The TTC is looking for a new head honcho to run the public transit system. Monday marked the launch of an international search for a permanent Chief General Manager for the transit commission.

Since Rick Ducharme's departure last June, Gary Webster, former General Manager of Operations, has been Interim Chief General Manager.

Ducharme ran the transit system for seven years.

He resigned from his post after the wildcat strike last May.

The strike, which left hundreds of thousands commuters stranded, began after maintenance workers were upset over shift changes forcing them to work overnight. Drivers joined the dispute, voicing safety concerns as a result of confronting angry customers who do not pay full fares.

Citing political interference as his reason for leaving, Ducharme said that it angered him to have Howard Moscoe, TTC chair at the time, step into the dispute.

"To me that's interference. The credibility of trying to deal with the union was difficult," Ducharme said at the time.

After announcing his resignation, city councillors then called for Moscoe to step down after one councillor pointed out that three general managers had left the TTC because they could not work with Moscoe.

Moscoe maintained he did not interfere in the negotiations, but stepped in to avoid a wildcat strike when it seemed negotiations were not working.

In the end, the motion some city councillors put forward to oust the former chair was unsuccessful and Moscoe held onto his position.

In a letter, Ducharme also charged that Moscoe had meddled in the decision to give Bombardier exclusive rights to a multi-million dollar contract without going to public tender.

The contract, approved by the TTC last August, would see Bombardier build 234 subway cars at its Thunder Bay, Ont. plant for the commission.

Webster was brought in to the commission in hopes that he would be able to mend fences with the union.

After an election last fall, Moscoe no longer holds the title of TTC chair. The position now belongs to Councillor Adam Giambrone.

The chief executive reports to the Board of Directors and manages a staff of 12,000 and a budget of more than $1 billion.

Whoever is hired will also oversee the implementation of the recently announced Toronto Transit City light rail plan.

Funding has not been set aside by the three levels of government for the light rail plan.