CHICAGO — Last month, Mayor Brandon Johnson sent a two-sentence letter to the City Council informing alderpeople he was filling a year-old vacancy on the CTA board.
Most transit advocates welcomed the mayor’s selection of Roberto Requejo, founding director of advocacy group Elevated Chicago and a respected voice on accessible and safe transportation issues. But the mayor’s letter said nothing about how Requejo was chosen or why Johnson had waited nine months to fill the position while the CTA struggled to deliver basic services to riders.
It’s the latest example of how the process of picking the CTA board is shrouded in secrecy — and leads to the board’s failure to provide oversight.
By law, the mayor and governor choose who’s serving on the CTA board, and they don’t have to explain how they made their picks.
And for decades the board has more often been filled with their political allies than policy experts.
The CTA is at a crossroads as dysfunction has become synonymous with the service it provides. Trains and buses are running far less frequently, City Council leaders are routinely calling on the mayor to replace its leadership and the agency is facing a fiscal cliff with pandemic aid soon running dry.
Transit organizers believe reforming the CTA board is essential for getting the system back on track. That starts with addressing how members are appointed and ensuring the board provides checks and balances on CTA’s executive leadership.
“The current selection process lacks transparency and public input,” said Amy Rynell, executive director for Active Transportation Alliance. “To address this, a more transparent process should include clear criteria for board selection, opportunities for public input and thorough vetting of candidates’ qualifications and potential conflicts of interest.”
For months, Block Club Chicago asked the mayor’s and governor’s offices to explain how they identify and interview board members. Both provided general statements but neither answered these specific questions: How are candidates evaluated? What qualifications should be considered?
A spokesperson for Johnson said appointments are based on skills and alignment with the mayor’s goals. A spokesperson for Gov. JB Pritzker said the governor aims to appoint “the most qualified and skilled” people to the board.
Rynell said the city and state should establish a joint selection committee that includes a community representative. This committee would make sure qualified people are sitting on the board while holding board members accountable to “residents who rely on public transportation.”
The transit board is made up of seven members, known as directors, with three appointed by the governor and four by the mayor. Directors are tasked with approving contracts, setting policies and signing off on the decisions of CTA executives.
But the board is often seen as a plum position for politically connected people, and directors rarely challenge CTA leadership, even when the system is in distress.
During the pandemic, the transit board praised CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. and rewarded him with routine pay increases as ridership plummeted and safety concerns rose, Block Club previously reported. It was also reported board members rarely ride the system.
Board directors say they are independent of the CTA’s leadership. But board members ignored Block Club’s messages about how they were selected and how they view their roles. Instead, the board used a CTA spokesperson to respond to questions.
“Each of us brings a wealth of professional experience and engagement with the communities in our transit region, and we apply that diversity of expertise and perspective to the decisions we make,” the CTA spokesperson said on behalf of the board.
State Rep. Kam Buckner, a legislative leader on transit issues, said he has often met with the governor about appointments to boards across the state. Still, he doesn’t know how directors for the transit board were selected.
Usually governors pick someone they already have a relationship with, often after their contact expresses interest in an appointment, he said.
“Gov. [Bruce] Rauner appointed me to the Board of Trustees at Chicago State University, and the governor and I had never met before that appointment,” Buckner said. “So there was somebody on the inside advocating for me.”
A Connected Board
Board members receive annual pay of $25,000, with the board chair receiving $50,000.
For years, the board has been dominated by members with political connections and clout, including operatives for former Mayor Richard M. Daley, a Republican political consultant convicted for his involvement in a kickback scheme, former alderpeople, loyalists who have worked in city agencies and Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks.
Those appointments of people with strong political ties have continued in recent years.
The transit board’s vice chair, the Rev. L. Bernard Jakes, is a political ally of former Mayor Lori Lightfoot. In 2018, two months after launching her mayoral campaign, Lightfoot spoke fondly of spending time with Jakes. A year later, after winning the mayoral runoff, she visited Jakes’ church again.
Jakes delivered the invocation at Lightfoot’s 2019 inauguration and three months later was appointed to the transit board by Pritzker.
While Lightfoot was in office, Jakes defended her COVID-19 restrictions on in-person worship and led prayers at City Council. Jakes also delivered the opening prayer for Lightfoot’s farewell address.
The Rev. Johnny Miller remains on the board though his term officially expired in 2021. Johnson has not spoken publicly about replacing Miller or renewing his term.
Miller has orbited Chicago politics for more than 25 years.
He served on the Chicago Police Board twice, between 1998 and 2003 and again between 2011 and 2013.
In 2002, Miller introduced Daley just before the mayor announced his campaign for a fourth term.
“I’m supporting the mayor because I believe he has brought the community together,” Miller said, according to the Chicago Defender.
Miller was appointed to the CTA board by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2016. Last year, Lightfoot tried to push Miller’s reappointment through a lame-duck City Council, but it didn’t pass.
Most recently, Miller has been entangled in questions regarding his relationship with city Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin and Ald. Jason Ervin (28th). Both are members of his church.
The Tribune reported in November that Conyears-Ervin asked top BMO Harris Bank officials to issue a loan to the landlord for Ervin’s aldermanic office. The landlord is Miller.
CTA BOARD MEMBERS
What Does An Effective Transit Board Look Like?
As the executive director of TransitCenter, Stephanie Lotshaw has helped run national workshops to teach board members across the country how to govern a transit agency effectively.
Lotshaw said it’s not unusual for transit boards to include some political appointees — but they should be balanced with a diverse range of perspectives.
Chicago’s transit board has some directors with valuable experience, like Michele Lee, a disability rights advocate who promotes better accessibility, Lotshaw said.
But more can be done to make the appointment process less political, Lotshaw said.
“What makes a good board is one that is composed of people with public interest and composed of people who are connected with people that are underrepresented,” she said. “We have to remember that transit is an important use of public dollars and it’s a big use of dollars to benefit the community, and their voices need to be incorporated there.”
Rynell said an effective board should have directors with a broad range of expertise, such as urban planning, financial management, human services, accessibility, community engagement and especially transportation.
“Having members with transit expertise, broadly defined, is essential,” Rynell said. “This could bring crucial insights into complex issues such as route planning, fare structures and service frequency and contribute to informed decision-making.”
Yet mayors and governors have rarely made that a priority for the CTA board. Out of more than 50 appointments over the past 40 years, only three were transportation experts. None was appointed by a mayor.
Gov. James Thompson appointed one of the transportation experts in 1981. Gov. Pat Quinn picked others in 2009 and then in 2012; both left their posts more than eight years ago.
Ashish Sen, former director of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics for the U.S. Department of Transportation, was tapped by Quinn in 2012.
Sen said he never applied for the position. Instead, he was asked to join Quinn for breakfast, and Sen left feeling as if he had been interviewed for a job.
“Then I got a call shortly after from one of his people saying he wanted to put me on the CTA board,” Sen said. “I think Quinn was deliberate about appointing two experts. … He was sort of proud of who he had appointed to the board.”
Sen, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois Chicago’s Urban Transportation Center, said mayors and governors are elected to carry out the agendas they campaigned on, and board appointments are part of that.
But Sen said it is vital CTA board appointments include at least two transit experts.
“Otherwise you run the risk of the only transit expert becoming isolated,” he said.
Most transit agencies across the country — like those in New York; Washington, D.C.; Boston; San Francisco and Philadelphia — have at least one transportation expert on their boards.
In addition, the chair of the Metra Board of Directors, Romayne Brown, has more than 30 years of experience as a manager at the CTA.
Organizers said Johnson moved in the right direction when he notified the City Council that he is appointing Requejo to the board. And the Mayor’s Office touted Requejo as a logical choice.
“Mr. Requejo aligns with Mayor Johnson’s vision of building affordable housing across the city while making investments into our world-class public transit system,” a spokesperson for Johnson said in a statement. “Mr. Requejo will be a strong advocate for commuters, transit workers, and residents as a Public Transit Board member.”
Requejo’s appointment still needs the City Council’s approval. He declined an interview with Block Club until after his confirmation.
“I am hoping to help move forward the transportation agenda developed by the 30+ member transition committee that I co-chaired for then mayor-elect Johnson last year,” Requejo said in a written statement.
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