Greg Evans, Doris Towery, Gary Gillespie, Ed Necker
EUGENE, OR—The Lane Transit District Board of Directors has elected Greg Evans, APTA Region VI representative and Executive Committee member, to a two-year term as its president.

Doris Towery will serve as vice president, Gary Gillespie as secretary, and Ed Necker as treasurer.

Gerald C. O'Neill, William T. Thomsen
PHILADELPHIA, PA—Urban Engineers has promoted Gerald C. O’Neill, P.E., CCM, to general manager and senior vice president for transportation and facilities management services. He previously served as director of construction services.

O’Neill has nearly 30 years experience, including more than 20 years with Urban Engineers. He has served in roles including project manager, program director, and executive-in-charge for multi-million dollar projects featuring public transit, bridges, highways, facilities, and rail.

Also, Urban Engineers named William T. Thomsen, P.E., general manager of national infrastructure services. In addition to his new duties, he will continue serving as a senior vice president responsible for overseeing the firm’s New York and Northeast regions.

During his career of more than 30 years with Urban Engineers, Thomsen has gained extensive experience encompassing the management and engineering of major projects for public transportation systems.

For APTA, he is a member of the Capital Projects Subcommittee, Clean Propulsion & Support Technology Committee, High-Speed & Intercity Passenger Rail Committee, Light Rail Transit Technical Forum, and Rail Transit Committee.

Paul Grether
CINCINNATI, OH—Paul Grether has been named rail manager for Cincinnati Metro. In this role, he will manage Metro’s involvement in the Cincinnati Streetcar project.

Grether comes to Metro from the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, where he was manager of streetcar development since 2005. He worked on the Atlanta Streetcar Project, a 2.7-mile modern streetcar line now under construction.

He is a graduate of the Leadership APTA Class of 2011 and serves on the APTA Research and Technology Committee and Streetcar Subcommittee.

Richard Dalton, Dale Zehner
ALEXANDRIA, VA—The Virginia Railway Express (VRE) named Richard Dalton acting chief executive officer effective July 1, following the retirement of Dale Zehner.

Dalton joined VRE in 2009 as director of rail equipment and services. Earlier he worked in rail operations, specifically technical and mechanical issues, for 20 years in the private sector.

Linda Somilleda, George Karbowski, Felicia Friesema

WEST COVINA, CA—Foothill Transit announced the appointments of Linda Somilleda as director of customer service and operations and George Karbowski as director of maintenance and vehicle technology—both newly created posts.

Somilleda has served Foothill Transit for 16 years, most recently as director of Marketing and Communications. Karbowski joined the agency in 2001 and in 2010 spearheaded the launch of the fast-charge, all electric-heavy duty Ecoliner bus. Earlier, he was equipment and engineering supervisor at Los Angeles Metro.

Also, Felicia Friesema was promoted to director of Marketing and Communications. Friesema began her transit career with the agency in 2003, serving as key spokesperson to the press and evolving Foothill Transit’s online presence to include social media.

Gov. David A. Paterson
NEW YORK, NY—Former New York Gov. David A. Paterson has been named to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board of Directors, nominated by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and confirmed by the New York State Senate.

He succeeds Nancy Shevell, who served on the board since 2001.

Keith Zecchini, Lillian Hames, Mark Dimmoc

NEW YORK, NY—Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) has named Keith Zecchini global chief information officer, based in New York City, and Lillian Hames as an assistant deputy program director on –the program management team for the California High-Speed Rail Authority, based in Sacramento, CA.

Zecchini has more than 27 years of experience as a senior technology manager involved with planning, developing, and implementing information technology solutions to address global business opportunities. Most recently, he was vice president of Talisman Energy and, earlier, a vice president within the energy practice of L&T Infotech.

Hames is a senior rail transit executive with more than 25 years of experience, working most recently as a special product coordinator in the general manager’s office of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. Prior to that, she was general manager for the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit.

Also, Mark Dimmock has been named managing director of PB’s Australia-Pacific operations, based in Sydney. He succeeds Jim Mantle in his new post and also will continue as the firm’s managing director of global mining.

Bob Paddon,  Stéphane Forget, Laurent Chevrot, Chris Akiyama, Daniel Bergeron, John King

TORONTO, ON—The newly elected chair of the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) is Bob Paddon, executive vice president, strategic planning and public affairs, for TransLink in Vancouver, BC. He was part of the Metro Vancouver team that created TransLink, joining the public transit agency in 2001 from Metro Vancouver. He succeeds John King, city of Lethbridge, who becomes immediate past chair

Also elected were Stéphane Forget, Société de transport de Montréal, first vice chair; Laurent Chevrot, Société de transport de Sherbrooke, vice chair-communications and public affairs; Chris Akiyama, SEON Design, vice chair-business members; and Daniel Bergeron, Agence métropolitaine de transport, Montréal, vice chair-government agencies.

John J. Plezbert
CHICAGO, IL—URS Corporation has named John J. Plezbert business development director in the Chicago office of the company’s Infrastructure & Environment Division.

Plezbert comes to URS after 40 years of service in the public sector in Chicago. He served the Public Building Commission of Chicago as first deputy executive director and, in 2006, led the restructuring of the agency after being appointed by its chairman, Mayor Richard M. Daley. He also was first deputy commissioner for the Chicago Department of General Services and held a variety of management positions with the Chicago Department of Aviation.