MTA Chair Janno Lieber will enter an exclusive club on Friday when he completes his fifth year in one of New York City’s toughest, most scrutinized jobs. Since the agency was formed in 1968, just four other MTA chairs have remained in the role for at least five years. The MTA chair is appointed by the governor. (Ask any of the four other MTA chairs who served during former Gov. He was tasked with turning around a beleaguered transit construction department that had become a laughingstock over 50 years.