WMATA Board gains new member, drafts first ever bylaws

Written by jrood

Artis Hampshire-Cowan joined the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Board of Directors on May 26. She represents Prince George's County and succeeds Marcell Solomon as an alternate director. In other news, the Board of Directors is currently on track to adopt its first ever permanent bylaws in June that clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the Board and clarifies the governing body's focus on policy, financial direction and WMATA's relationship with its customers and jurisdictional partners. 

 The new bylaws define Board responsibilities as governing through policies and exercising oversight over policy compliance and results. Active healthy debate is encouraged; and once a decision is made, the Board speaks with one voice. The bylaws indicate the Board's role in ensuring regular reporting to the public. 
"The deliberate and thoughtful work of this Board over the last several months demonstrates that we are moving forward as a governing body with a regional perspective and a shared mission to set policies that reinforce safety, reliability and service for Metro's customers," said Metro Board Chair Catherine Hudgins. At Thursday's Governance Committee Meeting, representatives from the Joint MWATA Governance Review Task Force joined the discussion about the progress made on governance matters. 

 At the invitation of the Governance Committee, the Task Force provided specific feedback on items in the proposed bylaws, including alternate members, the use of the veto for non-budgetary matters and the inclusion of the second vice chair position. 

 This summer, the Board will begin a strategic planning process to develop a long-range business plan that will guide the Authority's policy decisions.

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