The District’s top transportation leader said Wednesday that he will step down under the new mayor, a casualty and symbol of the outgoing Fenty administration’s entrepreneurial yet sometimes unpopular style. District Department of Transportation Director Gabe Klein said he received a letter from Mayor-elect Vincent Gray on Tuesday night asking him to resign. He will leave Jan. 1.
Turnover among Cabinet officials is not unusual when their leader loses an election. But Klein’s departure signals not just a change in personality and style, but a broader structural shift at DDOT. A replacement has not been named.
Klein shook up parking policy, expanded the D.C. Circulator system, and pushed bike sharing, bike lanes, and a $1 billion plan for streetcars. But he, like Fenty, was criticized for moving ahead at times without getting consensus.
| The parachute |
| DDOT Director Gabe Klein made $150,000 per year, according to D.C.’s Human Resources Department, and could be eligible for up to 12 weeks of pay as severance. The benefits package had not been finalized as of Wednesday. |
Klein, 39, said he wasn’t surprised to be let go. Relations had been limited between him and Gray since Gray pulled $47 million for Klein’s streetcar program during midnight budget negotiations in May, then reinstated it after many complaints.
Gray demurred when asked about Klein: “I am not making a statement about anybody.”
On Tuesday, Klein said he was again surprised when Gray dismantled the self-contained fund that runs DDOT. The pool of money that included the agency’s revenues had allowed DDOT to control its projects without getting approval each time from the D.C. Council. Under the new structure, the agency will submit all revenue to the general fund, then receive a set allocation.
“It’s like eating what you kill, then eating what you’re given,” Klein said.
He called the change “a bit demoralizing for the team.” The new structure would make the job less entrepreneurial and more administrative, which Klein said was “not a good fit for me.”
Greater Greater Washington blogger David Alpert, who pushed Fenty for an innovative DDOT leader, then petitioned Gray to keep Klein, said he was disappointed. “Gabe Klein really pushed a lot of innovative policies at DDOT, that often has a tendency to be very stodgy,” Alpert said.
But Alpert said it doesn’t mean that bike lanes will be painted over. And he welcomed some reforms to DDOT, which he said played shell games with money and at times plowed ahead without input.
Klein said he is not sure what his plans are next. But the 15-year resident of the city said he will be watching the Gray administration. “My expectations will be high,” he said.
