What happened
The board nominated and unanimously approved officers for the chair, vice chair, secretary and assistant secretary positions. Officers will serve a two-year term before new board members are elected in 2025.
- Chair: Gary Slagel, cities of Richardson, University Park and towns of Addison and Highland Park
- Vice chair: Rodney Schlosser, city of Dallas
- Secretary: M. Nathan Barbara, cities of Plano and Farmers Branch
- Assistant secretary: Flora Hernandez, city of Dallas
Slagel was appointed to the board in 2011 by Richardson City Council, according to DART’s website. He’s a former Richardson mayor and works as president and CEO at CapitalSoft Inc. He also served as president of the Metroplex Mayors Association and the North Central Texas Council of Governments, according to a DART news release.
“Gary’s long history of exceptional leadership throughout the North Texas region makes him the ideal person for this role as we develop the future of our agency together,” DART President and CEO Nadine Lee said in a statement. “I look forward to working closely with Gary to continue to ensure our agency makes a positive impact on the lives of our riders, our residents, and the many communities we serve.”
For more information about the elected officers, visit www.dart.org/about/about-dart/board-members.
Looking back
Michele Krause served as board chair from 2021-23. Before handing the gavel to Slagel on Oct. 17, she thanked DART’s staff and board for helping to make the agency successful over the previous two years.
During Krause’s time as chair, DART launched a new bus network in 2022, the agency’s first in 40 years.
“While we hit a road bump and had to scale back frequency due to operator shortages, we successfully bounced back.” Krause said. “After an aggressive multipronged approach, [Human Resources Vice President Rosa Medina] and her HR team has filled almost 100% of the operator positions, which is an astounding feat.”
Krause also highlighted DART’s Clean Team initiative, GoLink expansion, and holiday-themed buses and trains before offering closing remarks as chairperson.
“While we may have different ideas in how we achieve our goal of moving people to where they need to go as safely and as efficiently as possible, I want to ask my colleagues to continue our respectful collaboration to achieve this common goal,” she said. “It’s been my privilege to serve as your chair for two years.”
Krause will continue to sit on the board. She was appointed by Dallas City Council in 2014.
Quote of note
Slagel congratulated his elected co-officers after the vote. He said the board will have a discussion about the board process during an Oct. 31 meeting.
“There are some things I would like to change and modify, so we’ll talk about those,” he said.
A workshop meeting has also been scheduled for later this year for the board to review DART’s strategic plans, Slagel said.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, and I look forward to helping work through all these challenges that we have,” he said.
