Passenger Trains > Amtrak Board of Directors

I noticed tonight while writing a letter to the Amtrak Board of Directors that all 6 were appointed by Obama.  They then chose the President and CEO, Mr. Anderson.  That really explains much itself in that the board still does not understand how critical passenger rail travel is in this country.  The railroad is not an airline, never was and never will be and thus should not be managed as such. The board members are apparently allowing Mr. Anderson to completely destroy passenger rail travel except in the NE part of the country.  I believe 10 new Acela trainsets were purchased to replace the aging fleet.  Do they not realize that Superliners and other equipment is ancient compared to the first Acela trainsets.  Please consider writing your congress people to ask them to continue to support a National Railroad Passenger Corporation system.  If we do not, we will be a third rate passenger company in much of the world.

Richard Anderson was recommended by Wick Moorman as I recall.

Posted from Android

stash Wrote:
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> Richard Anderson was recommended by Wick Moorman
> as I recall.

Which does not change the Board's status as a bunch of political hacks.

Still, Wick Moorman is a highly respected railroader.

Nick

Posted from iPhone

Wait. I thought everything was Trump's fault.  Clearly Amtrak has been missmanaged during much of it's history no matter which party is in charge. 

In January, President Trump announced his intent to name two members to the Amtrak board. Looks like that is stalled on the Hill / Swamp.

The President also appoints various DC Board members, like the MWAA.

https://www.enotrans.org/article/trump-nominates-amtrak-mwaa-board-members/

Posted from Android

Not sure of status of confirmations but Trump has made several nominations to Amtrak's Board of Directors:

In November 2017 the Senate confirmed Trump nominee =smallThe Senate committee approved former Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) to serve on Amtrak’s Board of Directors for five years. As a member of Congress, Westmoreland voted to slash funding for Amtrak, but he told Senators during his confirmation hearing that he recognizes the importance of federal funding for the passenger rail system.  Westmoreland resigned when was nominated as Deputy Secretary of Transportation 

Joseph Gruters - nominated in January 2018 - Gruters was Trump's FL campaign chair - nominated for seat vacated by Westmoreland Joe Gruters is a first-term member of the Florida House of Representatives and a crtified Public Accountant.He served as co-chairman of Trump’s presidential campaign in Florida and has twice been appointed to the board of trustees of Florida State University.“I’m looking forward to trying to make Amtrak efficient, effective and safe,"

June 2018 he nominated  Rick  Dearborn, who had his confirmation hearing on July 31st- Dearborn was described as a lifelong “train freak” during a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee.The label was placed on  Dearborn by Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, who presided over most of the two-hour hearing.During the hearing, Dearborn said Amtrak needs to make its long-distance trains more attractive but did not say that he supports government funding of them.“Amtrak trains should be on time, clean, competitive, and a good option for travelers,” Dearborn said. “Long distance service is a critical part of the national passenger rail system. I am committed to it.”“I get the impression that Amtrak is being reduced, not built, because it’s requiring taxpayer dollars,”

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, told Dearborn. “Do you think taxpayer dollars are necessary to keep Amtrak going?”“I can’t predict whether or not Amtrak could operate without financial assistance,” Dearborn said. “I would hope that if we focus on creating a good product, then revenues will rise and the dependency on federal dollars would be less.”“If you had a choice between lowering operating losses and shutting down a long-distance line, what would you choose?” asked U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada.“I hope I’m never faced with that decision,” Dearborn replied.  Dearborn also zeroed in on safety, saying it must be the passenger carrier’s highest priority.Dearborn expressed optimism that Amtrak will meet the Dec. 31 deadline set by federal law to install positive train control.In his opening statement .

Dearborn said he has a collection of O Scale models that includes 75 locomotives and 300 pieces of rolling stock.He has worked for six senators since the mid-1970s, including 12 years as chief of staff for former Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama.  Dearborn was executive director of President Donald Trump’s transition team and White House deputy chief of staff until he resigned in March.Ative director of the presidential transition team and has connections with conservative groups having served as the director of congressional relations for the Senate at The Heritage Foundation.If approved, Dearborn would serve a five-year term.  

Statutory qualifications to serve on Amtrak Board are as follows:

general business and financial experience, experience or qualifications in transportation, freight and passenger rail transportation, travel, hospitality, cruise line, or passenger air transportation businesses, or representatives of employees or users of passenger rail transportation or a State government.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/18 05:19 by swirsk53.

"will meet the Dec. 31 deadline set by federal law"
Not by Anderson's decree of not having it where it need not be (Raton Pass, D&RGW). 

"Looks like that is stalled on the Hill / Swamp. "
No. Senator Moran and friends put a hold on it becasue because of Anderson's mischief. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/18 05:53 by joemvcnj.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> "will meet the Dec. 31 deadline set by federal
> law"
> Not by Anderson's decree of not having it where it
> need not be (Raton Pass, D&RGW). 
>
> "Looks like that is stalled on the Hill /
> Swamp. "
> No. Senator Moran and friends put a hold on it
> becasue because of Anderson's mischief. 

I would describe that as the swamp. Like denying Judge Garland even a hearing and vote while rushing Judge Kavanaugh to a vote without examining his record and opinions.

Invite Anderson to hearings and grill him, and put the board on notice. None of this sense of congress bs.

Posted from Android

Nice somebody brings up the board....

Notice the name Jeff Moreland? He's on the Amtrak board...

Former ATSF/BNSF exec and former member of their BOD.. Headed the law department there, too... Nobody more connect in a high place to infect the outcome of the Southwest Grief.....

Probably stop short of calling him a Railroader, prior to ATSF he worked for the securities and exchange commission.. Ya think he's a supporter of the common passenger?? Do ya?

stash Wrote:
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> Richard Anderson was recommended by Wick Moorman
> as I recall.
>
> Posted from Android

Perhaps Mr. Moorman, former NS CEO and probable holder of significant shares of NS stock, wanted to get passenger trains off the NS once and for all?  Just because he allowed a couple of steam engines to run, doesn't necessarily make him either a railfan or passsenger train booster.

One might suggest that the Amtrak Board of Directors should like to have a comprehensive, transparent powerpoint presentation created for stakeholders which shows Amtrak LDT services desired results... Goals, Objectives, and Rebuilding Points and Methods to achieve a successful and sustainable national rail network should be viewed by all.  All of such points have been a massive grey area for the past year.

NYC4096 Wrote:
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> One might suggest that the Amtrak Board of
> Directors should like to have a comprehensive,
> transparent powerpoint presentation created for
> stakeholders which shows Amtrak LDT services
> desired results... Goals, Objectives, and
> Rebuilding Points and Methods to achieve a
> successful and sustainable national rail network
> should be viewed by all.  All of such points have
> been a massive grey area for the past year.

This assumes that such a presentation that all stakeholders agree on exists, which suspect is not the case. For one thing I doubt that there is a broadly agreed upon sustainable funding plan with a guranteed source to feed it, other than appropriation from general funds. I suspect that more than anything else is the reason that no such presentation to the Board at present is feasible. Indeed, it should be the Board that should be spearheading the creation of such. But that is beyond the skillset of the current potted plants that constitute the Board apparently.

The board likely sees a "sources and uses of funds" report from the CFO on a monthly basis. It is part of the cash flow report.

I would expect that there's a dashboard of monthly internal reports and trend lines.

Posted from Android

utwazoo Wrote:
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> Perhaps Mr. Moorman, former NS CEO and probable
> holder of significant shares of NS stock, wanted
> to get passenger trains off the NS once and for
> all?  Just because he allowed a couple of steam
> engines to run, doesn't necessarily make him
> either a railfan or passsenger train booster.

Now really? That is a serious allegation on your part.

Wick owns a PV. Also during his tenure as head of NS, the railroad was very cooperative with establishing additional passenger services in Virginia and North Carolina, including the Richmond-Norfolk corridor.

Jack



 

Board members do not run companies. At best, they select CEOs. Once they select a CEO, they tend to support the CEO.

ts1457 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> utwazoo Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > Perhaps Mr. Moorman, former NS CEO and probable
> > holder of significant shares of NS stock,
> wanted
> > to get passenger trains off the NS once and for
> > all?  Just because he allowed a couple of
> steam
> > engines to run, doesn't necessarily make him
> > either a railfan or passsenger train booster.
>
> Now really? That is a serious allegation on your
> part.
>
> Wick owns a PV. Also during his tenure as head of
> NS, the railroad was very cooperative with
> establishing additional passenger services in
> Virginia and North Carolina, including the
> Richmond-Norfolk corridor.
>
> Jack
>
>Serious allegation?  No, just one person's thoughts. Anyway, couldn't be TO without allegations, eh?    Wick seems to be  silent on the Amtrak policy changes re PVs, LDTs and the need for,  food service, etc.  Unlike Boardman for example. 
>
>  

reindeerflame Wrote:
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> Board members do not run companies. At best, they
> select CEOs. Once they select a CEO, they tend to
> support the CEO.

That's true, although the directors are supposed to exercise oversight, etc.

In a C Corp, there may be civil and occasionally criminal penalties for director screw ups. In government enterprises, not so often.

Posted from Android

utwazoo Wrote:
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> ...    Wick seems to be  silent on
> the Amtrak policy changes re PVs, LDTs and the
> need for,  food service, etc.  Unlike Boardman
> for example. 

Wick is probably from the school where ex-CEO's butt out, unlike Boardman. I am betting that he feels like he misjudged Mr. Anderson. I think Wick is still listed as a consultant to Amtrak. I am curious if he has been called for any consultations lately?

Has anyone heard from Boardman since last spring? He seems to have crawled back into his hole (perhaps he was reminded about something in his retirement agreement).

Jack

 

swirsk53 Wrote:
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> Statutory qualifications to serve on Amtrak Board are as follows:
>
> general business and financial experience, experience or qualifications in transportation,
> freight and passenger rail transportation, travel, hospitality, cruise line, or passenger air
> transportation businesses, or representatives of employees or users of passenger rail
> transportation or a State government.

Doesn't seem like any of Mr. Trump's nominees meet these qualifications.  Prior political office, legislative staff or government agency experience, and party campaign work seem to be the determining factors.  In other words a place to take care of "warmed-over, third-rate political hacks" as one of our Chicago-area transit boards was once (somewhat unfairly) described.