Sound Transit’s star project executive returning to Southern California

By Mike Lindblom | Seattle Times (TNS)

Terri Mestas

SEATTLE — Terri Mestas, hired two years ago to cut red tape and get difficult Sound Transit rail lines started faster, has decided to leave July 3.

Sound Transit had recruited her away from Los Angeles World Airports for a $600,000 yearly salary, on the premise that her leadership would save billions in the long run.

Mestas' exit as deputy CEO for megaproject delivery comes at a turbulent time for the three-county agency. Its governing board last month took steps to reduce a nearly $35 billion long-term funding gap, through some financing changes, project delays, repeal of parking garages, and by cutting $11 billion in voter-approved lines and stations now deemed unaffordable. The most significant cost-saving measure: a decision to stop a planned Sodo-to- Ballard line far short, at Seattle Center, unless more money is found.

Existing service is amply funded and not in jeopardy.

Sound Transit's governing board passed a revised plan May 28 that includes the Sodo to Seattle Center adjustment; Everett, Tacoma and West Seattle extensions; and Graham Street Station in South Seattle. The projects do not have clear schedules to finish.

Mestas notified the agency that she wanted to spend time with family in Southern California, according to Sound Transit spokesperson Amy Enbysk. Mestas did not comment Wednesday.

Her pending departure was first reported in The Urbanist, citing a staff message, and confirmed Wednesday by Enbysk.

Brad Owen, executive delivery director for the Ballard and West Seattle extensions, will step in as acting deputy CEO, Enbysk said.

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In her work leading megaproject delivery, Mestas recruited a new executive team and launched reforms. Among the efforts: preapproving several trusted contractors to shorten a time-consuming bidding process, and providing small and minority-owned business opportunities.

Her team has invented some trimmer designs, such as a future Sodo station that won't demolish blocks of warehouses, and a shallow future Seattle Center Station to save upward of $400 million. They also advocated a more efficient Alaska Junction Station in West Seattle, to reduce land needs. Mestas has also planned to drill test shafts on Harbor Island, in hope the soil will be solid enough to allow for leaner Duwamish River train bridge foundations, saving money.

Mestas also recruited a world-class capital delivery leadership team that will help to ensure a smooth transition process and maintain project momentum going forward, according to a Sound Transit statement.

The agency is crediting Mestas with helping get new extensions to downtown Redmond, Federal Way and Lynnwood across the finish line, though these were near complete by the time she arrived in April 2024. She's spent energy mending contractor relationships, including for the new segment across Lake Washington that opened March 28, after a construction delay and nearly $200 million in payment disputes.

"I felt she's been extremely knowledgeable," said Redmond Mayor Angela Birney, who chairs the board's system expansion committee, and says Mestas' resignation was "a surprise to me."

There haven't been public signs of friction among the board, CEO Dow Constantine and Mestas, as there were before the high-profile 2023 departure of then-CEO Julie Timm, who said she needed to leave to care for her father on the East Coast.

"Terri brought thoughtful leadership, integrity, and a collaborative spirit to her work every day," Constantine said in a statement to board members. The team she assembled will benefit Sound Transit for years to come, he said. "Maintaining stability and momentum is a top priority as we move into this next chapter.

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