Mortimer L. Downey

For the American singer, see Morton Downey. For the American talk show host, see Morton Downey Jr.
Mort Downey
6th United States Deputy Secretary of Transportation
In office
May 28, 1993 – January 20, 2001
PresidentBill Clinton
Preceded byJames B. Busey IV
Succeeded byMichael P. Jackson
Personal details
Born
Mortimer Leo Downey III

(1936-08-09)August 9, 1936
Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedNovember 2, 2023(2023-11-02) (aged 87)
Oakton, Virginia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Joyce Vander Meyden
​
​
(m. 1961; died 2012)​
Children2
Education

Mortimer Leo Downey III (August 9, 1936 – November 2, 2023) was an American government official who was Deputy Secretary of Transportation from 1993 to 2001, making him the longest-serving person to ever hold the post. Downey was appointed to the position at the beginning of the Clinton administration, and was the acting U.S. Secretary of Transportation for the first four days of the Bush administration, from January 21, 2001 to January 24, 2001.

Downey additionally served as executive director and chief financial officer of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority from 1986 to 1993, and as chairman of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority from 2015 to 2016.

Early life and education

Downeywas born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on August 9, 1936. He was educated at the Phillips Academy, Yale University, and New York University.[1] He served in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander.[2]

Career

Downey initially aspired to a career in finance, but was unable to find work in the field upon graduating from Yale in 1958.[2] Instead, he joined the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, where he began his focus on mass transit.[2] In 1975, he became the first transportation program analyst for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget. During the Carter administration, Downey served in the U.S. Department of Transportation as Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs.[1]

After Carter's presidency ended in 1981, Downey was hired by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) as an assistant executive director. Five years later, he became executive director and chief financial officer, where he organized critical efforts to raise more money for the authority, which had been struggling financially for years.[1] The MTA's budget increased by $3 billion during his tenure, and New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once noted, "He left almost as popular as when he arrived. No one has done that with a subway system in our time".[2]

In 1993, Downey joined the Clinton administration as deputy transportation secretary, serving for all eight years.[1] He was involved with the creation of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century.[2] Following completion of his service as Deputy Secretary of Transportation in 2001, he became a transportation consultant. He was on the Obama transition team, and the subject of speculation as a possible Secretary of Transportation in the Obama administration.[3]

In 2010, Downey was appointed to the board of directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, to one of the seats chosen by the federal government. The Washington Post said that he was selected to guide the Metro out of a state of considerable disarray which had grown amid years of shrinking ridership and decaying infrastructure; the system was plunged into further crisis after a deadly train collision the year before.[1] He served as Board Chair from 2015 to 2016.[4][5] His period as chairman was marred by poor relations with fellow board members, some of whom accused him of inefficiency, and eventually, of having a conflict of interest, due to his job as an advisor with an engineering firm which worked with the Metro. While a subsequent ethics investigation cleared him of any wrongdoing, the hostile environment led Downey to leave the role after one year.[1] In April 2016, three of the federally-appointed members of the board were replaced, including Downey.[1]

Downey was a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.[6]

Personal life and death

In 1961, Downey married Joyce Vander Meyden. They had two children and were married until her death in 2012.[2][7]

On November 2, 2023, Downey died from pulmonary fibrosis at a retirement home in Oakton, Virginia, at the age of 87.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnes, Bart (November 3, 2023). "Mortimer L. Downey III, leader in urban mass transit, dies at 87". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Roberts, Sam (November 8, 2023). "Mortimer Downey, Titan of Transit For New York and Nation, Dies at 87". The New York Times. p. A26. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  3. ^ "In Transition: Transportation Secretary". Washington Post. November 25, 2008. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  4. ^ "Metro - About Metro - Biographies". Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority. Archived from the original on March 2, 2011. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  5. ^ Tyson, Ann Scott (January 24, 2010). "2 federal representatives to be named to Metro board Sunday". Washington Post. p. C1. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  6. ^ Incorporated, Prime. "National Academy of Public Administration". National Academy of Public Administration. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  7. ^ "Joyce Downey, physical therapist". The Washington Post. January 4, 2013. Retrieved November 8, 2023. Joyce Downey, 75, a physical therapist who worked for Loudoun County public schools in the late 1970s and again from 1994 to 2005, died Dec. 22 [2012]