Countywide : Transit Veteran Reichert Retiring

Orange County Transportation Authority officials announced a major staff shake-up Monday, including the early retirement of veteran transit chief James P. Reichert and the hiring of a new rail and bus czar, Nancy Michali.

The staff changes include the promotion of planning and development director Lisa Mills, who is also a Santa Ana City Council member, to assistant executive officer.

Mills thus becomes one of the county’s highest-ranking women in government administration. She will oversee OCTA’s development of a $223-million parking and transit facility next to Walt Disney Co.’s planned resort complex in Anaheim and related transit projects.

While such staff changes may be little noticed by the public, they’re part of OCTA’s ongoing evolution into an influential planning agency.

Reichert’s departure July 1 will be emotional for some employees who have known him for 20 years.

“The time has finally come for me to move on,” Reichert said in a memo last week to OCTA employees. Reichert rose through the ranks to lead the Orange County Transit District, which merged with the county transportation commission to become OCTA.

“We’ve come a long way in the last 20 years,” Reichert’s memo stated. “From about 50 to 750 buses and now into commuter rail operations and urban rail planning. We pioneered demand responsive service (dial-a-ride) in the West and were one of the first in car-pool matching . . . and the development of (car-pool) lanes.”

Reichert also noted that OCTA has been cutting staff to save money the past two years. “This has been difficult,” he wrote. “You must make sure you don’t lose the spark of progress through trusting, sharing and caring.”

Reichert promoted transit district employees’ self-esteem and rewarded performance with travel, awards dinners and other perks. But then the merger came, along with tougher economic times. He became the odd man out at OCTA when the agency’s board selected Stan Oftelie as chief executive officer in 1991. When Oftelie started trimming staff, transit district employees began grumbling that they were taking too big a hit. But Oftelie disagreed and pointed to increased efficiencies.

The new rail and bus czar, Michali, will become manager of transit programs and hails from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. While working at the MTA, Michali shepherded the Metro Rail Green Line project through the federal approval process. She will have similar responsibilities at OCTA in connection with the starter segment of a planned 47-mile elevated urban rail line from Irvine to Norwalk.

In another change announced Monday, Deborah Christner, OCTA manager of programming, will go to work in a similar capacity at Caltrans.