Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff to step down in 2022

Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff will step down in the middle of next year.

Legislator calls for Sound Transit to reject Rogoff pay raise

The board voted against renewing his contract after hearing from Rogoff that he had tired of the job.

“The job of heading an agency that is executing the largest transit expansion program in America, all while operating service every day, really is simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting,” Rogoff told the board at Thursday’s meeting. “The exhilaration never really waned, but the exhaustion sometimes spikes.”

Rogoff has overseen Sound Transit since 2016 when the agency went to voters with a $54-billion ballot initiative to expand light rail service across the region. He helped guide the agency through realignment this year, facing more than a $6 billion budget shortfall brought on by the pandemic, all while growing construction and property acquisition increases.

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Rogoff wasn’t without his fair share of controversy, though. In 2017, he was denied a $31,290 performance bonus after criticism for his “brusque and forceful” management style. Sound Transit then hired and paid a management coach $35,000 to help Rogoff get along better with employees. All that was following reports of verbal aggression, profanity, and sexism, among other allegations.

“This assignment has easily been the most challenging but also the most rewarding job I have had in my 40 year career, and I am grateful,” Rogoff said. “Most of all, I am grateful to our outstanding staff who have allowed me to stand on their shoulders and get too much credit for their hard work.”

The search for his replacement will start immediately.

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