Memphis Area Transit Authority Board of Commissioners voted 5–4 Tuesday, Dec. 17, to temporarily hire consultants contracted to right the troubled transit system.
An eventual vote to approve the hires of three TransPro executives will be held at a later date, after MATA officials negotiate the employee contracts with the City of Memphis.
If ironed out, TransPro Principal John Lewis will serve as MATA interim CEO for an eight-month period. He will be joined by Steven Hamelin and Aaron Headley, who will also serve temporarily as MATA interim COO and MATA interim CFO, respectively.
The trio will oversee Phase II of a comprehensive plan offered by TransPro to “ensure accountability, service quality, safety and operational efficiency.” The oversight will focus on “customer satisfaction, community trust” and the “optimization of city investment in MATA.”
Memphis Mayor Paul Young hired the consultants in August, after a FY2023 budget deficit of $60 million was revealed. A $43 million shortfall occurred in 2023. Over the last 10 years, shortfalls at MATA ranged from $19 million to $91 million. The budget for FY2025 is $30,000,000.
The combined salaries for the three will total $1,298,023. The money will be paid by the city using non-general funds, not from MATA’s budget.
Lewis’ temporary hire would spell the end of interim CEO Bacarra Mauldin’s run at the position. She would return to her old Deputy CEO office down the hall.
Young appointed the nine members of the MATA board in October, after handing previous members their walking papers.
Their dismissals followed a study from TransPro that concluded MATA failed in three basic areas: Create satisfied customers, build community trust and optimize the investment the community makes in the agency.
Young also followed consultant advice and reversed the previous MATA board’s decision to cut routes as a remedy for the annual deficits.
