MARTA moving forward on search for new CEO

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MARTA sign (FOX 5)

ATLANTA - MARTA is moving forward with its search for a new leader after the transit agency's CEO and general manager's sudden retirement.

Collie Greenwood stepped down last week, citing immigration and undisclosed "personal matters" after his authorization to work expired.

The backstory:

Greenwood, a native of Canada, joined MARTA in July 2019 as Chief of Bus Operations and Urban Planning. He was promoted to Deputy General Manager in 2020 and appointed CEO in 2022, according to his biography on the agency’s website.

His departure was described as an early retirement related to "immigration and personal matters," though officials provided no further details. 

MARTA CEO retires over immigration status

MARTA’s General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood has stepped down, citing immigration and personal matters, the transit agency’s board of directors announced during Thursday's board meeting.

"The immigration process is extensive and has had an impact on Mr. Greenwood’s personal and professional progress," MARTA said in a release. "These challenges have been resolved with Mr. Greenwood’s decision, and the MARTA family supports him."

"My wife and I have decided this is a good opportunity to take an early retirement and spend more time with our family and friends," Greenwood said in a statement. "I do want to thank the board, the executive leadership team, and everyone at MARTA for their support and their continued work to improve and grow transit service in this region."

Dig deeper:

Rhonda Allen, MARTA's chief customer experience officer, is acting as general manager in Greenwood's place while the MARTA board of directors searches for his replacement.

During a board meeting on Thursday, chairwoman Jennifer Ide said they are taking the search seriously for the next leader of the transit agency.

"We know that MARTA is under a microscope and that we need to do better than we have done in many of those areas," she said. "We value the input of the community, and we want to get the right person in place. We're going to take another couple of weeks to complete this process of determining who our interim general manager will be. We want to make sure it's somebody who's trusted and respected by the community that has good relationships with the all of the jurisdictions, that understands the concerns of the business community, and that understands the importance of the large events that we're having - not just the FIFA World Cup, but we have many other big events that are coming."

Ide said MARTA has already received feedback from residents and business leaders in the community on the search.

What's next:

The board plans to appoint an interim general manager in the near future and finalize the firm that will conduct the search for who will take the permanent position.

More details on the search will be shared at the board's next meeting in August.