Retiring MBTA leader’s cancer diagnosis came as harsh winter hit
Last winter, Frank DePaola received the diagnosis. He had cancer. Also last winter, the MBTA’s previous general manager resigned with the system in a state of disarray, shut down by feet of snow in January and February.
The crisis brought new scrutiny and urgency to old problems like the transit agency’s troubled financial picture, aging infrastructure, and managerial struggles.
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In need of a new leader, state leaders came to DePaola, a veteran of the transportation department.
“Right about when I got the diagnosis is when the winter hit. And at that time I was highway commissioner, so I was concentrating on getting through the winter,” DePaola told reporters Wednesday. “And then of course the T ran into their operational problems and I was asked by the [transportation] secretary and the administration to help out there.”
Did the prospect of juggling a health crisis and a transit crisis give him any pause?
“It was a pretty quick decision,” he said. “Even though I was still highway administrator, I had been involved in twice-daily meetings after the T had had their operational difficulties, in helping them plan the recovery anyways. So I was deeply involved in the T recovery even at that point, even before [former GM] Dr. [Beverly] Scott resigned. … It was an easy decision to make because I had a lot of friends at both the MBTA and [MassDOT] who wanted to make sure they succeeded.”
DePaola, who this week announced his decision to retire on June 30 due to the cancer fight, has presided over the T during a year of change. A new governing board was created last summer to grapple with the agency’s problems, and a new position — chief administrator — was created to focus on its finances. Brian Shortsleeve, who was hired for that position, will assume the role of acting general manager while still working as chief administrator after DePaola retires.
With a background in engineering, much of DePaola’s focus was on capital projects, like the completion of the new Government Center station, finding a possible way forward after the Green Line extension’s budgetary issues, and leading the more than $80 million worth of infrastructure upgrades to prepare for the winter.
DePaola did not tell state officials about his diagnosis prior to taking over as GM, revealing the news later in 2015, he said. In the fall, his doctors told him it was time for surgery, which would likely be followed with radiation treatments that would leave him unable to work for months. After being assured that it would not harm his health, DePaola decided to delay surgery until the spring to make sure the T fared better this winter.
“I did ask them, is there any harm in waiting?” he said. “Because I didn’t want to be — as I know I will be now — I didn’t want to be laid up for months going into the winter last year, because we didn’t know what the winter was going to be like and I felt compelled to be here.”
Mother Nature took much greater pity on Greater Boston in the winter of 2015-2016, and — other than a few hiccups here and there due to weather — the T mostly ran as normal throughout the season.
DePaola underwent surgery earlier this spring. Doctors told him it was successful, but it will require follow-up treatments, prompting the decision to retire.
The year of change at the T has not been without its share of controversy as officials sought to address its issues and focus on core services. Those efforts have been marked by the end of late-night weekend service, the troubles of the Green Line extension, and a heated debate over upcoming fare hikes.
The agency says those moves will ultimately improve the quality of service for everyday riders, and DePaola said he believes the T is on the right track as he departs.
“Hopefully we succeeded in most cases of getting the agency back on a good firm footing,” he said.
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