Metra Chairman To Face Questioning Over CEO's Severance Pay

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Riders are about to get some answers about the big payday Alex Clifford received in exchange for walking away from his job as Metra CEO eight months early.

WBBM's Bob Roberts reports that Metra Chairman Brad O'Halloran begins two days of questioning in Wednesday morning.

First, O'Halloran goes before the board in a special session and then he goes before a legislative committee. He is expected to argue that Clifford was an ineffective leader who allowed the quality of service to slide while being unable to find the funding needed to make the fix.

"Is it clear if Clifford had that in him but certainly that wasn't the whole reason that we have this problem. There is clearly something else behind it all," said Joe Schwieterman, the head of DePaul University's Chaddick Institute.

"I am going to tell you the next director is going to need to make funding a short order because these fare increases have been quite painful on Metra."

Schwieterman says no one buys O'Halloran's June 24 claim that the payout was a bargain.

In:
• Alex Clifford
• Metra