WASHINGTON — Metro plans to hire a new general manager this fall, the agency told a congressional subcommittee on Tuesday.

Several members feel Metro has been too slow with the process and they remain skeptical.

“To have 10 months go by without a general manager is really inexcusable and certainly doesn’t suggest that it’s a priority,” says Rep. Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina.

Metro’s Board of Directors recently put up a job posting for the position, but Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly doesn’t like it. The requirements call for someone with strong fiscal experience, but not necessarily any previous transit experience.

“It can’t be just a choice of ‘we want a fiscal manager who is a turnaround agent’,” Connolly says. “We need to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. The idea that we wouldn’t put operations as central to the mission of a new general manager boggles the mind.”

Interim Metro General Manager Jack Requa deferred most questions to the Board of Directors because it wrote the job description. He says while the candidate doesn’t need to have previous transit experience, those with previous transit experience are welcome to apply as well.

Former General Manager Richard Sarles announced his retirement last September, then left the post in January.  Requa was named interim general manager at that time.