amtrak_flyer
Train Attendant
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from utu.org
U.S. DOT Inspector General Mead resigns
WASHINGTON -- Kenneth Mead's office said the U.S. Transportation Department inspector general resigned on Monday (Jan. 23) after nearly nine years on the job, according to this Reuters report.
The last half of his tenure was the most tumultuous in U.S. transportation history as the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks fundamentally altered commercial aviation and federal policy toward the industry.
The changes elevated his position and prompted investigations into finances, safety, and aviation security.
Mead's staff worked independently of Transportation Department policymakers. They probed financially struggling airlines and more than once exposed weaknesses in federal aviation safety oversight.
Mead also directed aggressive investigations of the deteriorating financial prospects at Amtrak as well as wasteful spending and management practices of Boston's Big Dig highway and tunnel project and other major transportation contracts.
Mead's conclusions and testimony often carried weight with lawmakers in Congress, where he was respected by both Republicans and Democrats.
"The opportunities to see positive outcomes and results for the traveling public and taxpayer have been enormously satisfying," Mead wrote in his resignation letter to Bush.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, whose department heads sometimes chafed at Mead's reports, said taxpayers are losing a fierce ally.
"Ken has been a tireless advocate for setting the highest possible standards of integrity, accountability and performance," Mineta said in a statement.
Mead was appointed in 1997 by then-President Bill Clinton.
(The preceding Reuters report was filed on Monday, Jan. 23, 2006.)
U.S. DOT Inspector General Mead resigns
WASHINGTON -- Kenneth Mead's office said the U.S. Transportation Department inspector general resigned on Monday (Jan. 23) after nearly nine years on the job, according to this Reuters report.
The last half of his tenure was the most tumultuous in U.S. transportation history as the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks fundamentally altered commercial aviation and federal policy toward the industry.
The changes elevated his position and prompted investigations into finances, safety, and aviation security.
Mead's staff worked independently of Transportation Department policymakers. They probed financially struggling airlines and more than once exposed weaknesses in federal aviation safety oversight.
Mead also directed aggressive investigations of the deteriorating financial prospects at Amtrak as well as wasteful spending and management practices of Boston's Big Dig highway and tunnel project and other major transportation contracts.
Mead's conclusions and testimony often carried weight with lawmakers in Congress, where he was respected by both Republicans and Democrats.
"The opportunities to see positive outcomes and results for the traveling public and taxpayer have been enormously satisfying," Mead wrote in his resignation letter to Bush.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, whose department heads sometimes chafed at Mead's reports, said taxpayers are losing a fierce ally.
"Ken has been a tireless advocate for setting the highest possible standards of integrity, accountability and performance," Mineta said in a statement.
Mead was appointed in 1997 by then-President Bill Clinton.
(The preceding Reuters report was filed on Monday, Jan. 23, 2006.)