Charlotte’s new CATS CEO is from Los Angeles. Here’s hoping she brings some good ideas to keep our public transportation facing forward and marching into the future.
Carolyn Flowers, chief operating officer of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has been tapped as the new director and CEO of CATS.Charlotte City Manager Curt Walton announced her appointment today.
Flowers, who will have a base salary of $197,500 a year, will start her new job in January.
In her current role, Flowers oversees bus operations, the Freeway Service Patrol and call box programs for MTA, where she manages an annual budget of $900 million and more than 6,000 employees.
Flowers will replace CATS director Keith Parker, who left this summer to run the San Antonio transit agency. She was picked from the 70 candidates who applied for the job. Seven were interviewed as finalists.
In related news: It’s the Lynx system’s 2nd birthday and streetcar meetings begin tonight.
This article appears in Nov 17-23, 2009.
“Failed Cali liberal ways?” Los Angeles residents recently approved a half-cent sales tax by an overwhelming majority to fund transportation. The “liberal” cities of San Francisco and New York have transit systems that are the envy of every city in the United States. The California fiscal crisis is due to the Republicans refusing to allow majority rule on passing a state budget. Learn your facts before you speak.