Sander Called a Victim Of Circumstance After MTA CEO Forced Out

ELLIOT SANDER: Forced to exit 'dream job.'

Elliot "Lee" Sander, who announced his resignation as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Executive Director and CEO May 7, was seen as a reformer and innovative leader as well as the person responsible for the agency's financial woes since taking the helm in 2007.

He replaced an administration that was publicly scorned for a lack of transparency with its finances and vilified by unions for skimping on worker safety and employing a supervisory workforce that was overly focused on disciplining front-line employees.

'Headed in Right Direction'

Mr. Sander, who stepped down at Governor Paterson's request after state lawmakers approved an MTA bailout package, said it was an "honor" to have what he likened to a "dream job."

"Each of the MTA's agencies is performing at peak levels, the relationship with our employees is dramatically improved and we communicate more frequently with our customers," he said in a statement. "There is more work to be done, but I leave confident knowing the MTA is headed in the right direction. I am grateful to Governor Paterson and Governor Spitzer for this wonderful opportunity. I wish Governor Paterson the best of luck in choosing a successor who will build on the progress the MTA has made over the past two and a half years."

JOHN C. LIU: Sander's problems were inherited.

Many observers believed that Mr. Sander's reputation was clouded by the sins of his predecessors; shaky accounting practices and runaway spending during the 1990s drained the agency of funds for the subsequent decade, and the nationwide financial collapse of last October only made matters worse. The conventional wisdom was that even though Mr. Sander, the former city Commissioner of Transportation and of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, was attempting to make major changes in the agency, he was given no other option than to propose massive cutbacks and fare hikes to close the widening budget gap, compounding public anger.

One of the MTA's most outspoken critics, City Council Transportation Committee Chair John C. Liu, said as much upon hearing of Mr. Sander's resignation.

'A True Policy Expert'

CHRIS SILVERA: A tough but fair negotiator.

"Lee has a passion for public service and has been a true transportation policy expert," the Queens Councilman said. "He inherited an agency whose finances were its second-biggest problem; a lack of public confidence being its major problem. He did the best he could."

Several union leaders praised Mr. Sander's tenure. Out-going Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint worked with Mr. Sander on creating new workforce development plans meant to be more collaborative, and noted that disciplines against his members went down on Mr. Sander's watch. Teamsters Local 808 President Chris Silvera, who represents track workers at Metro-North, said that a strike was averted in the summer of 2007 because Mr. Sander bargained in good faith, even while being a tough negotiator.

Boos and Shoes

Some more-excitable individuals didn't see Mr. Sander as a progressive leader. During the MTA board hearings, outspoken Station Agent Marty Goodman yelled that the MTA should lay off Mr. Sander before it moves to layoff front-line workers. One angry commuter even tried to throw his shoe at Mr. Sander in protest of the fare hikes, inspired by an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at then- President George W. Bush during a press conference.

Correction Officers Benevolent Association President Norman Seabrook, the labor-designated MTA board member, had no doubt that Mr. Sander would find employment elsewhere.

"He has the potential to work and go wherever he wants in the private sector," he said.

Mr. Seabrook cast the lone vote on the board last month against implementing Mr. Sander's "doomsday" budget plan.

"The Governor wants the MTA to be more transparent and more accountable," he said. "As a board member of that organization, I will do that all that I can to be supportive who ever the next person is. When I feel that there is something that I need to dis-