The Central Terminal Restoration Corporation (CTRC) is looking for a new Executive Director. With so many different areas of the city being reclaimed and reactivated, it's prime time to take Buffalo Central Terminal to the next level of operational use. Ultimately that mission, once fulfilled, will help to anchor and stabilize the surrounding neighborhoods. "We are searching for an individual who can take on this meaningful challenge and accept a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Anthony Bylewski, Vice Chairman, Central Terminal Restoration Corp. "This is a monumental step forward for the reuse of Buffalo Central Terminal."
Thankfully the CTRC has been a stalwart catalyst of grassroots activism over the years, making sure to button up the building while initiating community programming and ultimately drawing attention to one of the city's most iconic architectural assets. As Buffalo continues to come on-line, the spark that has been ignited at The Terminal is prime for igniting another shining example of how this city is being rebuilt on pure fortitude and can-do initiatives. According to Marty Biniasz, CTRC Chairman of Marketing & Public Relations, "Interested applicants are asked to submit a cover letter and resume electronically to Tony Bylewski, Chairman of the Search Committee, at abylewski@yahoo.com. The CTRC would like to have someone in place by early Fall."
Central Terminal Restoration Corporation (CTRC), Executive Director, Job Description (paid position):
The Executive Director is the Chief Executive Officer of the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation. The Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors, and is responsible for the organization's consistent achievement of its mission and financial objectives.
In budget and finance, the Executive Director will:
1. Be responsible for developing and maintaining sound financial practices.
2. Work with the staff, Finance Committee, and the board in preparing a budget; see that the organization operates within budget guidelines.
3. Ensure that adequate funds are available to permit the organization to carry out its work.
4. Jointly, with the president and secretary of the board of directors, conduct official correspondence of the organization, and jointly, with designated officers, execute legal documents.
In program development and administration, the Executive Director will:
1. Assure that the organization has a long-range strategy which achieves its mission, and toward which it makes consistent and timely progress.
2. Provide leadership in developing program, organizational and financial plans with the Board of Directors to carry out the plans and policies authorized by the board.
3. Promote active and broad participation by volunteers in all areas of the organization's work.
4. Maintain official records and documents, and ensure compliance with federal, state and local regulations.
5. Maintain a working knowledge of significant developments and trends in the field.
In communications, the Executive Director will:
1. See that the board is kept fully informed on the condition of the organization and all important factors influencing it.
2. Publicize the activities of the organization, its programs and goals.
3. Establish sound working relationships and cooperative arrangements with community groups and organizations.
4. Represent the programs and point of view of the organization to agencies, organizations, and the general public.
In relations with volunteers and future staff, the Executive Director will:
1. Be responsible for the recruitment, employment, and release of all personnel, both paid staff and volunteers.
2. Ensure that job descriptions are developed, that regular performance evaluations are held, and that sound human resource practices are in place.
3. See that an effective management team, with appropriate provision for succession, is in place.
4. Encourage staff and volunteer development and education, and assist program staff in relating their specialized work to the total program of the organization.
5. Maintain a climate that attracts, keeps, and motivates a diverse staff of top quality people.
Qualifications:
Experience in management, nonprofit preferred (at least five years)
Demonstrated success with community networking, fundraising, operations, staff and financial management
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
Bachelor's degree; Advanced degree or equivalent business/nonprofit management preferred
The ideal candidate will:
Be a leader able to inspire, motivate, and supervise community collaborators and potential funders/supporters
Be able to interact comfortably with a variety of constituents and community leaders while inspiring excitement and support for CTRC
Use exceptional written,and verbal communication skills, as well as sales skills
Demonstrate a positive attitude, be energetic, and have a high degree of flexibility
Be team-oriented with a collaborative management style, combined with an ability to provide strong leadership
The initial funding of the Executive Director position is coming from the Margaret L Wendt Foundation.
I know this is insanely lofty. But I think the goal of the Central Terminal would be to be a hub for high speed rail travel between Buffalo and New York City. Obviously that is a lot of funding that would need to be acquired, but it would be so huge for the terminal and the area around it.
High speed rail would require billions to build and operate. No way is there enough passengers to break even.
However, high speed cargo trains make tons of money, and they exist in many countries. Investors, not the gov't, built high speed cargo trains, and it would have to link up the ports of New York with all the major airports of NYS, including Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo and NF. If you did, then you would have unlimited cargo capacity for the Port of NY, since the Buffalo airport would be only about 2 hours away from NYC.
Once you have high speed cargo trains built, it would be a simply matter and not expensive to add passenger service.
The NYSDOT plan is to upgrade the existing freight ROWs, while adding dedicated tracks for passenger service. Currently, even after recent improvements, a good portion of Amtrak's obstacles is that passenger trains must share tracks along some of the most congested portions of the route.
Obviously, there is a huge price tag for this, some estimate over $100B. But compare that to the $1B/yr that the Thruway generates toward NYSDOT's $7B/yr operating budget.
Almost no form of transportation ever breaks even... but rail is second only to shipping in terms of cost effectiveness and operating self-sufficiency - especially when it comes to taxpayer funds. Far surpassing the amount of money we pay to support roads and airports.
Central Terminal has a great advantage in that it was designed for, and remains convenient to, both freight and passenger lines. We are all familiar with the office tower and passenger terminal on the site, but often forget the acres of freight capacity that are included in the complex.
Any new Executive Director who can market the building's variety of potential will do better than one who focuses on a single use.
As I said, shipping of goods makes perfect sense to use high speed trains. But regardless, true high speed is defined as 150 mph or more, but today, 200 mph is actually fairly slow. The next generation of trains can go higher.
All that requires totally new infrastructure -- you can't use any of the old lines. So CSX can't hamper anything.
If taxpayers agree that 100 billion is okay to spend on high speed passenger service, and then the several billion or so each year to maintain it, then I won't argue. But unless you can somehow justify the cost in terms of what is gained, I would argue against it. There are far more critical things to spend money on in NYS for the hundreds of billions that it would cost.
I agree, mostly, but history tends to say otherwise.
The Erie canal was built because there was a need there, but not exactly one that people and businesses were clamoring for. Other canals in PA and VA/MD were proposed but never got off the ground until NY took the chance on a vision and reaped the benefits that exploded along with it. Afterwards, other canal projects were playing catch-up to try to duplicate a success that had already put NY at the top of the game.
Would NY have suffered if the canal hadn't been built? Probably not. But upstate would have remained a backwater wilderness and the capital of the world today might be Philly or Baltimore instead of NYC.
An investment in high-speed rail isn't quite as innovative as the Erie Canal was. Europe pioneered it and Asia is quickly using it to its own advantage (just as the canals and rails of Europe only exploded after their success in the UK, and the Interstate System improved upon Germany's roadways).
But the United States is experiencing a huge shift right now. The northeast is losing its place as the population and industrial heart of the continent. If we wait for the people to demand high-speed rail, we will already be behind the sun belt and the west coast. If we take the chance now, while it is still a good idea rather than an absolute necessity, we have the opportunity to head off the other North American economies that have been beating us at our own game while we sat idle for the past 60+ years.
Imagine if the people who built the Canal, the railroads and even the interstates had seen their effects 100 years into the future rather than the 10 years ahead that they actually planned for.
It's a big cost, but still cheaper than doing nothing. Or waiting for some other state to do it first.
Nearly half a million people travel yearly from Buffalo to Albany every year by slow train. And ridership is up 5% from just a year ago!
These tickets are already expensive for a service that take 8 hours to reach NYC, compared to just as slow buses, and much quicker planes.
If slow rail can compete with these other forms of transportation, then high speed trains will even be more popular. It is proven that people are willing to pay the money for trains. Will it make money?
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249232964000&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobhead
I don't even need high-speed rail (although 110 mph would be wonderful and very achievable with current tried and true technologies). Just give me a normal-speed train every half hour in each direction, like they have in Britain and Europe. Offer me a way to take a train to Cleveland that doesn't involve arriving at 3:30 in the morning.
I don't think we need high-speed "bullet trains" to draw ridership. We just need greater frequencies, and more reliable service. As it is, Amtrak is frequently sold out or near to it, even with the slow trains and limited, unreliable schedules they have now. Amtrak's big immediate problem is getting more trains on the tracks to meet the growing demand.