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Acting CEO Gene Gamez (left) listens alongside DART Board Chair Randall Bryant during a special-called DART meeting of the Committee-of-the-Whole, Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n
El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Dallas Area Rapid Transit\u2019s\u00a0next CEO and president<\/a> will be tasked with keeping the system from fracturing and seeing through crucial changes to governance, funding and service.<\/p>\n The job description, finalized recently by DART\u2019s board of directors, emphasizes that the ability for leadership to build trust with member cities is more vital than ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe need a CEO who is a consensus-builder and a unifier,\u201d said Plano DART Board representative Anthony Ricciardelli, a need underscored by a narrowly escaped exodus<\/a> of DART\u2019s suburban members.<\/p>\n Former CEO Nadine Lee stepped down <\/a>earlier this year after a tumultuous few months working to reverse withdrawal elections in six cities whose leaders said they paid too much in sales tax to the agency for inadequate services and little representation. \u00a0<\/p>\n Plano, Irving and Farmers Branch called their votes off after DART presented plans to restructure its governing board, give cities some money back for local transportation needs and pursue changes to how the region provides transit in the state Legislature. But Addison and the Park Cities will decide by May 2<\/a> if they\u2019ll continue paying for and receiving DART services.\u00a0<\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe are in a pivotal moment to define what the next 40 years of transportation looks like within this region,\u201d said DART Board Chair Randall Bryant<\/a>. \u201cHopefully we can attract a CEO that \u2026 can take that vision and improve upon it.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Starting May 4, David Leininger will oversee<\/a> DART\u2019s daily operations while the agency recruits its next leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n DART Committee-of-the-Whole members vote in favor of making David Leininger interim DART CEO during a special-called DART meeting of the Committee-of-the-Whole, Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Working with cities\u00a0<\/p>\n In a job posting, the agency says it\u2019s searching for a leader who \u201cwill build strong relationships with DART’s service area cities\u201d and maintain them with \u201congoing, frequent and transparent engagement\u201d about their needs and meeting their expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe need someone who\u2019s flexible and pragmatic, who doesn\u2019t come in with a pre\u2011baked agenda,\u201d Ricciardelli said, \u201cwho recognizes that this is not one-size-fits-all.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the job description, the CEO will be tasked with offering innovative services to member cities<\/a> that match the value of the sales tax they contribute.<\/p>\n Farmers Branch Mayor Terry Lynne said cities want more flexibility in matching services to local needs<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know that you\u2019ll ever make all 13 member cities happy<\/a>, but I think they can try,\u201d Lynne said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u00a0It\u2019ll be up to DART\u2019s board, Lynne said, to make sure the next CEO has the right qualities.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that the member cities will be asked to participate in that,\u201d Lynne said. \u201cWe have a very vested stake<\/a> in all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n Irving City Manager Chris Hillman wrote in a statement to The Dallas Morning News that his city anticipates DART\u2019s next CEO will be a teammate with Irving to improve on aspects like ridership, financial transparency and cleanliness of DART vehicles.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDART\u2019s success starts at the top,\u201d Hillman wrote. \u201cWe are focused on working with the new CEO to establish trust between DART and all member cities.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Working with partners\u00a0<\/p>\n The next CEO must work hand-in-hand with local governments, Bryant said, especially as DART gives members money back<\/a> for their own transportation needs. But the next leader will also have to work with state lawmakers, the business community, riders and other regional agencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in a delicate situation with those groups,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to lose any momentum. We want to build upon it.\u201d<\/p>\n Also on a list of more than 60 duties and skills is the ability to work toward a broader regional vision. The agency is looking for a president who will be \u201cvisible and engaged\u201d with partners and represent the agency at all levels, from local to national<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Ricciardelli said he expects DART will cast a wide net for applicants and said the board is united in the search. He hopes the next leader has local ties and emphasizes safety on DART services<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The CEO job requires a bachelor\u2019s degree and 15 years of experience in the public or private sector, the posting states. Experience in transportation is helpful but not essential, Bryant said. He does not have a background in transit himself, he noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing a transit professional is not as important as someone that can be more engaging with our stakeholders,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Bryant said to not expect to see his name in the running.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don’t have any interest in serving in that capacity,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m honored to be serving as the board chair, and that’s what I’m focused on right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Acting CEO Gene Gamez (left) listens alongside DART Board Chair Randall Bryant during a special-called DART meeting of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,94981,90635,87998,90556,88940,89304],"class_list":{"0":"post-265811","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news","11":"tag-news-elections","12":"tag-tp-addison","13":"tag-tp-dallas","14":"tag-tp-dart","15":"tag-tp-highland-park","16":"tag-tp-university-park"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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