Passenger Trains > I hope Gunn "talks"

Now that Amtrak is firmely in the hands of the enemy Bush Administration, I hope Gunn tells the media the truth about Bush's efforts to kill Amtrak.

floridajoe2001 Wrote:
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> Now that Amtrak is firmely in the hands of the
> enemy Bush Administration, I hope Gunn tells the
> media the truth about Bush's efforts to kill
> Amtrak.


His severance agreement may preclude this.

Regarding Gunn, I don't know what the big deal is. The average tenure of Amtrak presidents (excluding the iconic W. Graham Claytor) is about 3-4 years anyway and Mr. Gunn is of an age where he could contemplate retirement.

The politics & frustration factor begins to weigh on even the competent, well-intentioned Amtrak executives after awhile. The not-so-competent Amtrak presidents have left for external reasons. Of course, the exception once again, is the masterful Washington politician as well as railroader, Mr. Claytor.

I have personally known several Amtrak Directors over the years. Given the historical powerlessness of the Amtrak Board, I am actually pleased to see them make a definitive decison for a change even if the board members themselves are all Administration hacks.

In my book, an executive has three to four years to prove themselves worthy of the role or they're out. This includes the Chief Executive of the U.S. Was the Board of Directors of the United States (the voters) not acting responsibly in the Presidential election a year ago? If you think they were acting prudently, then you are going to have to abide by what the Bush Adminstration does to Amtrak.

Bob

well said bnsfbob.

I think Mr. Gunn has left his mark too, and history will show him as one of the best, right up there with Mr. Claytor. time will tell.

Although ive never met mr gunn, i woudld love someone to come and tell me your amtrak's CEO. My first act would to bring gunn back on board as my second in command. then him and i fight bush all the way. Gunn gets respect from me as he accually CARED about amtrak and the employees. I rode the 30 to cumberland md and the 29 back to toleod ohio and the service was very impressive. i was shocked and qiute frankly very pleased.
railfan1 out

Since Gunn was hired during the Bush administration, I can't help but think that some misunderstanding existed between Gunn and the administration as to what was to be done. As stated on another thread, I have been mystified by Gunn's approach to the job. He had the background and experience to transform Amtrak, so I could understand why the administration would have accepted his choice. But from the start, Gunn seemed to want to show that he could successfully run Amtrak as is, where others had failed. His ego seemed to overtake his better judgement. To draw an analogy, the situation would be like bringing in a successful, retired <freight> railroad executive to turn around your regional railroad that is stuck on boxcar traffic and has lost interchange business, only to have him say that we need to bring back good stuff like livestock business, LCL, and iced refrigerator cars. Of course the analogy is not completely correct, because Amtrak is stuck in the era of livestock, LCL, and iced refrigerator cars, but I hope you see my point.

As one might expect, it all sounds like sour grapes from someone who has been fired, but FWIW:
==========================================

"The Board members came in this morning and asked me to resign. I refused, so they fired me," Gunn said in an interview with Railway Age Editor William C. Vantuono.

"I feel at least that I did the right, honorable thing. I wasn't going to abandon our people." He said that the Bush Administrations people wanted to implement their plan, which is destroying Amtrak. "I stood in their way," he said. "That's why they fired me..."

"If you want an example of getting fired for producing good numbers, this is it," he said. "It's an upside-down world we live in..."

"Anything they all tell you is bullshit," Gunn told Railway Age in his characteristically frank, shoot-from-the hip manner. Citing the 93-6 vote in the Senate approving an Amtrak reathorization bill earmarking nearly $12 billion in mostly capital investment over the next few years, Gunn said it doesn't compute. "The Administration is serious about taking this place apart..."

What happens next? The Administration is running out of time, Gunn told Railway Age. "They have to do a lot of the dirty stuff this year, because next year is an election year, and what they've got in mind will be very unpopular."

Gunn was hired, I believe, by a board controlled by holdovers from the Clinton Administration.

It was only a matter of time before the Bush Administration would appoint a majority of the Board, which now has been done.

And, it appears that Mr. Gunn declined to implement the board's and administration's policies. While one may lament those policies, it seems clear that the board has the final say, not an executive who reports to the board.

Mr. Gunn was given an opportunity to change course, but declined to do so.

As has been pointed out, he was also running out of options. Whatever he could do for Amtrak within the resources provided has largely been done. Additional progress required more money and/or support from the Administration, both unlikely. A holding pattern was more likely, but that would not mean much in terms of ability to move Amtrak forward according to a Gunn vision.

It's OK for Gunn to talk, and for Congress to talk, but talking doesn't solve Amtrak's problems. It's been "talk, talk, talk" for years.

I think we should be fair and point people to whole Railway Age article...

<www.railwayage.com>

Look under current news in the left-hand column.

bnsfbob Wrote:
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> out. This includes the Chief Executive of the U.S.
> Was the Board of Directors of the United States
> (the voters) not acting responsibly in the
> Presidential election a year ago? If you think
> they were acting prudently, then you are going to
> have to abide by what the Bush Adminstration does
> to Amtrak.

They were acting as imprudently as you can get, but there's a difference. The Board of Directors of the United States is not handpicked by anyone other than themselves (whether or not one chooses to live in the US).

ChS7-321 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bnsfbob Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > out. This includes the Chief Executive of the
> U.S.
> > Was the Board of Directors of the United
> States
> > (the voters) not acting responsibly in the
> > Presidential election a year ago? If you
> think
> > they were acting prudently, then you are
> going to
> > have to abide by what the Bush Adminstration
> does
> > to Amtrak.
>
> They were acting as imprudently as you can get,
> but there's a difference. The Board of Directors
> of the United States is not handpicked by anyone
> other than themselves (whether or not one chooses
> to live in the US).
>
>

Once again we have democraticly fair elections in this country. When candidates I didn't care for, esp the current Va guv and the recently elected one come to mind, I'm not thrilled with it but have to resign myself to what the will of the people are. The same goes here...

ts1457 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Since Gunn was hired during the Bush
> administration, I can't help but think that some
> misunderstanding existed between Gunn and the
> administration as to what was to be done. As
> stated on another thread, I have been mystified by
> Gunn's approach to the job. He had the background
> and experience to transform Amtrak, so I could
> understand why the administration would have
> accepted his choice. But from the start, Gunn
> seemed to want to show that he could successfully
> run Amtrak as is, where others had failed. His ego
> seemed to overtake his better judgement. To draw
> an analogy, the situation would be like bringing
> in a successful, retired <freight> railroad
> executive to turn around your regional railroad
> that is stuck on boxcar traffic and has lost
> interchange business, only to have him say that we
> need to bring back good stuff like livestock
> business, LCL, and iced refrigerator cars. Of
> course the analogy is not completely correct,
> because Amtrak is stuck in the era of livestock,
> LCL, and iced refrigerator cars, but I hope you
> see my point.
>
>
Gee, that must be why he was asking for funding for aquiring NEW passenger and Auto Train equipment, to keep things as they are. With many cars in dire need of repair or replacement, and Bush doesn't want to give Gunn/Amtrak the funds to repair them, let alone get new rolling stock, no wonder there are more service/equipment failures on trains......

bnsfbob Wrote:
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> His severance agreement may preclude this.

You get a severance if you're FIRED!? It's not like he resigned....

:D

Kennedy

In Corporate America scenarios like the BOD vs David Gunn have been played out allot. Bank Presidents doing a great job for their bank have kicked out just the same. The job of the President of Amtrak is one of leader and follower. With follower being more of what is in the job duty roster of the office. Which is one of the reasons of the mess that Amtrak has rolled on for 34 years.

As to Mr. Gunn's replacement don't worry, as for as long Amtrak is around there's going to be allot more Amtrak presidents than you can inmagine.

What I am afraid is that there's going to be some losses to the gains achieved during Mr.Gunn's tenure, especially in the passenger service area.

If Congress just approved a $1.4 Billon dollar package for Amtrak, I still don't understand how all long distance trains will come to a halt.... Is that the plan by the Bush administration and the Amtrak Subcommittee??? Ofcourse it is, however I still don't think it will happen....If it does happen, I just can't imagine the outrage from many members of congress and of course the mayors, governors from each state which the train travels through.. Also the local public who ride the trains from rural towns to metropolis will be equally enraged!!!

Hell, Even Trent Lott who is a conservative republican was outraged by the decision to fire Gunn! Although Bush WWW thinks he is King, HE ISNT!!! I hope he realizes that most decisions in this country like any other republic democracy are made by Congress and NOT our "so called" president with his puppet cronies!!! Shame on you BUSH!! I hope your 38% approval rating goes down to 10% or less!!! Wake up and smell the coffee as your country and economy is going in the sh*tter....

Steve