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Where Was Brownie
When We Needed Him?
A BUZZFLASH READER
CONTRIBUTION
by Joel S. Peskoff
It hit home for me when I learned that David Gunn, who was arguably
the best railroad professional in the country, was fired
by the Amtrak’s Board of Directors.
I had the pleasure to know David Gunn when he was president of the
New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA). Mr. Gunn assumed the helm
of the subway and bus system in the 1980's when it was at its worst.
The subway system was plagued by graffiti covered subway trains that
frequently malfunctioned in mid-commute. Back then, the mean distance
between train failures was only 9,600 miles. Today, it is over 114,000
miles.
The average age of a subway car exceeded 35 years. Gunn wooed the Albany
legislature to fund a multibillion dollar capital program to undue
two-decades of neglect. David made surprise visits to maintenance shops
only to find that they were deserted by mid-afternoon. By that hour
of the day, the mechanics had left for their moonlighting jobs.
In the 1980’s, New York subways had air-conditioned cars that rarely
cooled. Gunn wanted to know why, and learned that when the air-conditioners
broke down there was nobody to fix them. Why? Evidentially, the unionized
air-conditioning tradesman had seniority and therefore had first rights
on selecting their vacations. What part of the year do you think air-conditioning
tradesman chose to go on vacation? If you said "the summer," give yourself
five points. Gunn ceased that practice immediately.
David Gunn addressed an organization left on autopilot too long by
recruiting managers to oversee performance and professional analysts
to institute scientific methodology. (That's how I was hired.) Gunn's
Executive Vice President, George Miller, once showed me a train part
that he kept on his desk as a reminder of former inefficiency. Before
Gunn, there was no coordination between departments. So, the Purchasing
Department bought $23 Million of replacement parts for a subway model
that was no longer in service. Today, because of culture changes that
David Gunn instituted, New Yorkers have the finest transit system in
the world.
At Amtrak, Gunn repeated his successful New York pattern. He replaced
aged equipment, tracks and signals; imposed financial accountability;
cut waste and improved the quality of management. However, there was
a major difference. In New York, elected officials hungered for an
improved subway and bus system and thus wanted Gunn to succeed. The
Bush Administration, philosophically hostile to government programs,
wanted Amtrak to fail, so that they could dismantle it.
By now we should
be numb to ideology trumping all else and by a government laden with
political hacks and cronies. Largely responsible for Gunn's
firing is Amtrak Board President -- former Texas Lawyer and Lobbyists,
David Laney. Laney's major qualification to manage a railroad is
that he raised, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, $92,400
for the Bush/Cheney 2000 presidential campaign.
So here we have the head of a government organization fired because
he just didn't get it. His bosses wanted to run Amtrak into the
ground, not improve service and increase ridership. Gunn finally
got it though,
"Obviously what their goal is, and it's been their goal from the
beginning, is to liquidate the company," he told the media.
I lay
the blame entirely on the Amtrak board. You don't send a seasoned
professional to do the job of a rank amateur. The Board
should never
have hired Gunn in the first place. They should have selected
someone with a proven record of failure; perhaps a failed head of an
Arabian
horse sporting group. BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
Joel Peskoff is married and has three children. He has an MBA and
holds a managerial position with the New York City Transit Authority.
While Joel is busy with his paid career and enjoys family time, he
writes on notable political topics in the time left. Mr. Peskoff is
a supporter of Elliot Spitzer and advised his campaign on energy policy
-- a topic that deeply concerns him and one which he has comprehensive
knowledge. Joel has aspirations of holding political office in the
future. |
