November 9, 2005
David Gunn: “I did the honorable thing”
When he came out of retirement to accept the position as Amtrak’s President and Chief Executive Officer little more than three years ago, David L. Gunn—a highly respected career railroader with more than 40 years’ experience operating freight trains and running transit systems in the U.S. and Canada—said he didn’t need the job, and if his superiors didn’t like the job he was doing, they could fire him. He’d return to his home in Nova Scotia.
That’s exactly what happened earlier today, when Amtrak’s four-person, Bush-Administration-appointed Board of Directors (only one of which—Chairman David M. Laney—has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate), released Gunn, saying that Amtrak “needed to intensify the pace and broaden the scope of its reforms.” He was reportedly let go because of “philosophical differences” with the Board, most likely a clash over the Board’s vote in September to authorize splitting off the Northeast Corridor, an idea backed by the Bush Administration. That apparently was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Chief Engineer David Hughes has been named Acting President and CEO, and the Board “has launched a national search to find the railroad’s next leader.”
“The Board members came in this morning and asked me to resign. I refused, so they fired me,” Gunn said in an interview this afternoon 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 Administration’s people wanted to implement their plan, “which is destroying Amtrak.” “I stood in their way,” he said. “That’s why they fired me.”
Gunn, a veteran of the Santa Fe and Illinois Central railroads who made his mark in transportation by turning around transit systems in Boston, New York City, Washington D.C., and Toronto, spent the past three-plus years streamlining Amtrak’s m
Maybe I could apply for the job. I have no experience, know nothing about the real world of railroading, and can suckup with the best of them. Hmmm, maybe I can even get into government someday…
I think I’m going to have to agree with Senator Tom Carper here in terms of the board members getting rid of Gunn in order to institue a plan that involves Amtrak being broken up into individual ownerships in which, the states will seperatly govern, fund, and control the nations passenger rail, all except for the NEC. I can see why the government, in particular the Bush Administration wants to get rid of Amtrak, to them it’s a torn in their side, all except for one division the NEC, which happens to be the center of Amtrak’s revanue.
Now all we can do is see how Mr. David Hughes does in runing Amtrak.
I believe this article is “right on the money”. As I said in Modelcar’s thread the other day we must stand up now for Amtrak or this administration will kill it. If you have not written, called, or emailed your congress people DO IT NOW.
Do not allow this administration to trash Amtrak. We must stop the splitting up of Amtrak also and we must voice our opinion NOW.
…Expecting States to control, fund and govern the daily efforts of Amtrak might as well not even be started…It won’t work. Mr. Gunn has layed out the many reasons over time why it won’t. If politics weren’t in it…It would boggle one’s mind why a knowledgeable railroader manager such as Gunn would be fired…
Perhaps the time has come for an Amendment to the Constitution to fund a National Rail Passenger Service (Amtrak).
What do you think about this?
I, for one, would support it.
I know the freight railroads probally would not like it. But the government funded many of the original railroads by land grant so it would be fair to ask for a little something back. Of course the passenger side should help pay for some of the expenses for running on fright railroads. But having a better passenger rail system could be part of a national energy program, and that is something this country desperately needs.
While I don’t disagree with the sentiment, I also am not sure that a Constitutional Amendment would be the way to go given the constraints and long time horizons inherent in that process. Besides, I think that Sen. Lott and others have the Congress motivated to do what is necessary to fund Amtrak at a sustainable level.
At this point the problem seems to be more that Bush and Mineta have decided to dismantle Amtrak and firing Gunn was a way of halting progess now that Congress has agreed to provide the money. (As a side note, the House conferees have now been instructed to accept the Senate’s $11+Billion funding proposal for the final bill.)
If you haven’t already, you should consider the proposal by former Amtrak President Paul Reistrup (who was later a V.P. at CSX) for the privatization of Amtrak. What is happening now is almost a page from that text. For a look at his ideas, they are mentioned at length in this months (Dec) under the Capitol Lines column on page 28. Essentially, he is favoring the split infrastructure and operating company model. Given Reistrup’s history in the industry and connections to CSX (can you say “Snow”?) I can’t help but wonder if he might be involved in efforts to start a private f
For that matter I think my cat, Claude Le Mew, could do the job the Bushiites really want done. He does "warm and fuzzy’ really well and is a good lap ornament. He purrs better than any other applicant I know.
Guess it’s official now. Amtrak certainly needs some major improvements, and David Gunn had the guts to try to implement some of them. Bottom line, if Amtrak didn’t exist, it would have to be invented.
What can “WE the People” do to stop Bush and his puppet Mineta from harming Amtrak until the next election. That is other than what I have already urged our forum member to do, that is call, write, or email their congress people.
What can be done to continually fund Amtrak at levels where it can actually add routes and improve its service? What can be done to keep future presidents from doing what Bush is trying now to do?
There are valid questions that need attention not only from forum member but Congress as well.
It’s interesting to note that the government of Canada plans on investing billions instead of millions it orginally planned into VIA Rail. They finally are going to use their thinking cap and develop the Windsor Corridor.
As for Bush and Mineta, last time I check opinion poles, over 50% of the people don’t trust Bush (think he is a liar) and I hear lots of jabs about Mineta in general. Those guys were elected however so you did get what you voted for so if over 50% of the people think Bush is a liar then to them I say “told you so”. Amtrak is just a latest development in Bushism stupidity.
Interesting questions. In the short term I would suggest applying as much pressure as possible on governmental representatives at ALL levels. Congress needs to hear that good Amtrak service is important to their constituients. State representatives are also good targets. Pressure from State DOTs that provide matching funds to Amtrak can’t hurt. Perhaps one more letter or e-mail to the President himself is worthwhile just to let him know he will step on more toes with his anti-Amtrak position. It may not change his position, but it will make it harder for him to pull the plug. Join a state advocacy group or NARP or other national passenger lobbying group and give a few bucks to them for lobbying. If you are a railroader in a union, encourage your union to support Amtrak, most already do as they stand to lose members and the loss of Amtrak as a railroad employer will seriously hurt the Railroad Retirement Fund.
On the White House Website you can send a positive or a negative e-mail to the President. However, the negative e-mails don’t go through. I tried it about 8 times over a 2 day period. My wife suggested I send a positive one & it went right through.
Please refrain from saying anything bad about the republicans or in general George W. Bush… in the last thread about the firing of David Gunn I posted my [2c] and {GASP} there was two people out of 50 who stood up for W and his “friends” and swore he had nothing two do with Mr. Gunn being let go from amtrak. I agree with you when I say “I told you so” . Did anyone hear about the two towns in the midwest where one had 90% of the population voted for George W. - 9000 people but the town only had a population of 3000 to start with, and two the town where over 1000 dead people all voted for George W. some have been dead since the late 1800’s. Swear its true saw it on the news while watching my Direct TV.
Congress can fund all it wants and authorize all it wants, but if the administration does not release the funds, nothing happens. Bush’s recess appointments to the AMTK Board (all but Mineta and the Chairman) expire Sine Die and then all “W” needs to do is to make new recess appointments to continue the excersize.
However, one possibla action mentioned above - the one about the various States and Regional Compacts, probably would work since that is one of the cornerstones of the Bush reorg of AMTK. In fact, that may be the only thing that would work.
Sine Die – without a day specified for a future meeting or without a date fixed
Now, question, if Congress authorizes funds how can the president keep the allocation from going through? Can he veto an allocation? If so, then Congress can override his veto. My American Government class was a few [;)] years ago and I am a little forgetful. I know the president at one point approves the budget he submits to the Congress. Is this how he can withhold funding?