Was Ex-MTA Chairman Snubbed By Mayoral Transit Forum Organizers?

The most glaring omission during last night's mass transit panel for mayoral candidates wasn't the lack of discussion on subway fatalities or even the lack of ideas for sources of financing for capital needs and operations—it was former MTA Chairman Joe Lhota, who resigned at the start of the year to pursue a mayoral campaign. Lhota was nowhere to be seen at the meeting, which was hosted by the Transit Workers Union. And it has us wondering: did the TWU purposefully snub Lhota? Or does Lhota's campaign have some serious organizational issues?

Lhota's campaign spokeswoman, Susan Del Percio, said they had only learned of the event from another candidate on Tuesday: “Neither the campaign nor Mr. Lhota received an invitation to attend the event," she told us. A TWU spokesman told the Times that "Lhota had been invited over Twitter because the organizers did not know anyone on his campaign and could not find contact information on his Web site."

Del Percio told us that was ridiculous: "[TWU President John] Samuelson has reached out to Joe many times via cell phone (which has not changed since Joe left the MTA) and personal email. To suggest it was not possible to contact Joe or the campaign is insincere and disingenuous.” A TWU spokesman told us Lhota was just looking for an excuse to avoid the event: "[He was] just looking for a reason to duck it."

This isn't the first communications-related hiccup the Lhota campaign has faced so far: earlier this month, Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari withdrew his support for Lhota after he felt he was snubbed—because Lhota wouldn't call him back to finalize the endorsement event. "What the hell is going on?" Molinari told SILive. "They're making me look bad. I still don't have the courtesy of a stupid phone call."

Molinari noted that he did get calls from Adolfo Carrion, who he is now supporting: "It's quite a comparison. The man I don't support is calling me all the time." If the TWU was angry with Lhota, this would be a pretty sneaky way of getting back at him considering some of the bad press Lhota's campaign has received so far...or maybe Lhota really does need to get a new cell phone plan.