Followups

Virginia Business
July 2006

The Pentagon has ruled that Virginia Beach has failed to meet the requirements set by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission for keeping fighter jets at Oceana Naval Air Station. Nonetheless, U.S. Sen. John Warner says Oceana will continue to operate another decade, in part because the Navy has no alternative. BRAC had suggested moving Oceana’s jets to Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Fla., but that city opposes the move. The fate of Oceana has been discussed in several Virginia Business stories, most recently in the May issue.

The Virginia Port Authority has begun a selection process for a new executive director to replace 67-year-old J. Robert Bray. Bray has led the VPA since 1978 and has worked for the Port Authority since 1967. He will retire in December 2007. Virginia Business discussed the succession issue in a September 2005 cover story and identified Bray in its March issue as one of the state’s economic leaders in the past 20 years.

Matthew O. Tucker has been named director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, a state agency concerned with passenger rail and public transportation issues. Tucker, a native of Halifax County, was chief operating officer for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority in San Jose, Calif. He succeeds Karen J. Rae who left the agency to become deputy secretary of transportation in Pennsylvania. Rae was featured in a February article on the prospects for rapid rail in Virginia.

At the end of May, President Bush announced John W. Snow would step down as U.S. Treasury secretary, a post Snow’s held since 2003. Bush nominated Henry M. Paulson Jr., chairman and chief executive of Goldman Sachs, to fill the position. Snow is a former chief executive at CSX Corp. In Virginia Business’ June issue, Snow was listed among the Virginia 100, the magazine’s annual list of the wealthiest and most influential leaders in the state.