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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Who's Doing What in the Industry

James Simpson
NEWARK, NJ—James Simpson plans to step down June 6 as commissioner of New Jersey DOT and chairman of New Jersey Transit Corporation. He also chairs the South Jersey Transportation Authority, Transportation Trust Fund Authority, and New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

Simpson served as FTA administrator from 2005-2008, during the second term of President George W. Bush. Before joining New Jersey DOT, he served as chairman of both an infrastructure management company and an international relocation company. For 10 years beginning in 1995, he was a commissioner of the New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Terry Mitchell
AUSTIN, TX—Terry Mitchell, president, Momark Development LLC, has joined the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors as a representative of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. Mitchell has worked in real estate financing and development for 34 years.

Sharad Agarwal
CINCINNATI, OH—First ­Transit announced the appointment of ­Sharad Agarwal as vice president of national call centers, based in Seattle.

Agarwal has more than 10 years of transportation experience; for the past year, he was First Transit director of business development focusing on the western region.

Craig Davison
SEATTLE, WA—Craig Davison has joined Sound Transit as executive director of communications and external affairs. He succeeds the retiring Ron Klein. Davison has 18 years of integrated and strategic marketing experience.

Joe Iacobucci, Jim Brown
NEW YORK, NY—Sam Schwartz Engineering (SSE) announced the appointments of Joe Iacobucci as director of transit for the firm’s Midwestern offices, based in Chicago, and Jim Brown as principal and director of environmental planning in the New York office.

Iacobucci has 10 years of experience in public transit, specifically BRT. He joins SSE from the Chicago Transit Authority. Brown has worked in the environmental field for three decades, including positions with HDR and ­Parsons Brinckerhoff.

John Catoe
DALLAS, TX—John Catoe has joined MV Transportation Inc. as senior vice president of contract management. He served the company as a consultant and public transit subject matter expert for more than three years.

During more than three decades in the public transportation industry, Catoe has been general manager of the ­Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), deputy chief executive officer of Los Angeles Metro, director of Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus, and director of transit services for the Orange County Transportation Authority.

Catoe received APTA’s Outstanding Public Transportation Manager award in 2009. He is a former member of the APTA Board of Directors and an emeritus member and former chair of the Leadership APTA Committee.

Carrie Bowen
MONROVIA, CA—The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority Board of Directors announced the appointment of Caltrans District 7 Director Carrie Bowen as a non-voting gubernatorial nominee. She succeeds former ­Monrovia Mayor and Councilmember Lara ­Larramendi, who served on the board for 11 years. Bowen is a 30-year Caltrans employee. Larramendi began serving on the board in 2003.

Christine Haynes, Ethan Grebe, Hector Enriques
DENVER, CO—Maintenance Design Group (MDG) announced the ­hiring of Christine Haynes as a business development coordinator and Ethan Grebe as a facility designer, both in the Denver office. Haynes has more than three years of related project and business development experience. Grebe has experience in both manufacturing and project management.

Also, Hector Enriques has joined the Los Angeles office of MDG as a facility designer. He has worked in vehicle maintenance and shop facilities for more than 15 years.

Richard J. Palmieri
LOMBARD, IL—Richard J. Palmieri has joined Veolia Transportation as vice president of business development for rail. Previously, Palmieri worked with Siemens Infrastructure & Cities as director of business development.

Dan Melleady
OVIEDO, FL—Dan Melleady has joined Grayson ­Thermal Systems ­Corporation as business development manager (USA East).

Robbie Makinen, Steve Klika, A.J. Dusek, Michael Short, Daniel Serda, Ricky D. Turner, Dennis Bixby
KANSAS CITY, MO—The Board of Commissioners of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) board re-elected Jackson County, MO, Commissioner Robbie Makinen its chairman. Makinen is economic development coordinator for Jackson County and co-chair of the area’s Regional Transit Coordinating Council.

Steve Klika, representing Johnson County, KS, was elected vice chairman; A.J. Dusek, Wyandotte County, KS, secretary; and Michael Short, Platte County, MO, treasurer.

KCATA named new commissioners: ­Daniel Serda and Ricky D. Turner, both appointed by Mayor Mark Holland of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, KS, and Dennis Bixby of Leavenworth County.

Serda is a city planner. Turner is a pastor and a former bank officer. Bixby is a Leavenworth County commissioner and a design-build consultant.

Phalease Crichlow, Bryan Luellen
INDIANAPOLIS, IN—IndyGo has promoted Phalease Crichlow to vice president of human resources and Bryan Luellen to director of marketing and customer information. Crichlow, an IndyGo employee since 2011, most recently served as interim vice president of human resources. Luellen has served as marketing manager since 2012 and joined the agency in 2009 as business development coordinator.

Peykan Abbassi, Jaime Becerra
OCEANSIDE, CA—The North County Transit District (NCTD) appointed Peykan Abbassi chief development officer and Jaime Becerra chief of transit enforcement. Abbassi came to NCTD from the Los Angeles City Department of Public Works, where he was project manager. During a 25-year career, he has worked in engineering and project management.

In Becerra’s 24-year career, he was director of safety and security for ­Foothill Transit in West Covina, CA, and acting transit safety and training manager for Los Angeles DOT.

Dave Walker, Michelle Machay, Glen Holland
CHICAGO, IL—Dave Walker, Michelle Machay, and Glen Holland have joined Metra’s Citizens Advisory Board. Walker is the owner and founder of WALK ­Studio, a planning and architecture firm. Machay manages special programs for low-income customers with Peoples Gas. Holland is an executive with Accenture’s consulting practice.

Chris Riedel
OVIEDO, FL—Chris Riedel has joined Grayson Thermal Systems Corporation as installation manager, North America. Riedel previously worked for a large construction company and trucking firm.

Lisa Glatch, Lindsay Ritter
DENVER, CO—CH2M HILL has hired Lisa Glatch as chief strategic development officer and promoted Lindsay ­Ritter to global practice lead for the Asset & Operations Management ­component of the firm’s transportation services portfolio.

With 29 years of experience, Glatch most recently served Jacobs Engineering as senior vice president of global sales.
Ritter previously was sustainability director for CH2M HILL’s Operations Management Services Group and facilities manager for the its city services business.

Lorraine Brown
SOUTH BEND, IN—Lorraine Brown has joined the South Bend Public Transportation Corporation (Transpo) as an operations supervisor. She succeeds Mike Pancoast, who was promoted to the newly created position of safety, security, and training manager.

For 20 years, Brown was with ­Kalamazoo Metro Transit, MI, from which she retired in 2012. She began her career as an operator and rose through the ranks, holding positions including dispatcher, lead trainer, and operations supervisor.

Arnold Isham Jr.
CINCINNATI, OH—Cincinnati Metro has named Arnold Isham Jr. assistant director of transit operations.

Isham began his career with the agency in 1992 as a bus operator. During his 22 years, he was group manager, sector manager, street operations/on-time performance manager and, most recently, station manager.

Kevin R. Collins
BELLEVUE, WA—Kevin R. ­Collins, P.E., has joined HNTB Corporation as project director and vice president. He currently serves as project director for the Sound Transit East Link Light Rail Extension, an eight-mile extension of the existing Link system in Bellevue and Redmond, WA.

Collins has two decades of transportation industry experience. He joins HNTB from HDR Engineering Inc., where he was transit business class manager and senior project manager.

He is a graduate of the Leadership APTA Class of 2008 and a member of the APTA Rail Transit Committee.

Thomas (Tom) Clark
PASADENA, CA—Parsons has hired Thomas (Tom) Clark as vice president and director of business development for its transportation group. He will be based in Washington, DC.

Clark has more than 32 years experience in operations, maintenance, and public-private partnerships.

Glen Hayden, Michael J. Yaeger, Kevin O'Connor
NEW YORK, NY—MTA Metro-North Railroad has named Glen Hayden as vice president of engineering, Michael J. Yaeger as chief mechanical officer, and Kevin J. O’Connor as chief transportation officer.

Hayden comes to Metro-North after 16 years with Parsons Brinckerhoff. He worked for the railroad earlier in his 37-year career, rising to the position of chief engineer, and also worked for F.R. Harris. Yaeger has served in his new post on an acting basis since July 2013. He is a 27-year Metro-North employee in the Maintenance of Equipment Department. O’Connor has 36 years experience with Amtrak and New Jersey Transit Corporation, serving most recently as vice president and general manager of rail operations.

Donald Filippi
OCEANSIDE, CA—Donald Filippi has joined the North County Transit District as chief of safety.

Filippi served five years as superintendent, transit operations and safety section, at the California Public Utilities Commission. He also worked for Union Pacific Railroad for 14 years, ultimately as manager of operating practices.

Clinton B. Forbes
COLUMBUS, OH—The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) named Clinton B. Forbes vice president, operations.

Forbes has 25 years of service in the public sector, 10 of them at the senior management level at large public transit authorities. He comes to COTA from Jacksonville, FL, where he was chief of transit operations support and earlier, director of mass transit/­president, JAX Transit Management Corporation. Earlier, he held senior executive positions in Miami-Dade County, FL.

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