WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will withdraw one of its six nominees for the Amtrak Board of Directors and replace that individual with a yet-to-be-named candidate from the Western U.S., the Washington news site Roll Call reports. The move will end a hold on the nominations over their failure to meet a Congressional requirement for geographic balance on the board.
Roll Call’s reporting cites a congressional aid “familiar with the nomination discussions,” who said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) would end his hold on the nominations as a result of the move. A group of senators from both parties have stalled the board nominations over the geographic requirement [see “Senators challenge Northeast Corridor tilt …,” Trains News Wire, April 26, 2023].
“When I sat down with my Republican and Democratic colleagues to craft our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, I fought tooth and nail to ensure that the American West would be fairly represented on the Amtrak Board, and throughout the entire bill,” Tester said in a statement to Roll Call. “I’m pleased to see that the Biden Administration will follow the law and set up an opportunity to do right for rural America by guaranteeing our Amtrak board represents our nation’s diverse geography.”
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will vote on the nominations of Anthony R. Coscia (the current board chairman), Christopher Koos, and Joel Matthew Szabat on Oct. 18. The committee held a hearing on those three nominees in June, but Tester (D-Mont.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said then that they would not support any nominees until the administration addressed the requirement that no more than four of the eight Senate-confirmed borad members reside in the Northeast Corridor region. Of the current list of six nominees, only Koos — mayor of Normal, Ill. — is from outside the Northeast [see “Senators remain concerned about geographic balance …,” News Wire, June 21, 2023].
Other nominees from the Northeast Corridor region are David Michael Capozzi, Samuel E. Lathem, and Robin Lee Wiessmann. It is not clear which nominee will be withdrawn.
What I want to know is how/why did the Biden administration come up with such an geographically unbalanced slate of nominees? Think Mr. Gardner has his fingerprints on that? Maybe Sen. Schumer too. Remember, Gardner is said to have crafted Section 209 of the PRIIA. that exempts the NEC states from the 750 mile requirement that states pay 100% of the costs for trains that operate under that threshold.
“The Biden administration will withdraw one of its six nominees for the Amtrak Board of Directors and replace that individual with a yet-to-be-named candidate from the Western U.S”
Given the stellar experience levels of Biden appointees, I’m willing to wager this new appointee will be appointed on the basis of skin color and gender identity and not based on experience.
So very true.
Sigh, yes, trains are racist, dontcha know
They should really have equal rep for the West; Midwest; South & NE. But then again who can really remember any past members who really made a positive impact on Amtrak there surely hasn’t been any in the last three or four Admin. The only one I remember was I believe her name was Kay Bailey Hutchison(?) & maybe a few others back during that time. It’s kind of like the cast of Saturday Night Live I can recall those from the distant past but none from the last 20 yrs.
Agreed, but there needs to be a balance between the NORTHEAST Corridor and the rest of the Country served by Long Distance Trains and State supported commuter service, at least as long as AMTRAK insists on using “funny accounting” to justify and keep the NEC solvent while stealing money belonging to Long Distance Trains and the states. I still say the best thing to do would be to separate the NEC from everything else so that we would know what their real operating and maintenance costs are…
IMO there should be one from the southeast. Cannot remember his name but some one who had a big hand in initiating the Piedmont has been note. Get rid of Corsica and put his name in if it was up to the under represented SE persons.
Absolutely “get rid of Coscia”.
This is very true and as I have said in previous posts, that for Amtrak to be truly sucessful, they need to hire experienced railroaders and folks who know how to run a railroad and have done so in the past and also get rid of all the political hacks and bunglers who don’t know the first thing about trains. The idea that you need to have a geographically balanced board of directors to run Amtrak is a big joke and poor excuse if not downright comical. It is not the area of the country where you come from that matters but that you have the know how, the experience and business acumen to run things. How many top executives are from various parts of the country and running their companies sucessfully in other cities or statees. When a sports team be it baseball, football or basketball when they hire a new coach or general manager, do they judge that person or base their hire on what area of the country they come from. No they base their hires on knowledge, skill and experience. How many airlines are being run and managed by executives from all parts of the country and running airlines that might operates thousands of miles away be it local , national or international. Its not where you come from or where you live but knowledge, business skills and a clear understanding of the business you are running and in charge of. If it takes even an experienced railroader or executive from another nation and can turn Amtrak around and be a sucess so be it. Its not about location or geography but brains and skill and experience
Joseph C. Markfelder
You are quite right. Geographical diversity will accomplish nothing. The equivalent move of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Experience in railroading is the answer but unfortunately most everybody who has the experience is either dead or long retired with no interest in coming back. Railfans do not seem to understand who truly runs Amtrak. That person is Chuck Shumer Democratic congressman from New York. Both Gardner and Harris owe their jobs to Shumer and do what he says. He’s from New York and will support the NEC and Empire Service the most and doesn’t care what happens to the rest. I read a lot about how “Gardner has to go” and “write your Congress persons”. This will do no good. Gardner will go when Shumer tells him to go, or he quits (which is unlikely). The make-up of the board is irrelevant because they are all political appointees or friends of Biden who are given this position as a favor for past work on his campaign or other things they did to promote him or his cronies. Congress is general doesn’t care about Amtrak, they care about votes, and they only pay attention to Amtrak when they can get in front of a camera and maybe pick up a few votes. And you don’t pick-up a lot of votes from Amtrak that only carries 1/2 of 1% of intercity passengers. It amazes me that more railfans don’t realize this.
As far as I am concerned, ALL Amtrak nominees should have significant railroad experience as part of their background. If board members “don’t know how to run a railroad”, they are a useless impediment to Amtrak’s future.
Agreed, but there needs to be a balance between the NORTHEAST Corridor and the rest of the Country served by Long Distance Trains and State supported commuter service, at least as long as AMTRAK insists on using “funny accounting” to justify and keep the NEC solvent while stealing money belonging to Long Distance Trains and the states. I still say the best thing to do would be to separate the NEC from everything else so that we would know what their real operating and maintenance costs are…