Chicago City Council members call for ouster of CTA President Dorval Carter
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Could change be coming to the leadership of the Chicago Transit Authority?
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago city leaders seem to think there should be. Now, members of the Chicago City Council have drafted a resolution to remove CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. from his post.
Thousands online are likewise saying the CTA's service and safety has been faltering.
However, the CTA is pushing back on the allegations made by those behind this latest move. The transit agency said strides have been made, and COVID created curveballs.
In the balance is Carter, the man at the top, who makes nearly $400,000 a year.
In February, Carter framed a rough few years during and after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic thusly: "This has not been normal operations for us."
But more and more members of the City Council say it is time for a change, as safety and service issues mount.
"Which is insane when you think about the fact that he's getting paid $376,000 a year of taxpayer money," said Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th). "Accountability is necessary, and so, in not getting the answers that we need, and really the tenor of the responses, are leading us to seek new leadership."
Vasquez drafted a resolution calling for Carter's removal. The alderman wants Carter either to resign or be let go over a what he says is a series of failures.
The resolution cites service shortfalls since 2019—with service down on by 32.2% on the Yellow Line-Skokie Swift, 25.7% on the Red and Orange lines, and 29.8% on the Brown Line.
The issues at the CTA have led to social media accounts from "CTA Fails," with 30,000 followers, to, "Has Dorval Carter been Fired Yet," which has 850 followers.
Vasquez said Carter did not come before the City Council until new legislation forced him to do so in February.
At the meeting in February, Carter said of the CTA's challenges: "I didn't have any roadmap to tell me what to do during this. I tried to make the best decisions that I could."
Vasquez said this argument does not hold up.
"The fact that other comparable cities are all bouncing back and doing better, and Chicago is not," he said. "So we want to talk about being a world-class city, it requires world-class transit - and we don't have that, because of the leadership."
In a statement Monday, a CTA spokesperson said:
"The proposed ordinance contains both inaccurate information and misleading claims related to crime, services and hiring efforts. The fact is bus and rail services have been added, ridership is trending upward, crime rates are decreasing, and service is more reliable – all evidence that CTA's recent efforts are working.
"Noticeably absent from the proposed ordinance is recognition of any of these recent and significant accomplishments by the CTA– an organization of more than 10,000 hard-working women and men, who are also constituents of those behind this ordinance."
A recent survey of riders found 51% were dissatisfied with train safety.
Vasquez said Carter acknowledged the CTA needed to hire 200 rail operators. But the alderman said Carter has not presented a full plan on how to do so.
It is worth noting that the alderman's resolution contained crime stats on city trains and buses that both the CTA and the Chicago Police Department say were incorrect. Before it is put before the City Council, Vasquez said those statistics will be corrected.
As for Carter's future, it is now in the hands of Mayor Brandon Johnson. CBS 2 reached out to the mayor's team to see if Carter's job remains safe, but there had been no response late Monday.