Metro Transit general manager to quit

DANIELLE CORCORAN
WI State Journal


Metro Transit General Manager Catherine Debo will leave her post in September, she said Thursday.

Debo, who took leadership of the bus system in 2001, has a five-year contract that expires in April. She and Mayor Dave Cieslewicz have agreed to extend it through September, according to Debo and mayoral spokesman George Twigg.

Debo said she is stepping down by her own initiative, and Twigg did not disagree.

"I've come close to accomplishing what I'd wanted to accomplish during my tenure," she wrote in an e-mail to the Wisconsin State Journal.

But, she said, she wants a little more time to see certain projects through, such as a route restructuring on the South and West sides and advance efforts to expand service in outlying communities.

Transit and Parking Commission Chairman Carl Durocher said he was "stunned" by the news, and he wasn't aware Debo was considering leaving until a reporter contacted him Thursday.

Debo said she and the mayor have been discussing her departure for months. However, she was wary of making the issue public, "wishing instead to accomplish as much as possible before the news 'broke' about my plans to leave," she wrote in the e-mail.

"I know it is much more difficult to make progress in a 'lame duck' status," she wrote.

Asked if the mayor had confidence in Debo, Twigg said, "I can't get into that." But he added, "She's done a good job. There is objective data that shows ridership is up. There is more regional cooperation."

Reporter Dean Mosiman contributed to this story.

Friday March 10, 2006

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