The RTA board has a new president, but it came after a surprise announcement from another candidate.
Valarie McCall, Cleveland’s chief of government affairs, had earlier submitted a letter asking the Regional Transit Authority to consider her for either president or vice president. But she suddenly withdrew from consideration at an RTA meeting today, saying the board wasn’t taking its problems seriously.
“I think we’re at a situation of mistrust -- mistrust of one another at the board level, mistrust of us with our own respective leadership and executive staff and we should not be there,” she said.
That left Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough unopposed for the leadership job. He’s served as the board’s interim president since RTA’s longtime president George Dixon resigned in March. An investigation found he had failed to pay health insurance premiums for decades.
The board also voted today to rescind health-care coverage for its members.
