TULARE COUNTY – Derek Winning has been appointed as the interim director of the Tulare County Regional Transit Agency (TCRTA) following former director Abul Hassan’s resignation, to provide the agency a solid road to follow as they search for a permanent director.
At the Tulare County Board of Supervisors meeting on Oct. 22, Chairman Larry Micari announced Derek Winning from the Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG) was appointed as the interim executive director of the TCRTA. This comes after the former executive director, Abul Hassan, resigned in mid-September.
“I’m very excited. Derek will do an amazing job. We’ve had two meetings (with Derek) and they are absolutely fantastic. So I’m looking forward to how that’s going to progress as we continue,” Micari said.
The TCRTA board convened a special meeting on Oct. 10 to formally appoint Winning as the director. As interim director, Winning is tasked with overseeing day-to-day operations, implementation of board policies, managing finances and facilitating communication with stakeholders while the board seeks a permanent replacement.
“The board wanted to make sure that there was someone who has some experience. He has some understanding of the budgets and transit in general to fulfill an interim position,“ TCRTA Chairman Jose Sigala said.
Sigala said the search for a permanent director typically takes four to six months and involves creating an ad hoc committee to outline the desired qualifications and duties for the role. Then, they conduct a nationwide search to attract qualified candidates.
During this interim period, Winning’s leadership will be crucial in keeping the agency afloat and addressing various operational goals, Sigala said.
“Transit is very finicky, very unique, and has a specialized type of policy. There’s a lot of intricacy of federal funding and legalities to make sure everything is done a certain way,” Sigala said. “It takes a certain expertise for that, and Derek brings to the table some solid leadership and understanding of what needs to happen.”
This change of leadership came not long after Hassan joined the TCRTA in December 2023. When stepping into the role as director, Hassan noted the agency’s finances were not adequately reported, according to previous reports from The Sun-Gazette newspaper.
On June 4, 2024, the Board of Supervisors heard a presentation from Hassan to assess the current state of the agency due to concerns about its finances and decide whether the county should stay a part of the agency.
No decision was made as to whether the county will continue to utilize the services of the TCRTA at the June meeting, but the supervisors agreed to hear another presentation from the agency in September to reassess and decide whether or not to withdraw from the organization. However, the second presentation did not come to be, and Hassan resigned from his role as director on Sept. 16.
