By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
When Jerry Gehman was appointed in 2016 as Alabama’s gubernatorial designee on the Southern Rail Commission, he couldn’t have been happier. A strong advocate for the return of passenger rail service to the Gulf Coast, the Atmore businessman and railroad enthusiast had found the perfect platform for that advocacy.
When he was stripped of his SRC membership last week due to criticism of Gov. Kay Ivey’s decision not to commit $5.3 million in state funds to the project, Gehman said his only regret was that he was no longer a part of the 21-member commission.
“Do I regret what I said? No, not really, except that it cost me my spot on the SRC,” Gehman said during an interview with Atmore News. “I feel bad about the negative attention the SRC might have gotten from what I said, but I gave 110 percent of my energy and effort in trying to get passenger rail service back to this area. I’ve done everything I can for the people of Alabama.”
The former rail commissioner continued his verbal assault on the governor — reiterating his feelings that her decision represented “a black eye for the state of Alabama” — and criticized Ivey’s refusal to meet one-on-one with SRC representatives to get a better understanding of the available options prior to making the decision.
“Ask any SRC member if Kay Ivey has met with them during her 14 months in office and you’ll find out that she has not,” said Gehman, who was appointed to the panel by former Gov. Robert Bentley. “I did everything I could to get a meeting with her. I asked anyone and everyone who might be able to help, if they could talk to the governor and set up a meeting.”
According to Gehman, SRC Chair John Spain said during the SRC’s last meeting prior to the May 21 deadline for obtaining Ivey’s signature on an agreement to commit the state funds that “failure is not an option.”
But, when Ivey sent a letter to Spain directing that Gehman’s name be immediately taken off the SRC’s membership rolls, Spain “called me, told me I had been removed from the commission, thanked me for my service and hung up. That was it. I felt like I had been thrown under the bus.”
Spain apologized to Ivey for Gehman’s comments and assured her the outspoken former commissioner was not acting on behalf of the SRC. He also disputed Gehman’s claims that the rail commission had not been given access to the governor’s office.
“In fact, we requested and had multiple meetings and conversations with [Ivey’s] chief of staff [Steve Pelham] to discuss restoring passenger rail service to Mobile,” Spain said in a letter to the governor which was released to the media. “Those meetings and conversations were productive, cordial and professional, and we are grateful for the time spent with commissioners.”
But Gehman continued to stick to his guns.
“[Fellow SRC member] Greg White and I went to Montgomery, to the governor’s office, to meet with her and explain the options that were available, and she never attended any of the meetings,” he said. “Her staff met with us a few times, but it wasn’t Steve Pelham’s signature we needed [on the funding commitment], it was hers. I was her designee on the commission, but she wouldn’t even give me the time of day.”
Jimmy Lyons, chief executive officer for the Alabama State Port Authority, had prior to the governor’s decision made public his opposition to the passenger rail service plan. The port authority CEO said such a move would further tax the overburdened CSX rail lines in Mobile’s port area, which was referred to as a “Rubik’s cube” by SRC vice-chair Knox Ross.
Lyons said he was “extremely concerned over the interruptions the proposed passenger rail service will have on port traffic,” and added that the addition of passenger trains to the mix would “only further delay services to [freight] customers using the port.”
An Ivey spokesman pointed out shortly after Gehman was removed from the commission that “the governor’s designee serves in the place of the governor … the position is meant to be a direct representative who carries out the governor’s decisions. After Mr. Gehman’s public remarks … Gov. Ivey decided to remove him and select a new designee that can support her decisions.”
But Gehman said he wondered whether the decision — which included Ivey’s contention that the restoration of passenger rail service to Mobile would have “an outsized detrimental impact” on the Port City’s rail freight facility — was really the governor’s.
“Did Kay Ivey make this decision?” he asked. “The things she said are right out of the CSX playbook, so did CSX really make this decision? Or was it Jimmy Lyons? I don’t know. All I know is that she didn’t listen to the SRC or seek our advice.”
Another anticipated benefit of the passenger rail restoration, he said, would have been the stimulation of the local economy or the formation of an all-new economy that would evolve around the rail service, which would have eventually included four stops a day in Atmore.
“Just imagine what kind of economic impact that four trains a day — four trains — would have on Atmore and the area around here,” he said, pointing out that such a situation would create jobs, as well as a demand for rail-related services that could be met locally.
The ousted commissioner added that he made his critical comments out of both personal frustration and a need to let the people of Alabama know that he and the Southern Rail Commission had done its best to bring passenger trains back to the Gulf Coast.
“I couldn’t say these things to the governor because she wouldn’t meet with me,” he said, gazing through his C&S Solutions office window as a southbound CSX freight rumbled along the nearby tracks. “I couldn’t tell her, so I took it to the people and tried to let them know the full impact of the decision.
“The public has been given the opportunity to learn, if nothing else, that this was a valiant effort by the Southern Rail Commission and that at least one commissioner was willing to stick his neck out and got his head chopped off.”[Steve Pelham] to discuss restoring passenger rail service to Mobile,” Spain said in a letter to the governor which was released to the media. “Those meetings and conversations were productive, cordial and professional, and we are grateful for the time spent with commissioners.”
But Gehman continued to stick to his guns.“[Fellow SRC member] Greg White and I went to Montgomery, to the governor’s office, to meet with her and explain the options that were available, and she never attended any of the meetings,” he said. “Her staff met with us a few times, but it wasn’t Steve Pelham’s signature we needed [on the funding commitment], it was hers. I was her designee on the commission, but she wouldn’t even give me the time of day.”
Jimmy Lyons, chief executive officer for the Alabama State Port Authority, had prior to the governor’s decision made public his opposition to the passenger rail service plan. The port authority CEO said such a move would further tax the overburdened CSX rail lines in Mobile’s port area, which was referred to as a “Rubik’s cube” by SRC vice-chair Knox Ross.
Lyons said he was “extremely concerned over the interruptions the proposed passenger rail service will have on port traffic,” and added that the addition of passenger trains to the mix would “only further delay services to [freight] customers using the port.”
An Ivey spokesman pointed out shortly after Gehman was removed from the commission that “the governor’s designee serves in the place of the governor … the position is meant to be a direct representative who carries out the governor’s decisions. After Mr. Gehman’s public remarks … Gov. Ivey decided to remove him and select a new designee that can support her decisions.”
But Gehman said he wondered whether the decision — which included Ivey’s contention that the restoration of passenger rail service to Mobile would have “an outsized detrimental impact” on the Port City’s rail freight facility — was really the governor’s.
“Did Kay Ivey make this decision?” he asked. “The things she said are right out of the CSX playbook, so did CSX really make this decision? Or was it Jimmy Lyons? I don’t know. All I know is that she didn’t listen to the SRC or seek our advice.”
Another anticipated benefit of the passenger rail restoration, he said, would have been the stimulation of the local economy or the formation of an all-new economy that would evolve around the rail service, which would have eventually included four stops a day in Atmore.
“Just imagine what kind of economic impact that four trains a day — four trains — would have on Atmore and the area around here,” he said, pointing out that such a situation would create jobs, as well as a demand for rail-related services that could be met locally.
The ousted commissioner added that he made his critical comments out of both personal frustration and a need to let the people of Alabama know that he and the Southern Rail Commission had done its best to bring passenger trains back to the Gulf Coast.
“I couldn’t say these things to the governor because she wouldn’t meet with me,” he said, gazing through his C&S Solutions office window as a southbound CSX freight rumbled along the nearby tracks. “I couldn’t tell her, so I took it to the people and tried to let them know the full impact of the decision.
“The public has been given the opportunity to learn, if nothing else, that this was a valiant effort by the Southern Rail Commission and that at least one commissioner was willing to stick his neck out and got his head chopped off.”
News photo by Don Fletcher