Kansas City transit agency accepts CEO’s resignation a month after asking for it

One month after he was asked to tender his resignation, Robbie Makinen is out of a job as CEO of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.

The KCATA board accepted Makinen’s resignation at its regular monthly meeting Wednesday following a three-hour executive session, one in a series of marathon closed meetings to discuss his status this summer.

Makinen has not been at work since last month’s board meeting, after he was told he would either be fired or forced to resign. He has continued to collect his $213,000 annual salary in the weeks since. Under terms of his employment contract, he is entitled to severance equal to one year’s pay.

Makinen was long held in high regard as the transit agency’s CEO.

But as The Star first reported, Kansas City officials have for several months been pressuring the KCATA to remove him. They complained about bus service and were peeved at his reluctance to cooperate with city officials’ demands that the agency spend more than $20 million in money intended for transit on a city street lighting project instead.

His efforts to block the money transfer failed. Afterwards, according to sources within city government and the KCATA, city manager Brian Platt issued an ultimatum in a meeting with the KCATA’s chair and vice chair: either the agency find a new CEO or the city would find some entity other than KCATA to provide the city’s bus service.

All 10 members of the board, which includes three members appointed by Mayor Quinton Lucas, voted to accept Makinen’s resignation.

Afterwards, transportation authority board chairwoman Melissa Bynum read a statement praising Makinen for his six and a half years as the agency’s chief executive and more than eight years on the board before that, including a stint as chairman.

“Under Robbie’s leadership,” she said, “KCATA has been an innovator in public transit, expanding our mission at KCATA beyond bus service, to include things like Ride KC Bike+Scooter program and the zero fare initiative that all but eliminated barriers for those using KCATA buses.

“These programs have led the nation in trying to arrest the effects of a changing climate while also providing an equitable system for those who are most reliant on KCATA vehicles to get to their jobs, medical appointments and other needed destinations. The KCATA board wishes Robbie nothing but the best in his future endeavors.”

Makinen did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but for months has privately defended his record as head of the area’s public transit service.

Earlier this month, the KCATA earned national recognition from the American Public Transportation Association for its free fare and zero emissions buses, both projects he championed.

Bynum said a national search will be launched to find a permanent replacement. The board did not say who will fill the role on a temporary basis until that person his hired.