The New York Observer has followed-up with David Gunn about his firing, which is tied to the right-wing's desire in general (and the Bush Administration in particular) to eliminate it and sell as parts to bidders.
in April, Mr. Gunn and the Amtrak board came up with a package of reforms that would have called on the states to partially fund busy corridors and would have considered eliminating long-distance routes. At the time, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta said, "Amtrak's strategic reform proposal adopts a number of the same principles in the Bush reform proposal that was delivered to Congress last week. But the important thing to note is that we have agreement in a number of areas."
...more after the jump.....
Then, something happened.....
By September, the administration was no longer satisfied with that "agreement." The four members on the Amtrak board, all appointed by President George W. Bush, approved a resolution over Mr. Gunn's objections that would form a subsidiary to maintain the Northeast Corridor's tracks, stations and electric lines. Mr. Laney, the board chairman, denied the move was a precursor to splitting off the (Northeast Corridor).
David Gunn contrasted two difficult situations he has dealt with. One was taking control of the NYC Transit Authority in 1984, the other when he began at Amtrak in 2002:
"[Mayor Ed] Koch was absolutely behind us. There was no question he wanted the thing to work," Mr. Gunn continued, recalling that time. And then a quick transition to recent troubles: "I have never been in a situation where the person who is ultimately responsible, which is the Secretary of Transportation, was trying to destroy the company."
His current plans are to take some time off, and to collaborate with someone that we might see as a strange bedfellow:
Mr. Gunn, who will work on an as-needed basis, will remain primarily in his ancestral Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Paul Weyrich, a former Amtrak board member who tried to recruit Mr. Gunn to the company back in 1992, and who is a fan of outsourcing Amtrak's baggage and sleeping-car operations, endorsed Mr. Gunn's reform plan released in April, which was kinder and gentler than the Bush administration's.
They will work together towards implementing that plan.
The entire story may be read at:
David Gunn, Part II