Marathon Pundit: ILL-inois: Head of Chicago area public transit system quits, gets $442K severance

Friday, June 21, 2013

ILL-inois: Head of Chicago area public transit system quits, gets $442K severance

Whenever I've quit a job, except for a week or two of unused vacation pay and maybe a pen (accidentally) left in my pocket, I've gotten nothing.

But I've never worked in the public sector.

As for the bureaucrat leaving by way of a golden parachute, his leaving is less dramatic than that of his predecessor.

From ABC 7 Chicago:

Alex Clifford, the CEO of metropolitan rail agency Metra since 2011, is leaving his job.

The news came at Friday morning's Metra board meeting. Clifford was recruited from Los Angeles in 2011 to succeed Phil Pagano, who committed suicide in 2010 after it was discovered that he padded his vacation time.

Pagano stood in front of a Metra train the day he was about to be fired for pocketing nearly half a million dollars in unapproved vacation pay.

As for Clifford's exit, it could get worse for Illinois taxpayers.

More from ABC 7:

Metra's board chairman has declined comment on the Clifford departure. Clifford could receive another $300,000 on top of his severance if he's unable to find a new job within the next 13 months.