FY2017 PROPOSED BUDGET

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Proposed FY2017 Budget
Chapter 3
General Counsel
Approved Proposed
Actual Actual Budget Budget
(Dollars in Thousands) 2014 2015 2016 2017 Change Variance
PERSONNEL COST $4,869 $4,867 $6,395 $7,361 $966 15.1%
NONPERSONNEL COST $7,088 $2,373 $1,422 $2,906 $1,484 104.4%
TOTAL COST $11,957 $7,240 $7,818 $10,267 $2,450 31.3%
BUDGETED POSITIONS 41 48 48 48 - 0.0%
Purpose
The Office of General Counsel (COUN) protects the Authority's legal interests. The General
Counsel serves as legal advisor to the Authority in an individual professional capacity. As of
January 2015, the Chief Counsel - Human Resources, Governance, and Civil Rights serves as the
Ethics Officer for the Board of Directors. As a part of Metro’s executive team, the General Counsel
serves as a partner in the business process by providing legal and strategic advice for business
transactions and policy initiatives. With Section Chiefs leading in key client services areas –
including Contracts & Procurement, Customer Service & Regulatory Affairs, Finance &
Administration, Governance & Human Resources, Real Estate & Joint Development, Metro
Transit Police, Litigation and Workers’ Compensation – COUN partners with senior managers to
develop agreements with third parties, advise on procurements, assist with real estate and joint
development activities, represent the Authority in trials and appeals, and provide advice on risk
and representational matters.
Responsibilities
The Office of General Counsel is responsible for planning, directing and providing substantially
all of the legal services provided to the Authority, and supervising outside counsel when
specialized legal expertise is required. Among other things, COUN:
• Provides day-to-day legal advice to Board of Directors, Metro’s General Manager, officers,
and managers
• Defends Metro in litigation and pursues claims on Metro’s behalf
• Interprets Metro’s Compact
• Administers Metro’s Public Access to Records and Privacy Policy programs
• Counsel Metro’s employees on a wide range of general law matters
FY2017 Business Plan
• Lead the development of funding agreements for Metro 2025 and lines of credit
• Continue implementation and re-drafting of new procurement policies and procedures
• Continue to work closely with OMBS on updates to the Grants Management Manual and to
support any proposed training initiatives
• Continue to work with HR on review and update of WMATA position descriptions and the
Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual
• Implement a COUN customer satisfaction survey
• Update governance documents, including the Board Member Code of Ethics, By-laws, and
procedures
• Begin training on updated whistleblower policy
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