Port NOLA
Michael A. Thomas on Sept. 20 was appointed as Port NOLA’s Chairman of the Board of Commissioners for a five-year term that will extend through Sept. 19, 2029. With the alignment of Port NOLA and the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB), Thomas will serve as Chairman of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Commission.
He succeeds Joseph F. Toomy, whose most recent five-year term began on Aug. 16, 2019, and officially concluded on Aug. 15, 2024.
During Toomy’s time as Chairman, Port NOLA has made significant progress on the $1.8 billion state-of-the-art Louisiana International Terminal (LIT), according to the Port. That includes helping to secure $300 million in landmark INFRA and MEGA grant funding to assist in building LIT, the largest federal investment in a new container terminal in U.S. Department of Transportation history, as well as $230.5 million from Gov. Landry and the Louisiana Legislature for LIT and other related port infrastructure projects.
“It has been an incredible honor to serve as both a Commissioner and Chairman of Port NOLA on three occasions, as well as in those roles for the NOPB Commission,” said Toomy. “I am immensely proud of the milestones we have reached, the partnerships we have forged, and the challenges we have overcome together. As I step down from this position, I am confident that our incoming leadership will continue to build on our successes and drive progress for our region and the State of Louisiana. I want to express my deepest gratitude to my fellow board members, the dedicated port and belt staffs, our stakeholders and the community for their unwavering support throughout my tenure.”
“We are grateful to Mr. Toomy for his dedicated leadership as Chairman of our board,” said Acting Port NOLA President & CEO and Acting CEO of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB), Ronald Wendel. “His decades of experience and visionary leadership have significantly enhanced our position and made a meaningful difference in the communities we serve. He has and will continue to play a pivotal role in bringing together the five ports on the Lower Mississippi River to identify more pathways to move Louisiana forward.”
Thomas is a native of Morgan City, Louisiana. He attended Louisiana State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree with concentration in political science in 1995 and then a Juris Doctor in 2000.
In 2000, Thomas established his law firm, Michael A. Thomas, Attorney at Law, LLC, and then became an Assistant Parish Attorney for Jefferson Parish. His public service in Jefferson Parish also included positions as Assistant District Attorney, staffer for then Councilman-at-Large Thomas J. Capella, as well as a member of the Jefferson Parish Council.
In 2013, Thomas returned to the private sector to grow his law practice and title business. He currently represents several marine service companies, oilfield supply vessel companies and a Mississippi River pilots association, all of which provide valuable and unique insight to the commercial needs of the Mississippi river and its customers.
“I am honored to join the esteemed Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans and the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad,” said Thomas. “I look forward to collaborating with my fellow commissioners, as well as with the dedicated Port and Belt staff, to continue driving Port NOLA’s momentum as a key player in the global supply chain and a vital economic engine for the region and the state. The potential growth of the Port of New Orleans and the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad over the next few years may be the largest in their history and I am looking forward to working with our team along with local, state, and federal leaders to help both entities reach their full potential.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Michael Thomas as Chairman of our Board of Commissioners,” said Wendel. “His maritime experience will be invaluable as we continue to advance our strategic initiatives and strengthen our commitment to economic growth. I look forward to working closely with him to further position Port NOLA as the premier gateway in the Gulf.”
The Port NOLA and NOPB Commission Boards consist of seven, unsalaried members who serve five-year staggered terms. The Governor of Louisiana appoints members from a list of three nominations submitted by local civic, labor, education, and maritime groups. The Board reflects Port NOLA’s three-parish jurisdiction with two members from Jefferson, three from Orleans and one from St. Bernard.
Chairman Michael A. Thomas and Commissioner Todd Murphy represent Jefferson Parish; Vice Chairman James J. Carter Jr., Secretary-Treasurer Sharonda R. Williams, Commissioner Darryl D. Berger, and Commissioner Walter J. Leger Jr. represent Orleans Parish; and Commissioner Jeanne E. Ferrer represents St. Bernard Parish.
IANA
IANA’s Board of Directors on Sept. 26 announced that Anne Reinke will be joining the organization as its new President & CEO, upon the retirement of Joni Casey at the end of the year.
“In looking for a new leader to advance IANA’s role as the voice of the intermodal freight transportation industry, we could not have found a more qualified individual,” said IANA Board of Directors Chair and CIE Manufacturing CEO Trevor Ash.
Reinke joins IANA following four years as President & CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), the leading advocate for 3PLs. Prior to her tenure at TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
“IANA is a world-class organization that Joni has so ably led for 27 years. I am eager to continue the growth and success she achieved and appreciate the opportunity that the IANA Board has given me. I will be forever grateful for my time at TIA for the experience and perspective I received as its leader,” said Reinke.
GoTriangle
GoTriangle President and CEO Charles Lattuca, who was brought on four years ago to help the agency build a commuter rail line in North Carolina’s Wake and Durham counties has resigned now that the project has been “shelved indefinitely,” according to a report by The News & Observer.
According to the report, Lattuca arrived in the spring of 2020, a year after GoTriangle’s planned Durham-Orange light rail system collapsed. “Faith in the agency’s ability to build ambitious transit systems was badly shaken.”
Prior to joining GoTriangle, Lattuca was head of transit development at the Maryland Department of Transportation, overseeing planning and early construction of the Purple Line, a 16-mile light-rail system across the suburbs of Washington, D.C. “It was thought his expertise would help GoTriangle plan and build a 37-mile commuter rail line connecting Durham, Research Triangle Park, Cary, Raleigh and Garner,” according to The News & Observer report.
According to the report, GoTriangle completed a feasibility study for commuter rail last year. But federal officials indicated they wouldn’t help pay to build the $3 billion system, because t”here weren’t enough people living along the rail corridor to ensure its success.”
Faced with having to pay for the entire system themselves, GoTriangle leaders agreed to set it aside, leaving Lattuca in charge of an agency whose other primary mission is running a regional bus system that serves about 5,100 riders a day, according to the report.
“As you know, I came here to help build a regional commuter rail system,” Lattuca wrote to the GoTriangle board in a letter dated Sept. 12. “Unfortunately, that initiative proved to be too costly an investment for this region. Regardless, I trust that I am leaving the agency better off and on a stronger path for improving regional transit in the Triangle.”
Byron Smith, the organization’s general counsel, was named Interim President and CEO on Wednesday, according to The News & Observer report. Smith worked with Lattuca in Maryland and followed him to GoTriangle to help with the commuter rail project.
Before it seeks a new president and CEO, the GoTriangle board must settle on a new job description, Smith said. “With commuter rail on hold for the time being, the agency may need someone with a different set of skills than Lattuca,” according to the report.
Smith says, “though it won’t come in his time at GoTriangle, he thinks the region will eventually get a commuter rail system, noting how crowded and unreliable the highways can be.”
“I’d love to see commuter rail in this region,” he said. “It’s going to need it.”
