Cleveland RTA exec Calabrese to step down sooner than expected

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's (GCRTA) longtime Chief Executive Officer and General Manager Joseph Calabrese will move into a senior advisory role in September.

The change comes as part a new agreement to accelerate the agency's executive leadership transition, GCRTA officials said in a press release. Calabrese is expected to serve as senior adviser for special projects and strategic innovation in a full-time capacity through February 2019.

In the meantime, the agency's board will begin a national search for the next general manager.

Calabrese previously announced his plan to retire by 2020, but the agency decided it was best to speed up the transition to a new leader, said GCRTA Board President Dennis Clough in a press release.

"From an organizational standpoint, the board believes that this is the best strategy to ensure an orderly transition to new leadership, and Joe agreed," Clough said. "This decision will better position RTA for the future."

As a senior adviser, Calabrese will still play a key role in several agency initiatives, including a Cleveland State University study of GCRTA's economic impact in the region.

GCRTA's board will name an interim GM to lead the agency when Calabrese assumes the new role in September. Calabrese has served as GCRTA's leader since February 2000.

GCRTA trustee Gary Norton told The Plain Dealer that Calabrese has a "very, very capable potential replacement, so succession planning will be evident when the interim is named."