A transportation district on Oregon’s North Coast that survived a recent financial collapse hopes a new executive director will keep them moving toward stability.
On Wednesday, the Sunset Empire Transportation District announced the hiring of David Carr to replace former executive director Craig Johnston.
Johnston announced he was stepping down late last year. He was hired near the end of 2023 and helped the district navigate the aftermath of a challenging financial situation and a shakeup in leadership.
Carr, who grew up in Astoria, is the current director of zero emissions bus programs at Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority in Austin, Texas. He was one of four semifinalists the Sunset Empire’s board of directors considered. He participated in a public meet and greet earlier this week and is expected to start at Sunset Empire around June 1.
Carr’s hiring comes as the transportation district continues to rebuild following significant financial upheaval. In 2023, the district temporarily suspended bus services and other operations and furloughed employees after it was revealed the district had run out of money.
Jeff Hazen, the executive director at the time, resigned. He was denied severance because the board said if he had not resigned he would have been fired for financial malfeasance.
A state audit and compliance review later found there was not enough board oversight of financial matters, among several other issues.
But transportation district leadership and the state say Sunset Empire is in a much better place today.
“We are happy to see their progress and what that means for the community,” Anna Howe, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Transportation, wrote in an email to KMUN.
The district has a contingency plan in place and is paying off an emergency loan for more than half a million dollars that the state provided in 2023 to get buses running again.
“I feel we’re in a lot better financial position than we have been for some time,” said Debbie Boothe-Schmidt, a board member who has also been serving as the interim executive director since Johnston’s departure.
Uncertainty around federal funding as the Trump administration continues to slash at federal departments and programs is a looming challenge, however.
Federal funding is critical for Oregon’s transit system, Howe said, adding that some funding was briefly frozen but has since resumed. The Federal Transit Administration is processing and obligating formula grant awards, but not discretionary grant awards.
“Oregon transit providers are getting people to critical services every day, and any delays or uncertainty in funding have real world impacts,” Howe said.
Under the conditions of the state’s loan, Sunset Empire was only allowed to bring back bus routes that existed prior to the financial collapse. Boothe-Schmidt said the district now has restored about half of its original bus routes.
The district’s current ridership reflects the lower number of bus routes currently available, but it is not something Boothe-Schmidt says she is overly worried about. Ridership typically increases during the summer. As the district continues to bring back routes, she expects ridership to grow.
Still, with ongoing uncertainty around federal funding and as their own finances regain stability, Boothe-Schmidt said the district is being “really careful, really conservative about bringing back any more services.”
“That’s something that I think we need to stay with until we do know where all of our funding is coming from, and the (federal funding) is a big one,” she said.