By Maria Saporta
With just a month to go before he leaves office, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is recommending a fellow Howard University alum to serve as a city appointee to MARTA’s board of directors.
Reed’s appointment of Ryan Glover will go before the Committee on Council and then the full City Council at their respective meetings on Monday.
In a letter to Atlanta City Council President Ceasar Mitchell, Reed wrote:
It is my pleasure to appoint Mr. Ryan Glover to serve on the MARTA Board of directors on behalf of the City of Atlanta. Mr. Glover is a resident of Atlanta and is willing to serve in this capacity. The appointment is for a term of four (4) years to begin January 1, 2018 and expire on December 31, 2022.
I am confident that Ryan Glover will serve the MARTA Board of Directors with integrity and dedication.
Glover will take one of three city spots on MARTA’s board – the one that is currently held by Juanita Abernathy, who is the longest-serving member of the MARTA board having been in that position for the better part of two decades.
“I look forward to honoring Mrs. Abernathy’s service to MARTA and the Atlanta community in the future,” said Robbie Ashe, a fellow city appointee who is MARTA’s board chair. Ashe refrained from discussing Mayor Reed’s appointment of Glover to MARTA’s board.
According to a magazine article, Glover is president of Bounce TV, a broadcast network geared toward African-Americans. A native of San Francisco Bay Area, Glover went to college at Howard University where he was recruited by student body president Kasim Reed to put on a homecoming concert in 1988, getting him into the business.
Glover graduated from Howard with an accounting degree, eventually following Reed to Atlanta. He and a friend built a publishing and music production business, until 1993 when he founded an upscale clothing line business, which did not survive.
In looking over his career, it is not evident that Glover has had any background in transit or urban design or development.
The other two city nominees on MARTA’s board – Ashe and attorney Rod Edmund – recently were reappointed to the transit agency’s board.
The relationship between the City and MARTA is critical because Atlanta voters passed an additional half-cent sales tax last year to support the expansion of transit in the city.
Meanwhile, MARTA is in the midst of looking for a new general manager and CEO to replace Keith Parker, who left in October to become CEO of Goodwill of North Georgia.
“We are on track to have the process completed by the end of the first quarter,” Ashe said. “Without going into names, our search consultant has been very impressed by the breadth and depth of potential applicants.”
