Marathon Pundit: ILL-inois train wreck: Metra chairman quits over scandal

The Metra scandal casualties continue to mount.

From CBS Chicago:

Metra's board chairman has resigned in the wake of scandals that include a controversial severance package for the rail system's former CEO.

Brad O'Halloran sent his letter of resignation to Cook County board members Thursday afternoon. He was among board members who OK'd a more than $700,000 contract buyout for former Metra CEO Alex Clifford, who claimed he was pressured to raise the salary of an agency employee who was a political crony of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago).

O’Halloran is the third Metra board member to resign amid heavy criticism.

"It is with mixed feelings that I step down," O’Halloran wrote in his letter. "I have come to the sad conclusion that, so long as I am chairman and a member of the board, the truly critical issues facing Metra will be left aside while the focus remains on the next big headline or attention-grabbing quotation."