BURLINGTON — The board of Green Mountain Transit has ousted suspended general manager Mark Sousa, but the reason for his departure remains unclear as GMT officials have refused to disclose details.
Tom Chittenden, the chair of the board, said Friday that the board had reached a separation agreement with Sousa, who was placed on administrative leave July 8. Sousa resigned effective July 20, according to the redacted agreement Chittenden provided to VTDigger.
Chittenden said he would be appointing Jon Moore as the interim general manager Friday. Moore has been the “acting” general manager since July 8.
“I will soon be charging a selection committee to start the important task of posting, advertising, reviewing, interviewing and selecting a new General Manager for Green Mountain Transit,” Chittenden said in an email.
Chittenden sent an announcement about the move to GMT staff Friday afternoon. Sousa had worked at GMT since 2014 and had been the general manager since January 2017.
The suspension was unrelated to either recent route changes or an incident where a driver was fired after kicking students off a Burlington bus in an incident parents and community members believed was race-based, Chittenden said earlier this month.
Though Chittenden said he strives to be “maximally transparent” to the public, he would not address the reason for Sousa’s suspension.
Chittenden said a section of a settlement agreement reached with Sousa, which states both parties will protect all confidential information pursuant to the company’s confidentiality policy, prohibits him from speaking about the reasons behind Sousa’s resignation.
He said he is not required to disclose details of the suspension under Vermont’s public records law due to the law’s exemption for personnel records.
Under the agreement, Sousa will receive a severance payment of $10,159.88 and $29,969.64 for the 511 hours of earned time off he had accrued in the position.
The agreement states that it is not an acknowledgement or admission that either party violated any law, ordinance or regulation.
