New JTA leader could mean new direction for authority

[thelakelander]

The finalist to replace Michael Blaylock at JTA.  Btw, I agree with Councilman Bishop.  I'd like to see JTA become a transit only agency.

Stephen Bland, CEO of the Port Authority of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh.

Carolyn Flowers, CEO of the Charlotte Area Transit System in North Carolina.

Mikel Oglesby, general manager of the SunLine Transit Agency in Riverside County in Southern California.

Frank Martin, senior vice president of business development for transit and rail with Atkins North America, a design and consulting firm in Clermont, Fla.

Nathaniel Ford, former executive director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

full article: http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-09-17/story/new-jta-leader-could-mean-new-direction-authority

[dougskiles]

Time to learn a little more about each one.  I noticed the first 3 on the list (the ones who are still employed at other agencies) did not apply for the job.  The search firm determined that they would be good candidates and each one of them agreed to be included on this list.  The final 2 somehow made the list late (not sure why).

Stephen Bland went so far as to say that he doesn't want to leave the Pittsburgh area.

They all appear to have experience with transit.  Which one will have the personality strong enough to fight for the funding JTA needs to continue to survive?  Which one has been the most successful integrating transit with land development?

I too was glad to read Councilman Bishop's comments about JTA's focus.

[thelakelander]

Here's some information about Nathaniel Ford leaving Muni last year:

Muni sends chief Nat Ford packing from the SF transit agency

Soon after the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency concluded contentious contract talks with transit operators, its board asked Executive Director Nathaniel Ford to step down, which he will do at month’s end.

“The board approached me about making a change, and while we both thought now was the right time, it was ultimately their decision,” Ford said Wednesday night.

Ford had frequently been rumored to be a candidate for other transit posts, most recently in March, when he seemed about to depart for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. His apparent desire to leave irritated some agency insiders.

However, SFMTA watchers said no such action made sense until Muni wrapped up negotiations with operators.

Monday night, an independent arbitrator imposed a three-year contract and essentially ended the months-long campaign.

“This just seems like the right time for him and the agency,” SFMTA Chairman Tom Nolan said. “This is not a termination, and I think Nat seemed very much at peace with this decision.”

Ford, who joined the agency in 2006 and earns $308,000 a year, recently signed a two-year contract extension.

full article: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/06/san-francisco-transit-agency-sends-chief-nathaniel-ford-his-way

[thelakelander]

Here's some information on Frank Martin:

Martin re-elected to American Public Transportation Association’s Business Member Board of Governors - November 8, 2011

Tampa, FL â€" Atkins’ senior vice president and national transit business sector manager Frank T. Martin, was recently re-elected by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) to serve on its Business Member Board of Governors (BMBG). Martin began his two-year term in October.

According to the APTA, the BMBG is responsible for directing and establishing activities for APTA’s business members and developing policy recommendations to its executive committee and board of directors. Their objectives include encouragement of greater business member participation in APTA; development of better communication between governmental bodies and APTA business members; and providing APTA with continuing support in its efforts to represent the public transit industry.

In his current role with Atkins, Martin is responsible for overseeing all aspects of transit, including business development, operations, and resource management. Before joining Atkins in 2004, Martin was the chief operating officer of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority in San Jose, California.

In 2006 Florida Governor Jeb Bush appointed Martin to the 17-member Florida Board of Governors, the constitutional body created by voters in 2002 and established in 2003 as a governing body for the State University System of Florida. (www.flbog.org) Martin is former chair of the Transportation Research Board’s Transit Cooperative Research Program J-7 Panel that applies contract research programs to develop near-term, practical solutions to current problems facing the transportation industry (http://www.trb.org/TCRP/TCRP.aspx). In September 2005 he was elected to the American Public Transportation Association (www.apta.com) Board of Directors, serving a four-year term representing the Business Members Board of Governors. In 2004 and in 2006 he chaired the Nominating Committee for the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials and the Annual Fund Raising Chair for the Dallas Conference in 2009  (http://www.comto.org).

Martin holds a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Fisk University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Tennessee State University.

http://northamerica.atkinsglobal.com/media-center/press-releases/2011/martin-re-elected-to-american-public-transportation-associations-business-member-board-of-governors

[thelakelander]

Information on Mike Oglesby:

SunLine Transit Agency General Manager C. Mikel Oglesby is a finalist for the same position at the transit agency in Jacksonville, Fla., he and SunLine board president Robert Spiegel confirmed.

Jacksonville Transportation Authority Board President Edward Burr announced Aug. 30 that a consulting firm the agency hired had chosen Oglesby as a finalist for its general manager position, along with two other transportation officials, the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville reported. The board can reject those recommendations and choose any other candidate.

Oglesby said he wasn’t job-searching, and that it was “very early in the game to even comment on something that’s so premature.”

“I’ve not been seeking the job, have not been interviewed and have not been to Jacksonville,” he said. “But I was contacted by a firm and agreed to let them put my hat in the ring.”

Oglesby, who has run SunLine since 2004, said it was not the first time a head-hunting firm contacted him to put him into consideration for a job at another transportation agency.

“I’m happy to be considered one of the leaders in the industry,” he said.

full article: http://www.mydesert.com/article/20120914/NEWS01/309140038/Mikel-Oglesby-SunLine-Transit-Agency-Florida-position

[thelakelander]

Some information on Carolyn Flowers.

Charlotte transit CEO Carolyn Flowers recommended for Jacksonville post

Charlotte Area Transit System Chief Executive Carolyn Flowers is among three executives a consultant has recommended to be head of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority in Florida â€" even though Flowers hasn’t applied for the job.

Olaf Kinard, CATS director of marketing and communications, confirms Flowers is among the three top choices Krauthamer & Associates has forwarded to the Jacksonville agency. But he says she wasn’t among the 90 candidates who applied for the post and she hasn’t interviewed for it.

Flowers couldn’t be reached for comment.

“It’s never a surprise that someone would be interested” in Flowers, Kinard says. “She’s an excellent CEO, and she has done a lot to advance the Blue Line (light-rail system) and other transit corridors” in Charlotte.

full article: http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2012/08/31/charlotte-transit-ceo-carolyn-flowers.html

[thelakelander]

Some more information on Stephen Bland.

Port Authority of Allegheny County CEO Steve Bland is a finalist for the top post at a Florida transit agency that is about one-fifth the size of Pittsburgh’s.

But Bland, 50, would get a six-figure raise if he gets the job with Jacksonville Transportation Authority, if the current CEO’s salary is any indication.

“I was approached to see if I would consider submitting my qualifications to the board of directors as a potential finalist for consideration. I ultimately agreed to do so,” Bland said on Friday after news surfaced that he is a finalist along with transit executives from Charlotte and Riverside County, Calif.

“I have not visited Jacksonville nor had any further conversations with members of their board or community leadership since that time,” Bland said.

full article: http://triblive.com/home/2517334-74/authority-bland-port-florida-jacksonville-allegheny-applied-board-consider-county#axzz26ouTbp25

[thelakelander]

Reported salaries from a quick google search:

Nathaniel Ford - $308,000 (2011)

Michael Blaylock - $273,000 (2012)

Mikel Oglesby - $208,000 (2010)

Carolyn Flowers - $197,000 (2009)

Steve Bland - $185,000 (2012)

Whoever wins will get a fat raise!

[fsujax]

I would take Bland or Flowers, Bland is also one of the two finalist for the MARTA CEO job.

[Ocklawaha]

Stephen Bland, CEO of the Port Authority of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh.

A large transit agency that is THE pioneer in abandoning rail in favor of Bus Rapid Transit, a fact which has come back to bite them square in the butt with plummeting ridership. They moved all remaining streetcars off the streets downtown and placed them in an over costly subway. Sounds like Jacksonville material to me.

Carolyn Flowers, CEO of the Charlotte Area Transit System in North Carolina.

A Jacksonville size agency that has broken the mold and is rapidly adding commuter rail, light-rail and streetcar as fast as they can find funding.

Mikel Oglesby, general manager of the SunLine Transit Agency in Riverside County in Southern California.

A tiny bus only agency in the high desert which has little in common with JTA.

Frank Martin, senior vice president of business development for transit and rail with Atkins North America, a design and consulting firm in Clermont, Fla.

Great, but can he spell R-a-i-l?

Nathaniel Ford, former executive director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

Like Flowers, this is one of the county's number one rail based agency's.

Will Jacksonville do the right thing?

[mbwright]

Sounds like Flowers or Ford for taking Jax forward.  I would really prefer one that favors rail, and has experience in this area.  Maybe they could get Amtrak back to downtown, and redo the transportaion center.

[tufsu1]

Reported salaries from a quick google search:

Nathaniel Ford - $308,000 (2011)

Michael Blaylock - $273,000 (2012)

Mikel Oglesby - $208,000 (2010)

Carolyn Flowers - $197,000 (2009)

Steve Bland - $185,000 (2012)

Whoever wins will get a fat raise!

I believe the salary for this job will be around $250k

[thelakelander]

^Still a fat raise.  Any idea why Blaylock's salary was so high in comparison with these heads from larger agencies?

[Tacachale]

^Still a fat raise.  Any idea why Blaylock's salary was so high in comparison with these heads from larger agencies?

I doubt that the agencies themselves are much larger, if any, considering what all JTA does in construction. I believe that Charlotte's agency is substantially smaller than JTA, for instance.

[Ocklawaha]

HERE ARE SOME HARD FIGURES SO YOU CAN MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND.

San Francisco is number 8 in the top 50 for unlinked passenger trips

Pittsburgh is number 25

Charlotte is number 49

Jacksonville doesn't make this list, but then neither does SunLine.

TOP TRANSIT BUS FLEETS 2010 data:

Pittsburgh - 25
San Francisco - 26
Charlotte - 44
JACKSONVILLE - 95

JACKSONVILLE'S FLEET, NUMBER 95, RANKS BEHIND  THE FOLLOWING REGIONAL RIVALS -

MIAMI - 24
ATLANTA - 34
CHARLOTTE - 44
POMPANO/BROWARD - 53
ORLANDO - 69
MEMPHIS - 80
NASHVILLE - 87
CLEARWATER/ST PETE - 88
TAMPA - 92

SLIDE INFORMATION BOXES TO THE LEFT TO READ ALL DATA: