Gunn's future

Not only is Gunn facing another financial shortfall from Congress, he's looking at a Board of Directors at Amtrak which will be filled either by Bush (who is no fan of Gunn's) or Kerry (who will heed labor's demands that this guy go.) Looking back over Gunn's career, his M.O. is usually to come in, cut the hell out of everything, attack labor, and then skip town. I expect to see Gunn skipping before year's end.

Wow. I never knew someone could throw out so many unsubstantiated accusations in a single paragraph. In Mr Fels' eloquent words "Spare me the emo."

badaxe wrote:Not only is Gunn facing another financial shortfall from Congress, he's looking at a Board of Directors at Amtrak which will be filled either by Bush (who is no fan of Gunn's) or Kerry (who will heed labor's demands that this guy go.).

What is your citation for labor demands that Mr Gunn be removed from the Amtrak presidency?

badaxe wrote: Looking back over Gunn's career, his M.O. is usually to come in, cut the hell out of everything, attack labor, and then skip town. I expect to see Gunn skipping before year's end.

Again, please, would you cite specific instances? Railroads, dates of employ, officially cited reasons for leaving.... btw, what has he been cutting at 60 Mass? The last time I saw, he was fighting for an appropriation that keeps Amtrak going. BTW, IIRC, was not Mr Gunn appointed on Mr Bush's watch?

I think I'm going to change my sigline.... The Wright quotation from Thursday seems to want to resonate here:
Here's todays pithy quote:
"I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters."
~ ~ ~ Frank Lloyd Wright

Lloyd Frank Wrong wrote:"I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters."
~ ~ ~ Frank Lloyd Wright

Hmm, is this his version of "The pen is mightier than the sword" or "Death and life are in the power of the tongue"...?

Easy does it, johnny. Most of Amtrak's unionized workforce has not had a pay raise since 1999. Gunn, while publicly stating that Amtrak follows the freight pattern in contract talks, is privately demanding ludicrous work rule concessions in exchange for the same wage increased given by the freights. A lot of Amtrak workers are plenty ticked off about this. If they read this forum they might even use capital letters to show you how upset they are.

The Philly Enquirer is a good place to look, circa 1982, regarding the circumstances under which Gunn bolted SEPTA. You can also read the murky circumstances under which Jonathan Klein, Gunn's sidekick there as well, left SEPTA. the press also covered the visceral reaction labor had at those places to Gunn's attacks on them.

Gunn was the subject of an Inspector General's investigation while at MTA in NY. The IG found that Gunn hired cronies at inflated salaries. Sounds familiar.

This IG report was a factor in Gunn not getting the job to run London's Tube just before Amtrak hired him. The British press covered that and you could, as they say, look it up.

All of that aside, what I said in the original post still stands. Gunn was appointed while Bush was President, but the Amtrak Board was still filled with Clinton appointees. They picked him, not the Bush crowd. There are now 3 Bush appointees who make up the Board and one Clinton holdover who'll soon be gone. Gunn has consistently and correctly opposed Bush's kill Amtrak plan and will pay the price for that should Bush be re-elected. I believe that President Kerry will not want to run Amtrak with a boss who thinks the most important thing on his plate is to screw with the help every day.

As i said in an earlier post, Klein's sudden departure may well mean that David is on the way out. I'm sorry this makes some folks hysterical, but it is what it is, ad hominem attacks aside. Grow up, my friend.

Well, Apparently, Its time to fire the Gunn!!!

its about time you all wake up and realize that gunn is a buMM just like warrington was...

Mr. Badaxe joined RR Net today. As of this writing he has started 2 threads and made 4 posts, all bashing Mr. Gunn, mostly with innuendo.
First, before I criticize Mr Gunn for hiring a deputy he trusts, I need to know more than that he got what someone characterized as an "inflated" salary. I'd need to know the circumstances and salary of his previous job, etc. I'm sure that Amtrak workers need a raise, but they apparently know that a wage freeze is better than no job. Does anyone think it would have helped Mr. Gunn get more money out of a Republican congress (with a Republican president) if while he was saying how desperately Amtrak needed money, he gave his workers pay increases? It's the height of demagoguery to blame Mr. Gunn for Amtrak's money shortage and consequent inability to give its workers a raise. There is also no comparison with the freight railroads, which are making money these last several years. Some Amtrak T&E crew members have the right to return to the freight railroads for which they previously worked. (I don't know all the details--maybe another member can enlighten us.) From what I read in an old Doug Riddell column, freight railroad employees made the decision to volunteer to go with Amtrak, knowing they would get paid less but getting in return better working conditions and better work schedules.
Finally, my real name, location and email address are in my profile. Mr. Badaxe hides behind his screen name, giving no identifying information whatever.

Joe,

I just went and looked at my profile. While I withhold my email, Otto (and I believe) any Moderator can access it. Certainly if someone contacts me through the esteemed Mr Norman, I will respond.

The gentleman who started this thread has yet to lay down a magazine article, news article, book, or web address that states even slanted information. All we have right now is his spin.

It's election season. I'm getting more than enough spin on the tube from both political parties. Mr Badaxe wants to be credible? It's easy: Cite articles and reports. I'll even help. Here's an online bibliographic citation generator. All Mr Badaxe has to do is plug in the appropriate data:

http://www.landmark-project.com/citatio ... /index.php

John

Keep in mind that Mr. Badaxe postulate's two scenarios: one, Bush appointees to the Amtrak Board force Gunn out as part of their strategy to destroy, i.e. reform, Amtrak; two, President Kerry forces him out at labor's insistence, i.e. Kerry is a "whore" to labor.

It's a cynical POV toward both candidates, but it also highlight the need to insulate Amtrak from the general political debate taking place in this country. Neither scenario reflects Mr. Gunn's job performance, which most observers agree has been admirable under difficult circumstances.

Mr LI Loco,

Maybe true for his initial post, but his subsequent post is just one long diatribe.

John

badaxe wrote:This IG report was a factor in Gunn not getting the job to run London's Tube just before Amtrak hired him. The British press covered that and you could, as they say, look it up.

An IG report released in 1985 is mentioned in an article that ran in the August 9, 2001, issue The Telegraph. Gunn's response:

Whatever the report said, it found no evidence of scandal. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. I arrived in 1984 and by 1990 the subway was up and running again.

Last paragraph of a profile of London's mayor Ken Livingstone in the May 31, 2004, issue of The Guardian:

The Guardian wrote:[Transport Commisioner Bob] Kiley should have come to London as part of a package. Although the American is widely credited with personally transforming the fortunes of the New York subway, much of the direct responsibility for this was shouldered by another man, David Gunn, widely regarded as the most talented public transport operator in the world. Gunn was keen to come to London, just as Livingstone was keen to have him. But the dream ticket was scuppered by central government. Gunn, who can scarcely be accused of seeking an easy life since he now runs the US railway Amtrak, took one look at the Treasury's PPP arrangement for the running of the tube and decided the job was not for him after all.

Also, neither "badaxe" nor this anti-Gunn line is exactly new to railroad.net, as this cached post from 2002 clearly indicates.

There hasn't been a decent Amtrak President since Mr. Claytor......

Claytor? The Amtrak president who extended the Sunset Limited from New Orleans to Florida? Wow.

I think David Gunn has done an outstanding job with Amtrak. I know a
few people with Amtrak and most of them understand what the money
situation is, "you can't get blood out of stone".
Mr Gunn has made some very difficult decisions and I think history will
end up being very kind to him.
Naturally, there will be a few dis-gruntled folks in various circles who will
not like anybody in a management position.
I personally think David Gunn is even better than Graham Claytor, he has
faced the problems that Amtrak faces and dealt with them in a rather
effective and truthful manner.
Noel Weaver

Geez, you folks sure do get upset when someone says something you don't agree with. John asked for some backup to what I said in my original post and then went bananas when I gave it to him. Matfels selectively cited pieces of a story in the British paper, but even Mat's cite included the news that gunn's appointment was "scuppered" by the government. Why? The coverage I've read in the British press says that one of the factors which dissuaded them was the IG report I cited in response to John's request. Sorry that contrary opinions enrage you to the point of attacking me, but ...

But rather than get your collective knickers in a twist, why not simply respond to my speculation about David's future? Do you think he's staying? What do you think his strategy is to get the money Amtrak needs to survive? Adn what does he do when, once again this year, he doesn't get it? And, for an old fellow who's just lost what many see as his closest associate (Klein) what reason is there for him to stay on? Go to it, boys.