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| Re: Sad News: Byford resigns for real. (1536597) | |||
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Re: Sad News: Byford resigns for real. |
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Posted by BrooklynBus on Sat Jan 25 08:39:41 2020, in response to Re: Sad News: Byford resigns for real., posted by Bill from Maspeth on Fri Jan 24 11:23:15 2020. He was greatly criticized for removing the Grummans. Many felt it was unjustified. Many went to NJ Transit where they operated without problems. He may have jumped the gun on that one, if you don’t mind the pun.Regarding bureaucracy, he may have increased it and it may have not been a good thing. He certainly brought order to it by intoducing the staff summary sheet still in use today. That lays out all the levels of command needed to sign off on any major change usually se by dollar amount that decides which changes have to go as high as the Board for approval. It is a a structured set of color coded two to six pages with questions that must be answered and alternatives that must be considered and lists all affected departments that must sign off. . Before that everything was a total mess. Each department would just write a memo of justification and make any change they wanted to consulting with some but not all affected departments. Every department had their own format and no one had to look at alternatives. Departments were unsure of whose approval was necessary. There was no tracking system Memos would get lost. It was just a zoo. He had used the system in Philadelphia and saw it work there. It was one of the first things he did as President in 1984 and no one since has changed it. He didn’t care that much about the workers because years later it was learned that many who were involved in graffiti removal developed cancer because they were using dangerous chemicals without proper protection which the union had to fight for. So he wasn’t perfect, but neither is anyone. He started the G Overhaul program or GOH, (mistakenly called General Overhaul Program by many) that brought the MDBF up from 6,000 miles to over 100,000 miles with the help of new car purchases. That alone marks him for greatness. His successor Alan Kiepper didn’t have an ounce of innovativeness and succeeded by merely keeping Gunn’s programs in place. He also was not a people person like Gunn was. I attended monthly meetings with Kiepper, so I saw him in action. He just listened to everything he was told, never contributing anything of his own. That’s not what you want in a leader. Byford did not have the chance to do a tenth as much as Gunn but could have been greater if given the chance by Cuomo. |
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