The Dallas Area Rapid Transit parted ways with outgoing President and CEO Nadine Lee on Friday.
After over three hours of deliberations in closed session, the transit agency’s board of directors finalized a separation agreement with Lee and appointed Gene Gamez, DART’s general counsel, as the acting CEO until the agency finds someone to fill the role in the interim.
DART officials declined to provide information about Lee’s severance. But a news release soon after the vote shed more light on the back-and-forth leading up to Friday. Lee asked the board not to renew her contract on March 13.
Three days later, DART Board Chair Randall Bryant began discussing ways to “amicably transition” Lee early enough to give the next administrator time to prepare the upcoming year’s budget.
Bryant was negotiating conditions of the separation agreement with Lee for a week after a March 24 vote by the board. However, those discussions did not yield “any consensus under the conditions approved by the board.”
“Therefore, in the best interests of the agency, we have made the decision to terminate Mrs. Lee at this time,” the release said.
Lee, who grew the agency’s bus system and oversaw the completion of the Silver Line, led the agency through an existential battle to keep its member cities from pulling out. For years, suburban cities have complained that their penny sales tax contribution to DART has cut into their plans to attract sports teams and corporate entities.
Some cities have said the current system unfairly benefits Dallas amid concerns of low ridership and safety for commuters. The agency has repeatedly sounded the alarm that a withdrawal could lead to widespread service cuts, impacting riders who rely on mass transit for day-to-day travel.
Dallas, by population and funding, is the largest service area for the region. It contributes more than $400 million annually, money leaders once considered redirecting toward shortfalls in the city’s pension systems.
Tensions waned earlier this year after DART officials came up with proposals that were enough to persuade some, like Plano and Irving, to withdraw their referendum plans.
Under the proposed compromise, regional rail systems led by DART and other authorities, such as the Trinity Metro’s Trinity Railway Express, would be transferred to an independent management authority. That would need legislative intervention to come to fruition.