atlanta’s paying for this ... and they want to be sure they’re getting the service that money’s paying for. I do think there’s more work to be done here.”
Several said it’s important to figure out, as a board, how to count extra service in case their jurisdictions ever wanted to pass a similar sales tax.
“This is important for all of us,” DeKalb representative Rod Frierson said. “All the things now that we’re discussing about Atlanta will be applicable to us in other jurisdictions.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Greenwood said he did not intend his comments to shut down discussions that are happening with Atlanta representatives. He said the finance team has been discussing some of the outstanding questions with Atlanta board member Jacob Tzegaegbe and he welcomed broadening that conversation.
Tzegaegbe has raised concerns about the limitations of the methodology MARTA wants to use because it would tap More MARTA money for bus service that hasn’t increased.
“I don’t want to sit here and say we need to introduce a third methodology,” Tzegaegbe said. “What I’m saying is there is a lot of merit in looking at scheduled levels of service. If we cannot pull actuals, at least look at (schedules) — and what they say is that we’re not putting more buses on the road than we did before More MARTA started.”
The third Atlanta board member, Sagirah Jones, said figuring out a solution is good for everyone, not just Atlanta.
“I don’t want anyone to believe that there is any sort of animosity or unwillingness to work together,” Jones said. “That has always been the intention and should continue because we’re all here for the betterment of the system. If MARTA does work, this region is going to work.”
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