Jonny5
Senior Member
From the Globe and Mail
Ex-Amtrak president David Gunn to help TTC address budget crunch
Ex-Amtrak president David Gunn to help TTC address budget crunch
David Gunn, the former president of Amtrak and the New York City Transit Authority, is returning to the TTC to help balance the books in 2012.
Mr. Gunn will work as an unpaid temporary consultant to the transit agency he once led beginning at the end of March, TTC spokesman Brad Ross confirmed Thursday.
“We felt that Mr. Gunn would be able to provide some insight and maybe a fresh set of eyes to help us look at those [capital and operating budgets], as well as any efficiencies we may have overlooked,” Mr. Ross said.
Now retired and living in Nova Scotia, Mr. Gunn is an internationally respected transit boss who served as the TTC’s chief general manager from 1995 to 1999.
He is expected to start his new gig either the week of March 21 or March 28, Mr. Ross said, adding they haven’t determined how long Mr. Gunn will stay.
Although he won’t be paid a salary, the TTC will cover Mr. Gunn’s expenses, including his flights, hotels and meals.
Like all parts of Toronto’s municipal government, the TTC is facing a difficult financial year in 2012, when Mayor Rob Ford is demanding austerity to tackle an operating budget shortfall estimated at $774-million.
That figure will be lower if Mr. Ford agrees to a modest property-tax hike and a 10-cent TTC fare increase, as city finance staff are recommending. It will be higher if he keeps his promise to scrap the municipal land-transfer tax, which brings in more than $200-million in revenue per year.
The TTC’s financial troubles are particularly acute.
There’s a looming, significant hole in the 2012 capital budget. Contracts with the TTC’s more than 10,000 workers expire this year, and the fear is they’ll win a generous settlement to make up for losing the right to strike. The province is poised to ban transit strikes in Toronto before the end of March.
Mr. Ford has promised to hire outside consultants to scour Toronto’s books for savings in 2012. City staff have set aside as much as $3-million to pay the outside experts.
Mr. Ross said Mr. Gunn’s work isn’t tied specifically to that contract.
TTC chief general manager Gary Webster, not the mayor’s office, asked Mr. Gunn to review the transit authority's finances.
It’s the first time the TTC has done something like this, Mr. Ross said.
“This is kind of a unique situation. You know the pressures that our capital budget, particularly, have. You know what our operating budget pressures are. Those have been very public.”