March 31, 2010 11:17 PM UTC

At Least He's Not Your Dumbass Former RTD...Oh, Wait

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• by: Colorado Pols

As The Denver Post reports today, we have a new contender for “dumbest quote of the year” in former RTD GM Cal Marsella:

A legislative committee voted Tuesday to ask former RTD General Manager Cal Marsella to return $1.3 million to the transit agency from a lump-sum pension payout he received last month.

The vote came after members of the Legislative Audit Committee heard details of a state audit of the Regional Transportation District’s executive compensation practices.

Marsella resigned as RTD’s general manager in July after leading the agency for 14 years. Shortly after his departure, state auditors began their probe of Marsella’s pay and benefit package and the RTD board’s oversight of executive compensation.

Marsella’s compensation package for the first seven months of 2009 had a total value of $725,612, including a one-time payout for unused vacation and sick leave of $268,839, according to the audit.

The audit was especially critical of a provision in Marsella’s employment contract with RTD’s board that called for the former GM to receive 2 1/2 years of pension credit for each year he worked at RTD…

…Reached Tuesday afternoon, Marsella vigorously defended the contracts he negotiated with RTD boards in his years with the agency.

During that tenure, Marsella said he had offers attempting to lure him to other transit agencies around the country, and in response, different RTD boards said, in effect, “We don’t want you to go,” and negotiated contract terms that kept him at RTD.

Marsella pointed to coaches of sports teams who “make multiples of what I made and don’t even have winning seasons.” [Pols emphasis]

Uh, what in the hell are you talking about, Cal? Overseeing RTD and heading up, say the Denver Broncos, are a little different.