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Amtrak president loses job [Democrats say: "It's Bush's fault"]
Associated Press via The Billings Gazette ^ | November 10, 2005 | Associated Press

Posted on 11/10/2005 6:47:37 PM PST by BigSkyFreeper

WASHINGTON - Amtrak's president was fired Wednesday by the company's board of directors, who said David Gunn did not drive the debt-laden rail service fast enough toward major changes.

Democrats criticized Gunn's ouster and questioned whether the firing was legal, contending it was part of a Bush administration effort to kill national rail service.

As Amtrak's president and chief executive, Gunn struggled to maintain service amid a sinking financial picture and a push by the White House and some in Congress to transform the railroad into a group of companies offering regional service.

Gunn was offered the chance to resign. He refused.

Amtrak's board chairman, David Laney, praised Gunn's effort to put Amtrak in good working order, but said the company's needs went further.

"That is not acceptable. We're more ambitious than that," Laney said. "We just need to change gears."

Laney said it was a gradually worsening relationship between Gunn and the board, not any single disagreement, that led to his ouster.

Gunn took over in 2002 after having headed transit systems in New York City, Washington and Toronto. Amtrak declined to make Gunn available or provide information about how he could be contacted.

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said Gunn was fired because of a clash over the board's vote in September to authorize splitting off the Northeast Corridor, an idea the administration supported. The Washington-Boston service accounts for the largest share of the railroad's ridership.

"David Gunn bucked that idea, so that was the straw that broke the camel's back," said Mica, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee on railroads.

"He's a very capable operational manager, but he wasn't willing to go along with the dramatic changes that need to be made," Mica said.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., praised Gunn as "a brilliant manager" and said his firing "decapitated Amtrak."

Schumer and other Democrats said the removal may have been illegal because the seven-member board has three vacancies while two members serve by recess appointment.

Laney said the board has the authority to act as it did.

"David's a very popular guy and I understand some of the responses are very emotional, but unfortunately they're without substance," he said.

Other lawmakers criticized Gunn as a roadblock to overhauling national rail service.

"I am hopeful that new leadership can open the door for Amtrak to work closely with Congress to achieve meaningful reforms," said Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y.

Amtrak has never made money in its 34-year history. An operating loss of more than $550 million was expected for the budget year that ended Sept. 30. The railroad has a debt of more than $3.5 billion.

The White House has called for an end to subsidies for Amtrak, but the House has approved an appropriation of nearly $1.2 billion for this budget year.

In recent months, Amtrak has been besieged by problems up and down the line, from equipment breakdowns to big-ticket budget woes.

Earlier this year, Amtrak suspended all high-speed Acela service between Washington, New York City, and Boston, due to cracks discovered in the brakes.

A report issued last week by the Government Accountability Office, the auditing arm of Congress, said Amtrak needs to improve the way it monitors performance and oversees its finances in order to reach firm financial footing.

"The company is likely to need outside help in developing a comprehensive approach to address internal control weaknesses and improve the financial information for management and external stakeholders," the report found.

Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, who also sits on Amtrak's board, said the report was "unusual, if not unprecedented, in the scope of its review and the severity of its indictment." He urged the board to "stop and take a fresh look on how to proceed in the face of this nonpartisan, objective report of systemic failure."


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Front Page News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: amtrak
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To: ClaireSolt

No argument from me on those points. I remember when Amtrak first took over, though I don't particularly remember whether it had a mandate to be profitable in a certain amount of time. I'm not an accountant, but I have a feeling that running the numbers would prove that Amtrak could never be profitable (unless perhaps it was de unionized). Therefore, that fact should be recognized and a decision made to either bear with it or end it. Looks like we're heading toward the ending it solution, but by piecemeal.

I love trains and will regret greatly the ending of the intercity overnighters, if that happens, but will not exactly mourn Amtrak.


21 posted on 11/10/2005 7:40:02 PM PST by Sam Cree (absolute reality)
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To: BigSkyFreeper

I recently tried to book passage on a train from Ft Walton Beach to Orlando. I know the train runs the route, it's part of the Sunset Limited that goes to Los Angeles.

Anyhow, the Amtrack online reservation system kept telling me that I had to pick a different date and time. No matter what I chose.

Exasperated I searched the internet and found that Amtrak had decided that since the tracks were torn up in MS and Louisiana, thereby preventing the Sunset Limited from going all the way to Los Angeles, they just canceled the whole damn train altogether east of the Texas.

Of course they couldn't be bothered to put that on THEIR OWN WEBSITE!!


22 posted on 11/10/2005 7:45:31 PM PST by VeniVidiVici (What? Me worry?)
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To: Phocion

A-men!


23 posted on 11/10/2005 7:52:39 PM PST by dr_who_2
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To: EGPWS
Maybe Gunn was political payback for the dumping of pbs's
Thomassen? Can we say "intercine"?
24 posted on 11/10/2005 7:58:17 PM PST by p[adre29 (Arma in armatos)
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To: Army Air Corps
Did I mention withdrawing from the worthless UN as a policy goal?

One more reason to
GO ALL THE WAY WITH AAC.

25 posted on 11/10/2005 8:08:23 PM PST by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: IGNORANCE ON PARADE)
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To: BigSkyFreeper
I only have two things to say about that... :O) P
26 posted on 11/10/2005 8:18:39 PM PST by papasmurf (How can I be guilty of lying about a non-crime???)
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To: Army Air Corps
You left out the Commerce Dept.

And you have my vote :)

27 posted on 11/10/2005 9:27:28 PM PST by upchuck (John Robinson abhors my avatar: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1510594/posts?page=30#30 :)
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To: operation clinton cleanup

<<< Just give them an increased budget and one more year, they will get it right!><>

And THAT is exactly the problem...
Year to year not knowing what the funding will be, while infrastructure built in the 1910's and 20's falls apart...

The sad reality is that for Amtrack to survive, it NEEDS to die, but going without a national rail service IS NOT an option.....
It's unfortunate, but we NEED a national system that connects small and large. Between Bus cuts, rail cuts, and massive cuts in rural air service,(Almost all of that money now goes to Alaska), we now have HUGE swaths of the country without ANY public transport...


28 posted on 11/10/2005 10:48:43 PM PST by tcrlaf
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To: The_Crunch
I think the Dems should narrow things down and tell us what ISN'T Bush's fault.

Yeah, that would definitely make things much easier.

29 posted on 11/10/2005 10:50:18 PM PST by Fruitbat
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To: tcrlaf
It's unfortunate, but we NEED a national system that connects small and large. Between Bus cuts, rail cuts, and massive cuts in rural air service,(Almost all of that money now goes to Alaska), we now have HUGE swaths of the country without ANY public transport...

I took an Amtrack train once in my life.. from Fort Wayne Indiana to Chicago and back with my family when I was about 10 years old. It was fun and interesting, but we could have easily made the trip in the Country Esquire. The only heavily used service is in the North Eastern seaboard, which could easily be provided by a private company... even with some minor subsidies to get them up and running. You will never convince me of the need for a national Federal rail system.

30 posted on 11/11/2005 4:37:21 PM PST by operation clinton cleanup
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