James Polk, Art Bell, Don Shay, Sharon McBride, Maxine Wortham
PEORIA, IL—The Greater Peoria Mass Transit District (CityLink) Board of Trustees selected James Polk as chairman. He previously served as vice chair and succeeds Don Shay, who was the board’s chairman for nine years.

Polk, president of Balance Stone Strategy Group, joined the CityLink board in 2004. He is a former member of the Peoria County Board and was a ­Peoria city councilman from 1985 to 1993.

Also appointed were Art Bell, vice chair; Shay, treasurer; Sharon McBride, member of APTA’s Executive Committee, secretary; and Maxine Wortham, chairperson of program development.

Bill Spraul
SAN DIEGO, CA—The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) has named Bill Spraul, a 30-year veteran of the transportation industry, as chief operating officer of its Transit Services Division, responsible for all bus operations. He succeeds Claire Spielberg, who is retiring after serving in that post since 2004.

Spraul most recently served as chief executive officer of the South Bend Transportation Corporation, South Bend, IN, and consultant with Veolia Transportation. Earlier he was director of transportation options for Cincinnati Metro, where he began his career in 1982.

Steven L. Abrams, Bruno Barreiro
POMPANO BEACH, FL—The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) re-elected Palm Beach County Mayor Steven L. Abrams chair of its governing board. He has served on the board since August 2010.

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Bruno Barreiro, a SFRTA board member for more than a decade, was re-elected vice chair.

Abrams, a former mayor of Boca Raton, was named mayor emeritus when he stepped down in 2008 due to term ­limits. He has served on the Palm Beach County Board of Commissioners since 2009.

Barreiro has served four terms as SFRTA chair. He has served on the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners since 1988, representing constituents in parts of Miami, Miami Beach, Little Havana, downtown, and South Beach.

Robert Ryan
CHICAGO, IL—Robert Ryan has joined TranSystems as market sector leader for its national passenger rail and transit practice areas.

Ryan has worked in transportation for more than 30 years, including on projects for the Chicago Transit Authority, St. Louis Metro, the Transit Authority of River City in Louisville, and the Ann Arbor-to-Detroit commuter rail project.

Steve Kratzer
ST. EUSTACHE, QC—Steve Kratzer has joined Nova Bus as regional sales manager serving the western U.S.

Kratzer has 16 years of experience in the transportation industry. He previously was business development manager-public sector for a motorcoach manufacturer.

Wes Coates
NEW YORK, NY—SYSTRA has named Wes Coates vice president and sector manager, planning and operations analysis.

Coates has 35 years of experience in managing public transportation programs, including MTA Capital Construction’s East Side Access and Amtrak’s Empire Corridor. He has worked for transportation consulting firms as well as rail agencies including New ­Jersey Transit Corporation, Amtrak, and Conrail.

Cynthia Roberts
CINCINNATI, OH—First Transit has appointed Cynthia Roberts manager, national call center operations, based in Hartford, CT. She will be responsible for supporting and advising the company’s specialized transportation centers across the country.

Roberts joined First Transit in 2001 as general manager of the company’s non-emergency medical transportation location in Connecticut and has worked in other roles including the management of brokerage operations.

John Seber, Robert Ruzinsky
DAYTON, OH—The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (GDRTA) has named John Seber chief maintenance officer and Robert Ruzinsky to the newly created post of chief capital officer.

Seber comes to GDRTA with more than 25 years of maintenance management, working most recently as vice president of maintenance, Central Region, for MC Transportation. He succeeds John Thomas, who retired.

Ruzinsky originally joined GDRTA in 1987 as a member of the accounting group, progressing to serve as capital controller and interim manager of human resources. He left the agency in 2002 and started a transit consulting business, which he continues to operate on a limited basis. He returned to GDRTA some years ago as finance manager on a part-time basis and also was chief financial officer of the ­Butler County Regional Transit Authority, Hamilton, OH.

Diane DuBois
LOS ANGELES, CA—City of ­Lakewood Councilmember Diane DuBois is the new chair of the Los ­Angeles Metro Board of ­Directors, succeeding Los ­Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

DuBois was elected to the board in 2009. She represents the 28 cities of southeast Los Angeles County collectively known as the Gateway Cities Council of Governments. She served as mayor of Lakewood in 2008 and 2012 and, before being elected to the ­Lakewood City Council in 2005, she was a member of the city’s Planning and Environment Commission for 28 years.

Rohan Sadhai
ORLANDO, FL—Rohan Sadhai, AICP, has joined Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc. as a member of its transportation team in Florida.

Sadhai has more than 12 years of experience, most recently as a senior transportation planner working on long-range transportation plans, FTA funded transit feasibility studies, and comprehensive transit master plans.

Melvin Jones
ALEXANDRIA, VA— Operation Lifesaver Inc. has announced that Melvin Jones, Virginia Operation Lifesaver state coordinator since 2005, has been named coordinator for the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.

Before joining Operation Lifesaver, Jones spent 30 years as a law enforcement officer and executive level administrator with the Petersburg, VA, Bureau of Police and Virginia State University’s Department of Police & ­Public Safety.

Steph Stoppenhagen
DENVER, CO—CH2M HILL sustainability expert Steph Stoppenhagen has been named to the Expert Advisory Council of Smart Grid Oregon, a trade association committed to promoting the smart grid industry and infrastructure in Oregon.

Stoppenhagen is recognized as an expert in global sustainability, renewable energies, and smart cities technology.

Khalid Bekka
OMAHA, NE—HDR has named ­Khalid Bekka managing director, Gulf Arab States, based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Bekka has worked for HDR since 1998, serving most recently as its economics and finance director based in Silver Spring, MD.

Pam O'Connor, Mike Bonin
LOS ANGELES, CA—Santa Monica Mayor and Los Angeles Metro Board Member Pam O’Connor is the new chair of the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority Board of Directors.

Newly elected Los Angeles City Council Member Mike Bonin is the new vice chair.