‘WMATA Blogger Roundtable’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

Update 2:00 p.m.: We put in a call to our WMATA contact, Ron Holzer, who indeed confirmed that Catoe has tendered his resignation to WMATA’s Board. Apparently, the announcement took everyone by surprise, as no one at WMATA had in inkling this was coming. Needless to say, neither did any of the area bloggers last night. Catoe played his stepping-down pretty close to the vest.

This news alert came as a COMPLETE SHOCK to me. Lena Sun at WaPo has broken the story that WMATA GM John Catoe, Jr. will be resigning as General Manager of the agency, effective April 2, 2010.

What’s completely shocking about this is that it comes on the heels of what, by many blog accounts today, was a very successful face-to-face meeting with area bloggers last night. Our own Tom Bridge covered the meeting in depth and even came away with some healthy respect for the man. (As did I, after reading several accounts of it.)

Catoe announced his intentions to resign after a special board meeting this afternoon. He said he realized that the tragedies at Metro in the last year had created “an unhealthy distraction” and that good leaders should know when it is time for a leadership change.

More as details unfold.

Ben H. Rome

Having lived in the DC area for ten years, Ben still loves to wander the city with his wife, shooting lots of photos and exploring all the latest exhibits and galleries. A certified hockey fanatic, he spends some time debating the Washington Capitals club with friends – but everyone knows of his three decade love affair with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

A professional writer, gamer, photographer, and Lego enthusiast, Ben remains captivated by DC and doesn’t plan on leaving any time soon.