Interim Coast chief received $10K+ in meals, trips, training before resigning

Coast RTA, an agency that has traditionally struggled annually to stay in the black, spent more than $10,000 in training for the chief financial officer who just resigned Friday.

Since late 2013, Coast RTA, which is funded by federal, state and local tax dollars, spent more than $10,500 sending Julie Norton-Dew to crash courses in leadership in transit, training and conferences nationwide to get her up to speed on mass transit issues. It was a way to educate Norton-Dew on mass transit issues, said former CEO Myers Rollins, who suggested she take the American Public Transportation Association training.

Norton-Dew was eventually tapped to lead the agency on an interim basis after the Coast board fired Rollins.

On Friday, Norton-Dew said she isn’t sure she’ll ever use that training again.

“I just think it was time to look into doing something different,” Norton-Dew said. “Transit is a very difficult career. It’s very demanding. It took me away from my family a lot. For that reason, I am happy to look at doing something different.

“I’m pursuing all sorts of ideas. I’m thinking about going back to school, working on my master’s degree. Just the next chapter in my life.”

Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus said there isn’t much the county or the transit can do to recoup training money spent on Norton-Dew.

“That’s part of the ongoing problem,” Lazarus said. “I hope with this new direction that they’re going in that this will stop that and get focused in the right direction.”

An investigation last summer by The Sun News showed Norton-Dew and other execs would dine on lobster macaroni and cheese and filet mignon room service at the Marriott in Washington, D.C., had a sometimes twice-daily fix of Starbucks coffee and a thrice-in-three-days affinity for Ruth’s Chris Steak House, an upscale restaurant.

Norton-Dew and other executives defended their expenses, saying they thought they were doing the right thing by staying under their federally allowed per diem. Coast’s board has since adjusted its travel and meal policies.

Lazarus said he hopes the training comes in good use for Norton-Dew in the future.

“That’s the past now,” Lazarus said. “Hopefully that training works for her as she seeks future employment. I certainly wish her the best.”

This story was originally published May 8, 2015 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Interim Coast chief received $10K+ in meals, trips, training before resigning."