SORTA CEO Ferrell to resign

Dwight Ferrell will resign as chief executive officer and general manager of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA), effective Jan. 31, 2019.

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Darryl Haley was appointed interim CEO of the agency, which operates the Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar.

The SORTA board and Ferrell agreed to a six-month professional services contract to support the leadership transition, according to a SORTA press release. 

"We deeply appreciate Dwight's dedicated service to this community and its transportation system," said SORTA Board Chair Kreg Keesee. "His knowledge and experience as a transportation professional leaves SORTA better managed and better prepared to address the important opportunities before us."

Hired in January 2015, Ferrell served as county manager in Fulton County, Georgia, from 2013 to 2014. He served as deputy general manager and chief operating officer of Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority from 2008 to 2012.

"At many levels, I feel as if my work is done here, and now is the time for SORTA and the community to find the organization’s next leader," Ferrell said, adding that he would "continue supporting the important efforts to change the way SORTA is funded."

In the release, Keesee said SORTA is "financially unsustainable," and that the region needed to "change how we fund public transportation in this community." He added that Ferrell had helped to "focus community understanding and awareness of this reality." As an example, the Ferrell-led SORTA prepared the Reinventing Metro Plan, which Keesee called "the foundation for what will be presented to Hamilton County voters.”

The SORTA board will discuss the process for selecting the next CEO and GM at a future meeting, Keesee said.