Mangano Calls On MTA's Walder To Resign

Asks Gubernatorial Candidates to Commit to New Leadership

Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano today called for the immediate resignation of Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chairman and CEO Jay Walder while also asking the state's gubernatorial candidates to make a simple promise to voters to shake up leadership at the Authority.  

"The MTA has cut service, implemented a job-killing payroll tax and threatened to eliminate Long Island Bus altogether," Mangano said. "Mr. Walder has clearly failed at managing the MTA, and for the sake of the taxpayers he should resign effective immediately."

A state Comptroller audit recently called for an end to management's “culture of acceptance” of overtime pay and discovered “serious flaws” in the budget practices of its central office.  The comptroller's office also found that 145 MTA employees received overtime pay that exceeded their salaries in 2009.  About 5% of the agency's nearly 70,000 workers, or more than 3,200 employees, last year received overtime totaling at least half of their regular salaries. 

 
"The MTA has made this summer disastrous for Long Islanders. All taxpayers are victims of Walder’s inability to run the agency," Mangano said. "While Walder earns more than $350,000 a year, working-class residents who depend on Long Island Bus to get to their jobs are barely scraping by."

This month, the MTA announced plans to not only eliminate $26 million in funding for Long Island Bus but to also hike bus and subway fares in an effort to increase their revenue by 7.5%.  Mangano has stated he will pursue the privatization of Long Island Bus should the Authority leave 100,000 riders stranded on January 1, 2011. 

Note:  A French language translation of this release is available at www.google.com/translations