Heather Curtis
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON (WMAL) – Metro’s general manager will be staying on the job at least through November of 2021. The transit agency’s board approved a two-year extension of Paul Wiedefeld’s contract Thursday, which was originally set to end in November of 2019. The contract extension includes a controversial 9 percent raise, which boosts Wiedefeld’s salary from $397,500 annually to $435,000. It also makes Wiedefeld eligible for yearly performance based raises of 5 to 10 percent.

“Paul rightly deserves the increase,” said board chair Jack Evans.

Evans pointed out that Wiedefeld was entitled to a bonus and other increases since he took the job in 2015 but turned them down. Given that, Wiedefeld said the 9 percent raise is the equivalent of getting a 3 percent increase each year he was on the job.

All the board members expressed their confidence in Wiedefeld’s leadership ability, including his willingness to make tough calls like shutting down the entire rail system for a day in 2016 because of safety concerns. However, board member Michael Goldman voted again the contract saying the timing wasn’t right to discuss a compensation package.

“The optics of this are bad. We shouldn’t be inflicting, requiring pain from our riders and pain from our jurisdictions and pain from employees and, on the other hand, making a significant increase in the compensation for our general manager,” Goldman said.

The raise did not represent the shared sacrifice discussed by the board in the past, according to Goldman.

A collective bargaining agreement approved by the board earlier in the meeting gave members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 an average annual raise of 1.6 percent over four years between 2016 and 2020. The agreement came after arbitration between the transit agency and the union.

President of ATU Local 689, Jackie Jeter, yelled out from her seat in the audience during the meeting “1.6 percent versus 10 percent!”

Union leadership did not formally speak at the meeting but said in a statement the contract extension was a slap in the face to the riding public. The union called Wiedefeld a “lying, manipulative failure”

Some union members use the public comment portion of the meeting to voice their frustrations over the fact that Wiedefeld is getting a larger raise than they are getting.

Evans and other board members contended that without the raise and contract extension, Wiedefeld could leave the transit agency and go somewhere that paid more and offered better benefits.

“Leadership matters, and losing competent leadership could spell disaster or major loss or waste of the taxpayer dollars,” said board member Clarence Crawford.

When pressed by reporters, Wiedefeld said he has gotten other job offers since taking the position at Metro but didn’t elaborate. Despite the challenges he faces, he said this is the best job he’s ever had.

“I love the job,” Wiedefeld added.

Union members also believe Wiedefeld’s salary is way too high, but board member Christian Dorsey said the contract is by no means generous compared to those given to other transit agency heads.

Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: WMAL’s Heather Curtis)