MARTA is inching closer to hiring a permanent chief executive officer even as it approves a new compensation package for its interim CEO and adds a new deputy executive.
The agency’s board of directors will close applications for the CEO/general manager position on Labor Day and begin interviews in mid-September, spokesperson Stephany Fisher said.
MARTA has been without a permanent CEO since Jeffrey Parker died in January. Parker spent nearly four years as the agency’s chief executive.
The MARTA board formed a search committee to find Parker’s replacement in March and hired a recruiting firm in April.
Collie Greenwood, formerly MARTA’s deputy general manager for operations, has served as interim CEO since Parker’s death. On Thursday the MARTA board approved a resolution authorizing new contract terms for Greenwood while he serves in the interim role.
Under the terms, Greenwood will earn the equivalent of a $400,000 annual salary and receive a $32,000 one-time payment for his retirement plan. He also will receive a $650-per-month transportation allowance, life insurance equal to twice his salary and — at the board’s discretion — a performance bonus of up to 5% if he is still the interim director after Nov. 1.
Meanwhile, MARTA also announced Thursday that it has hired Josh Rowan as its new deputy general manager. He will oversee the agency’s capital improvement program, which includes MARTA’s expansion plans as well as maintaining and upgrading the existing transit system.
Until recently, Rowan was Atlanta’s transportation commissioner. A Georgia Tech graduate, he has 26 years of program and construction management experience. He’ll start at MARTA on Aug. 15.
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