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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Who's Doing What in the Industry

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DALLAS—Gary Thomas, president/executive director of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) and a past APTA chair, has received Texas Tech University’s Distinguished Engineer Award.

Thomas graduated from Texas Tech in 1980 with a double bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and architecture structure. Prior to joining DART in 1998, he worked for a national engineering firm where he held positions of project engineer, project manager, engineering manager and ­program manager.


ALBANY, NY—David M. Stackrow, a member of the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) Board of Directors since 1995, has been renamed its chairperson. Stackrow is a member of the APTA Board of Directors and several APTA committees, chairing the Transit Board Members Committee.

Georgeanna N. Lussier is the CDTA board vice chairperson, Joseph M. Spairana Jr. secretary and Arthur F. Young Jr. treasurer.


FRANKLIN, TN—Kerry Perkinson has joined the Franklin Transit Authority, the governing body of the public transit agency in Franklin.

Perkinson is senior vice president, commercial bank, for Tennessee Bank & Trust. Before joining the bank in 2004, he had more than 30 years experience in investment finance and the oil and gas industry.


LOS ANGELES—Ronnie Campbell, a financial expert with more than 25 years of budget and finance experience, is the new chief financial officer of Metrolink.

Campbell has been director of the city of Camarillo’s Department of Finance since 2007 and previously was assistant director of the Administrative Services Department for the city of Lakewood for 10 years.


FORT WORTH, TX—The Fort Worth Transportation Authority has hired Tisha Jones as director of marketing. Her background includes managing an international marketing team for the Society of Petroleum Engineers and working in technical marketing and communications for Koch Industries Inc.


NEW YORK CITY—Will I. Flores has joined STV as a vice president in its Transportation & Infrastructure Division. He comes to STV from another major consulting firm where he performed management duties for projects with MTA New York City Transit and New York State DOT.


FLINT, MI—Flint’s Mass Transporta­tion Authority has named Eric ­Chenoweth director of facilities. He has an extensive background in purchasing and construction management as well as retail, medical and dental, distribution, manufacturing, leasing, capital projects, facility and fleet maintenance.


PEORIA, IL—The Greater Peoria Mass Transit District (CityLink) Board of Trustees named ­Maxine Wortham its chair, following two terms as vice chair. She joined the board in 2006, appointed by Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis.

Wortham succeeds two-term Chair Sharon McBride, who is entering her 20th year of service on the board and will serve as board secretary. The West Peoria Township Supervisors recently reappointed McBride to another four-year term.

For APTA, Wortham serves on the board of directors and the Legislative and Transit Board Members committees. McBride is a member of several committees and a former member of the APTA Executive Committee.

The other officers are Joan Krupa, who joined the board in 2015, vice chair; Art Bell, a member since 2005, treasurer; and James Polk, a board member since 2004, trustee.

Also, CityLink recently promoted Martha Howarter from senior accountant to director of federal programs. She began her career at the agency in 2008 as an accountant/benefits coordinator.


NEWARK, NJ—New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit) announced the following management changes.

Amy Herbold, formerly senior counsel in the Governor’s Authorities Unit and a lawyer with Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, was named deputy executive director. She succeeds Neil Yellin, who retired.

Michael J. Lihvarcik, the newly appointed chief financial officer, succeeds Kathleen Sharman, who became finance director for the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. Lihvarcik was a special assistant to the state treasurer who served earlier at NJ Transit as acting chief financial officer and senior director of budget and financial operations compliance.

Joyce J. Zuczek, a 37-year employee of the agency, was named board secretary after five years as acting secretary. She joined NJ Transit when the agency was created in 1979.

Michael Drewniak, the former spokesman for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, was named interim chief of staff. He joined NJ Transit in April 2015 as its first chief of policy and strategic planning and succeeds Jacquie Halldow, who joined Christie’s Office of Communications as deputy chief of staff.


BERLIN, GERMANY—Germar Wacker has been named chairman of the Management Board of Bombardier Transportation GmbH and head of mainline and metros for central and eastern Europe.

Wacker began his career in the automotive industry. In 2000, he joined Adtranz, now part of Bombardier Transportation. In recent years, among other responsibilities, he served as the head of Bombardier’s Vienna production site, president of the Light Rail Division and head of the Propulsion and Controls Division.


RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC—GoTriangle has named Mike ­Charbonneau its director of marketing and communications.

Charbonneau most recently was deputy secretary of communications for North Carolina DOT. Earlier he was director of public relations for the Wake County (NC) Public School System and a broadcast journalist, receiving two regional Emmy Awards, a national Emmy nomination and an award from the Associated Press.


WEST COVINA, CA—Foothill Transit has re-elected Diamond Bar Council­member Carol Herrera as chair of its executive board.

Corey Calaycay, Claremont council­member, is vice chair. Other new board members are Corey Warshaw, West Covina mayor pro tem; Cynthia ­Sternquist, mayor pro tem of Temple City; and Sam Pedroza, representing the office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis.

New alternate members of the board are Paula Lantz, Pomona councilmember; Cruz Baca, Baldwin Park councilmember; Richard Barakat, Bradbury councilmember; Valerie Muñoz, La Puente mayor pro tem; and Michael De La Torre, representing the office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.


ISELIN, NJ—Mott MacDonald has named retired Maj. Gen. John Peabody senior vice president and director of federal programs based in its Arlington, VA, office.

Peabody, who retired in 2015 from the Army Corps of Engineers after 10 years, commanded three different corps divisions. He also supported state and local authorities and the Federal Emergency Management Agency during civil disasters, coordinating emergency response missions and preparatory activities.


CINCINNATI—Demarcus Peters has joined Cincinnati Metro in the newly created position of director of diversity-Title VI, DBE compliance and EEO officer.

Peters was small business program analyst for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority and earlier monitored local Small Business Enterprise plans and procurement processes as a senior contract compliance officer. He previously served with community development funder Enterprise Community Partners as a program director and was a member of the Atlanta Beltline Tax Allocation District Advisory as part of a sustainable redevelopment project that will provide a network of parks, trails and transit along a historic 22-mile Atlanta rail corridor.


LANCASTER, CA—The Antelope Valley Transit Authority announced the hiring of Norman Hickling as chief administrative officer and Erika Monroe as innovation coordinator. Hickling worked for Los Angeles County for more than 13 years, primarily as senior deputy to Supervisor Michael Antonovich. He chaired the AVTA board from 2009 to 2015. Monroe was a paralegal for R. Rex Parris Law Firm while serving as deputy mayor of Lancaster.


CINCINNATI—First Transit announced the appointment of Gregg Baxter as vice president of rail, supporting all of the firm’s rail initiatives in North America. He has more than 25 years of rail transportation experience, working most recently as president of Keolis Rail Services America.


WASHINGTON, DC—Joseph Leader is joining the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) as chief operating officer effective Aug. 1, in charge of rail, bus and paratransit, Metro Transit Police, parking and support services. He will succeed Jack Requa, who has served in the post on an acting basis and will resume his role as executive managing officer.

Leader has 30 years of transportation experience, serving as a consultant to WMATA General Manager/CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld as an associate for Bianco Associates. He worked for MTA New York City Transit until earlier this year, most recently as senior vice president of the Department of Subways and earlier as chief of safety investigations.

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