Cal Marsella resigning as RTD chief

The Associated Press reported that RTD Director Cal Marsella is resigning from his position to take a private sector job with MV Transportation Inc.

I am no fan of Marsella. He constantly loaded his position with huge and undeserved benefits. On his way out for example, Marsella will get crash credit for 2,000 hours of unused vacation and sick time. He also was the man in charge of the RTD incompetence we have seen since the beginning of FasTracks. During the last five years, RTD has gone hugely over-budget and probably will have to delay the ambition transit plan mostly due to their inability to figure out the actual costs of the project. The transit system has also seen massive service cutbacks, fare increases, disputes with its labor and a scandal-plagued leadership that uses tax dollars for luxurious business trips.

But in the 14 years he has been RTD director, Marsella has also guided RTD's implementation of thee separate light rail lines that were both under-budget and wildly successful. And he has done much to promote the use of transit for all in the district, even if he makes it harder for riders to actually afford and use the system.

I prefer to use Marsella's resignation as an opportunity to bring new voices and leaders to a system that is clearly in stagnation. In the coming weeks, riders need to be a voice in the process of choosing a new RTD director. We need to make sure whoever that person is will listen to our concerns instead of becoming another career bureaucrat like Marsella became. The Marsella era is over...what's in store for the next stop is for us to decide.