AC Transit’s former GM has a new job in Oregon. He’s still making $500k as an agency adviser

The previous basic supervisor of AC Transit, Michael Hursh, began a brand new job in Oregon final month that makes him the brand new head of a transport company of the province. However the truth that he’s nonetheless fantastically paid for by AC transit as an worker lifts some eyebrows.

Hursh nonetheless receives greater than half 1,000,000 {dollars} in complete compensation of AC transmission, in line with a settlement settlement between him and the company that the Oaklandside obtained final week by means of public register request. He’ll proceed to work as a guide till September.

Some native legal professionals and members of the board will not be proud of the scheme.

“Transit is completely important for our area. As a public transport company that’s confronted with a big scarcity and potential cutbacks for drivers, we have to be extraordinarily cautious stewards of taxpayers and the belief of the general public,” stated Jean Walsh, a board member of District 1.

In February Hursh was launched by the Lane Transit District Board as his new Chief Working Officer who’s answerable for operations, fleet and customer support, together with duties. Lane County in Oregon serves cities reminiscent of Eugene within the West Middle a part of the State.

“I simply wish to let individuals know, particularly the board, that I lower 4 journeys right here earlier than I acquired the interview and what a terrific, unbelievable transit district you’ve gotten. I used to be simply blown on the bottom, blown away by the friendliness and professionalism, the operators, the upkeep individuals, the upkeep individuals, and I wish to thanks all,” Hursh told The Lane Transit District Board.

Hursh left his place at AC Transit in December a 12 months previous to his tenth birthday on the desk. His departure got here within the midst of a dispute with the district 3 board member, Sarah Syed, who had questioned his dealing with of duties of the company.

Final February, Syed Hursh accused of chopping the nocturnal bus service on Broadway in Oakland with out the appropriate neighborhood vary. Hursh stated that he had made that call due to the rising crime and nocturnal crowds on the arterial street, which is utilized by many who take essential traces such because the 51A. Because of the stress of Syed, the traces on Broadway remained however with extra metropolis and provincial enforcement officers.

Within the aftermath, Hursh Syed accused of bullying and intimidation, because of which an impartial investigation was arrange. It discovered no proof of bullying, however the decided that her communication by way of e -mail “might have been interpreted” as incorrect directing of Hursh and his workers. The board is required by regulation to speak requests to the workplace of the final supervisor by means of a board officer.

After a retreat from the board that attempted to enhance the scenario by means of new communication coaching, Hursh requested for a settlement “on or about November 7, 2024”, a lawsuit threatening because of “bullying, intimidation, disrespectful habits and incorrect interference in his function as basic director/chief government officer.” That very same month, AC Transit introduced that Hursh would go away the company and turn out to be a paid company adviser till October 1, 2025, who known as Syed a “Sweetheart deal” due to the beneficiant wage and advantages that had no particular work expectations.

In response, numerous members of the council tried to censor Syed on the Hursh settlement, however there have been scarcity.

The unique November -settlement agreement factors to a brand new senior advisor place made particularly for Hursh. In that function, the settlement, he would “assist” the commerce within the subject of Metropolitan Transportation Fee (MTC), “With regard to a potential regional measure in 2026”, “Give recommendation” to the workers on negotiations with the driving force’s affiliation, and “advise the final supervisor/chief government officer and/or government”.

A brand new change The Senior Advisor title faraway from the settlement settlement, additionally obtained by the Oaklandsside, making his standing probably extra ambiguous.

Hursh’s reporting duties and wage stay the identical within the amended settlement however with out a formal function. Each agreements state that Hursh is predicted to obtain the “the identical wage, insurance coverage and the accrued depart (together with district holidays)”, which he had whereas he was as basic director. He’s additionally paid “on the identical time and frequency as all different district workers.” Hursh’s wage, as famous by Transparent Californiawas $ 556,045 from 2022.

The change within the removing of the senior adviser title, in line with AC Transit Communications Director Robert Lyles, was to “assure accuracy”, since “the settlement settlement was not depending on a title of a labor title.”

The timing of the title removing within the settlement may help the board bypass a press release that it had violated the Brown ACT, the Open Assembly Act of California.

On March 3, a resident of East Bay named Adriana Valencia despatched a letter to the board threatening lawsuits For the approval of the settlement settlement with out the right public notification, for the incorrectly defined of Hursh’s litigation in opposition to the company and for the preparation of the brand new senior adviser classification with out taking up an merchandise that the duty would specify and reveal that it could pay Hursh on the identical quantity as his basic supervisor.

Valencia and her legal professionals argued that the settlement was accredited in a closed session and that “not one of the exceptions specified” utilized within the Brown ACT code.

After receiving the letter from Valencia, the board of the company known as a particular assembly in a closed session to debate the case.

On March 12, the exterior counsel of the board responded to the assertion of the Brown ACT. In a single letter For Valencia, lawyer Andrew Shen stated that the board took impact as a result of the “brown motion doesn’t require a legislative physique to explain the weather of a proposed settlement settlement on the agenda” and that the agenda description of the closed session is “substantial compliance with the necessities of the Brown Act.

Shen did acknowledge that the company didn’t ‘refer or report’ the method menace.

“As Greatest Follow, AC Transit will make comparable claims accessible to the general public sooner or later. However anyway, this minor error could be an inadequate foundation to demand the reversal of a call on the settlement settlement, together with dissolution,,” wrote Shen.

Valencia responded on Friday. In a duplicate of the letter that we acquired from a supply close to the case, the Oakland resident stated that though she doesn’t wish to take her grievance to a lawsuit, she nonetheless needs the Hursh contract to be withdrawn. She additionally needs every of the board of administrators who voted for his contract, clarify their reasoning.

The board nonetheless has 30 days to reply.