Farewell, and Good Luck to all of You, and to the Coalition

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Dave Alan
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Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2014 10:55 pm

Farewell, and Good Luck to all of You, and to the Coalition

Post by Dave Alan »

After 21 years as Coalition Chair, today is my last day in office. It is, therefore, fitting and appropriate that I address you one last time in that capacity.

I thank every one of our members for your support during my tenure as Chair, which I know has lasted for more than half of our history to date. I believe that I have helped to uphold the Coalition's reputation as a nationally-known leader in the rail-advocacy movement, in terms of both intellectual power and effectiveness. I know that you will keep our traditions intact, while implementing new ones that will expand our reputation and effectiveness.

I am aware on the intellectual level that I am leaving office, and I am planning for my transition away from local advocacy and toward a new emphasis on the national scene; an appropriate change for an "elder statesman" of my age and years of experience. I am not leaving the Coalition completely, but will now be an "ordinary" member, acting in an advisory capacity, writing for the Railgram from time to time, and maybe doing some other things.

Still, it is time for me to concentrate on the national scene, where I believe I can make more of a difference for riders on Amtrak and rail transit elsewhere than I can here in New Jersey, especially given the realities of our politics, which control NJ Transit. I am deeply-honored to be accorded the privilege of writing for Railway Age as a Contributing Editor, and I will concentrate on my writing there. I will also continue my activity with the Rail Users' Network (RUN), where my theoretical and policy-oriented efforts can help advocates everywhere.

Since my last meeting as Chair on Monday evening, I have become more confident about the future of the Coalition than I had been before. I have every confidence that Sally will grow into her new leadership role and help us grow, through her grassroots orientation and her efforts in that direction. I am also delighted that Susan Hairston has volunteered to serve as our Membership Director; a post that has gone unfilled for too long. Not only does Susan bring a new outlook to our recruiting efforts, but she also brings the political experience that only an elected official can contribute. She has proven that she can recruit the voters in Summit, so we know that she can recruit new members for the Coalition.

There are few women in leadership positions in the advocacy movement, so Sally and Susan will be pace-setters in bringing added diversity, not only to our organization, but also to our movement. We are also adding some age-related and geographic diversity: I have been in contact with Anthony George, a young professional railroader in southeastern Tennessee, who wants to join us. We welcome him aboard as what I hope will be the first of many new, young members.

I encourage all of you to take an active part in the Coalition's efforts. Our adversaries who do not care about our constituents are powerful and well-financed, but we have beaten them in the past. As they said during World War II, "We did it before, and we can do it again!" But sitting back and expecting everybody else to pitch in is a recipe for defeat. Decision-makers who do not care about our transit are our adversaries, but apathy is our strongest enemy.

Let's get the word out about who we are and about the issues of concern to us, through the Railgram, our web site and forum, and even by word-of-mouth. I commend Sally and Jim O'Reilly for their efforts to get our web site and forum running again. We have a lot to offer, and it is time to let everybody know about us!

As I leave office, I thank you for your gifts, your thoughts, and your good wishes. I will still be in touch with many of you, and I look forward to witnessing more successes for the Lackawanna Coalition, for the benefit of the riders and the communities who are our constituents.

Thank you for your support throughout the years.

As I concluded my farewell address on Monday: "Long Live the Lackawanna Coalition!"


DAVID PETER ALAN
Lackawanna Coalition Chair (for a few more hours)
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