CTA chairman Dorval Carter Jr. tells Chicago alders he thinks push to fire him is personal
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The president of the Chicago Transit Authority faced the music in City Hall Thursday, spending hours for a quarterly meeting with the City Council.
A majority of Chicago alderpeople want to see CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. fired. But Carter was clear Thursday that he feels the criticism he is facing is unfair and unwarranted.
Carter said he has made significant improvements for Chicago's transit system,
"The service is getting better," he said. "I know that some people may find this humorous. Some people may think that this is a joke. But reality is that I have thousands of people who have been working hard every single day to make this service better."
But Carter said he only hears a constant stream of negativity.
"As a practical matter, you ask yourself," Carter said at the hearing, "what did I do to warrant being singled out to be fired?"
Carter made it clear he is not OK with being singled out by Chicago City Council, with 29 members calling for his firing. He said no one is calling out the leaders of Metra or Pace—the area's commuter rail and suburban bus systems, respectively—and he feels it's personal.
"I'm not going to point out the leadership of the other two agencies versus the leadership of mine, but if you look it up, I think you can see some differences," Carter said. "As an African American man, this city has a history of attacking and trying to bring down their African American leaders. I know that because I've been here, and I've seen it."
Carter went on to say that as a lifelong Chicagoan, he has spent his life working in public transit in the city—and the backlash has led to threats and concerns for his personal safety.
"Over the course of the past year, I've had to deal with harassment, with personal, physical threats, with racial epithets that all have been directed at me because I have been turned into a caricature; turned into something less than a human being," Carter said. "I can tell you as an African American male, that bothers me a lot."
Carter has led the CTA for almost a decade—appointed by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel. But the top seat has been a hot one for years now, as Carter has been criticized for cuts in service, reliability issues, and crime and safety concerns—as well as the state of the system, and cleanliness concerns on trains.
Twenty-nine aldermen have signed a symbolic resolution against Carter—citing poor working conditions, service issues, and rider complaints. The resolution calls for Carter's firing, but two other aldermen have delayed any future vote.
Carter was blasted by some of the aldermen behind the resolution in City Council chambers Thursday.
"I don't think we've been pushing too hard over last few years to do much more than figure out what is going on with the system, and how do we hold all people - not making it personal, not one person, but hold whole system accountable?" said Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd).
But Carter heard words of support and encouragement from others.
"I appreciate your honesty, your humility, and your courage of staying with the agency in spite of this season that we call 'accountability' - which has actually been mean-spirited and lacks respect for leadership," said Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th), chair of the Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus.
While Carter has been applauded for seeking out government grant funding, the call for his firing isn't just coming from City Hall. The general public has also been voicing concerns.
Some have even created social media accounts calling for Carter's firing.
Carter has not agreed to interviews with CBS 2 or other local outlets, but he did agree to an interview with the New York Times as he continues to face heat from the City Council.