Transportation chief resigns
State Transportation Secretary Daniel A. Grabauskas resigned yesterday, saying he is becoming a candidate for the top job at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
Grabauskas, 41, who has been transportation chief for two years, is viewed as the front-runner for the job of MBTA general manager. The current general manager, Michael H. Mulhern, is leaving June 1 for a job with an engineering firm.
Grabauskas, who has Governor Mitt Romney's backing in his pursuit of the T job, is known as a reformer who revamped the Registry of Motor Vehicles with a new emphasis on customer service and online access. The T culture can be daunting to manage, in part because its employees have historically had strong union representation.
The MBTA, which has the highest debt load of any transit agency in the country, faces financial hurdles, with a projected deficit of $10 million in the next fiscal year.
''I think as I look back on my career those positions that have been the most appealing to me are the ones where I can roll my sleeves up in a direct management capacity, and the MBTA offers that," Grabauskas said.
He also had served as director of the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation and as chief of staff for the Department of Economic Development.
Grabauskas said the opportunity to oversee the installation of an automated fare collection system at the T and to tackle train and subway reliability were key issues he looked forward to working on.
His resignation was necessary so that he can begin a legally required 30-day ''cooling off" period away from the T board of directors, which he chairs as transportation secretary. After that period, he can officially become a candidate for the job of general manager. The MBTA job pays $225,000 a year; Grabauskas's current salary is $130,000.
Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney's director of communications, said undersecretary of transportation John S. Ziemba would serve as the department's acting chief until a permanent replacement is chosen. Fehrnstrom said Ziemba does not want to be a candidate for the position.
Romney had previously given his support to Grabauskas to pursue the MBTA job, adding that the final decision would be up to the authority's nine-member board.
State legislators and transportation officials said yesterday that the move suggests Grabauskas will get the T job.
''This is proof that he's going to become the next general manager," said state Senator Steven A. Baddour, cochairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation. ''What the T needs now more than ever is a fix-it person, and there's not a better fix-it person in the state or the country."
Romney now must appoint a successor to Grabauskas. State legislators and transportation officials said the job could be filled by John Cogliano, head of the state Highway Department, or Astrid Glynn, a state deputy secretary for transportation, but that internal as well as external candidates would be considered. 