March People in the News
The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) has elected Suzanne Burke as chair of the SORTA board for 2013. Karl Schultz was elected vice chair. Burke is CEO of Council on Aging of Southwestern Ohio and serves on the boards of Every Child Succeeds and ITN Greater Cincinnati. Schultz is a member of the Miami Township, Clermont County, Board of Trustees and serves as a member of the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Planning Authority (OKI) board of directors. J. Thomas Hodges received a Royal Coachman award from SORTA on Jan. 9. The Royal Coachman award is given to honor an individual’s commitment to the development and betterment of public transportation. Hodges was a member of the SORTA board of trustees since March 2010. He was board chair from May 2012 until November 2012. He also served on the board of the Everybody Rides Metro foundation and SORTA’s strategic planning committee.
The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) announced the appointment of Julie LaSusa as the director of training and development. She comes to the company with more than 15 years in the wireless communications industry. Her experience includes sales, staffing, customer service and sales training, project management and strategic planning for acquisition/merger training. LaSusa is Certified Technical Trainer Certification Certified (CTT+) and is a member of the American Society of Training & Development Association (ASTD).
Vice Chairman Greg Winterbottom was unanimously selected as the new chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Board of Directors. Winterbottom has more than 25 years of experience in transportation to the OCTA board, on which he has served since 1993 as one of two public members. He previously served as chairman in 2004. Replacing Winterbottom as vice chairman is Director Shawn Nelson, also the Fourth District Supervisor, who joined the board in 2010. Prior to being elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Nelson served as the mayor of Fullerton in 2004-05 and 2006-07. Also, sworn in as directors were San Clemente Councilwoman Lori Donchak, Anaheim Councilwoman Gail Eastman, Garden Grove Councilman Steve Jones, First District Supervisor Janet Nguyen, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and Third District Supervisor Todd Spitzer.
Kris Wylie has joined Seon Design Inc. as a corporate sales executive. His territory includes the northeastern U.S., as well as Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. Wylie holds a degree in business management. He has come to Seon with experience in wireless voice, wireless data, asset tracking/management, VOIP technology, public and private cloud infrastructure, VMware and Hyper-V virtualization, enterprise hosting, and of course AVL and video surveillance in mobile environments.
First Transit District Manager Tim McGowan, Pasadena ARTS and DAR, and General Manager Phil Pumphrey, Omnitrans, were both appointed certified community transit managers (CCTM) by the Community Transportation Association of America. CCTM status marks the greatest performance and highest efficiency in the community transportation industry and shows that recipients have the ability to successfully manage a comprehensive and dynamic community transportation system.
The inaugural TRB Outstanding Young Member Award was presented to Stephanie Camay, transportation planner, URS Corp., on Jan. 14, as part of the Thomas B. Deen Distinguished Lecture and Presentation of Awards at the TRB’s 92nd Annual Meeting, January 13-17, 2013. The award, which is administered by the Young Members Council, consisted of a plaque and a $2,500 cash award supported by Stantec Inc.
Ron Garrison has joined Proterra Inc. He will lead the customer service department. Garrison comes to Proterra from StarMetro Transit in Tallahassee, Fla. A long-term and award-winning public servant, he is also a past chairman of the Florida Public Transportation Association.
TranSystems has promoted Dolores Buckenberger to the position of vice president in recognition of her contributions to the company’s success and growth. Buckenberger was instrumental in securing the firm’s assignment for the rehabilitation of New York City’s historic High Bridge, an original component of the Croton Water Supply System, which is currently being adapted as parkland to serve as a key pedestrian/bikeway link between Upper Manhattan and the western Bronx.
David Cangany named the new general manager of the South Bend Public Transportation Corporation (TRANSPO). He is an Indiana native with an extensive knowledge of the transit industry. Cangany comes to TRANSPO from Cincinnati Metro. Most recently he worked as the performance manager, overseeing the transit operations performance team. Cangany’s transit career began as an operator for Indiana University Campus Bus Service and Bloomington Transit while enrolled as a student at Indiana University (IU) in Bloomington. He received his Bachelor’s degree from IU in 2006.
