PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson Transit General Manager Peggy Hanson will leave her position on March 29 after less than a year on the job.
Hanson’s resignation came as a surprise last week to the Transit Board, which will meet in executive session today at 1:30 p.m. to discuss its next steps.
“We don’t know what we are going to do — whether we appoint an interim or look for someone permanent right away,” said board chair Catharine Robinson, who is also a Port Townsend City Council member.
Robinson said the transit system had accomplished a lot under Hanson’s direction, including gaining approval from voters last fall for a sales tax increase to support transit service and renegotiating union contracts.
“We kept the buses on the road, which was my goal,” Robinson said.
Along with Robinson, the Transit Board includes City Councilman George Randels and all three of the Jefferson County commissioners.
Hanson, 53, was earning $85,000 a year.
In her resignation letter, Hanson said the transit system had “worked hard and accomplished much” during her tenure “despite the most difficult of times.”
“In my opinion, the Jefferson Transit employees will continue to lead the way in delivering exceptional transit service that is focused on the core principles of customer service, safety and reliability,” she wrote.
Hanson had the highest praise for the community, saying that local residents “truly valued transit.”
She was less effusive in her description of the Transit Board, stating she was hired as a chief executive officer but was often limited in her decision making abilities.
“The actions we were taking were sound, and they were transparent,” she said.
“But I got the feeling the board was always sitting at my shoulder, and I was always supposed to ask: ‘Is that what you want?’”
Hanson said if the board hires another CEO, he or she “will do many of the same things that I was trying to do.”
“I felt like I was always traveling through unclear waters and the board was acting on its previous leadership experience,” she said.
“There was a disconnect between myself and the leadership.”
Hanson said Jefferson Transit with its “service first” model is helping the agency to thrive and survive.
“If there is one thing that this regrettable recession has forced us to do is really scrutinize the way we do business and realize how it has changed,” she said.
“One path is to say, ‘I don’t have enough money; I can’t, I can’t,’ and another is to say that safe delivery of service to the community is the first goal and everything else can be re-examined.”
She said agency employees had made several sacrifices, including painting the facilities themselves and cleaning their own offices.
“We vacuum our own offices and take out our own trash,” she said.
“By canceling the cleaning service contract, we saved around $10,000 that year.”
Hanson said the current transit building at 1615 Sims Way is inadequate and needs to be replaced, which can be accomplished if the agency sets realistic goals “and doesn’t build the Taj Mahal.”
Plans for a $12 million building were developed in 2006 but abandoned when the recession began, but they can be resuscitated at a much smaller scale, Hanson said.
“We have about $3.5 million available to us for construction,” she said.
“With that, we can build something basic to house equipment and put the administrative personnel in trailers until the economy improves.”
Hanson informed the board of her decision to resign March 15, giving two weeks notice.
She said she does not have another job a this time but hoped to pursue her interest in green technology and how it connects with transit systems.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
