Meet the Board

NCPTA Officer Profiles

Randy Bass, President

Randy has served as Transportation Director for Cabarrus County for the last four years. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of NCPTA for three years and has been co-chair of the conference committee for three years as well.

He also is a member of the legislative committee and has made several site visits around North Carolina to help promote public transportation in the state.

Randy’s career in transportation began in the United States Air Force with the Military Airlift Command (MAC) in the 1970's. This led to his 15 year association with the Charlotte Area Transit System where he directed a number of activities including managing a vanpool program using 120 vans. He also created the Concord NC, Gastonia NC, and Rock Hill SC Express Bus routes. His four year employment with American Coach Lines offered the opportunity to be in on the ground floor creation of a regional bus service in Winston-Salem NC, Greensboro NC and High Point NC named Piedmont Authority for Public Transportation (PART) which he managed for one year. His next project was located in Atlanta GA where he worked with the Buckhead Area Transportation Management Association (BATMA) operating compress natural gas buses in the Buckhead community.

He feels that now is the best time for systems around the state to demonstrate how important public transportation is to the citizens they serve.

Keith McCoy, Vice President

Keith will be starting the second year of a two year term on the Board. He is the Support Service Administrator for Transylvania County and has been in that position for 25years. He is married and has a 16 year old son.

Todd Allen, Secretary

Todd has worked in the public transportation industry for over 20 years, including the university, private, public, and non-profit sectors of our industry. Todd started his career in transit by working at Northern Illinois University and subsequently worked for TMSI (managing at Alamance Co., NC), the NC Department of Transportation (as a Transportation Consultant and Rural Program Manager), and the City of Raleigh (Senior Transit Planner and Acting Transit Administrator). Todd is now employed with RouteMatch Software as their Director of Business Development and Community Relations based in Raleigh, NC. In addition to his ten years of service to the NCPTA through Board and Committee work, Todd is also a past member of the City of Raleigh’s Transit Authority, is a Board Member of Georgia Transit Association, and is active in national transit associations as well. Todd is married and has three children.

Sue Powell, Treasurer

Sue has served for the past six years as the Transportation Coordinator for Lenoir County Transit in Kinston, North Carolina. She previously worked as the Transportation Administrative Assistant serving on numerous boards in various capacities including Secretary to the Transportation Advisory Board.

Prior to joining Lenoir County Transit, Sue worked with the Department of Social Services as an Income Maintenance Caseworker II.

Sue is currently pursuing a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting. She is a native of Kinston where she currently lives with her two children Tiffany and Randy, dog Babe and cat Scooter.

NCPTA Director Profiles

Kim Angel

Kim is the Transit Director for Macon County. She has been in this position since May 1997 when Macon County began providing community transportation services. She was responsible for the planning and development of the system has been the only transit director for Macon County. Prior to becoming the Transit Director for Macon County, she worked for NCDOT Division of Highways as a processing assistant and the Macon County Department on Aging as office manager, a position that also included oversight of transportation for senior citizens. She previously served on the NCPTA Board of Directors from 2000-2004, has completed the Transportation Leadership Development Program (TLDP), and served as the project director for the non-emergency medical transportation project for the Western and Centralina regions of the Cross County Transit project.

Kim is a native of Macon County, is married, and has two sons. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Western Carolina University. She is actively involved in the community, serving on several boards and PTO. She has previously served on the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and is past president of the Franklin Kiwanis Club.

Art Barnes

For over twenty-five years, Art Barnes has served at the executive level at several public transit properties; responsible for all aspects of day-to-day operations, board policy implementation and public relations. Beginning with ATE Transit Management in 1986, Art Barnes oversaw paratransit operations in Madison, Wisconsin before moving to South Bend, Indiana as Assistant General Manager in 1987. In 1991, he assumed the position of Assistant Executive Director in Chattanooga, Tennessee where he was instrumental in the research and development of battery-powered buses. In 1996, Art Barnes was named Executive Director at the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority and oversaw one of the first “service” contracts in the country. As General Manager for the Winston-Salem Transit Authority for fourteen years, Mr. Barnes has consistently improved system quality through route restructuring, technological innovation and fiscal responsibility; consistently meeting and exceeding budgetary targets.

Robert Brink

Rob has been the Executive Director of The Kerr Area Transportation Authority (KARTS) a four county regional system since 2006. He has completed the Transportation Leadership Development Program as well as the Certified Community Transit Manager certification through CTAA.   In addition to his current job duties, he serves on the Workforce Development Board, US 1 Corridor Committee, NC 50 Planning Committee, Congestion Mitigation Taskforce, the regional RPO, and MPO.  

Rob is a native of Ohio and a graduate of Youngstown State University. He and his wife Janelle have lived in North Carolina since 2003. They have a 15 month old son Robert Jay Brink III (Trey).

Albert Eby

Albert Eby was hired in 2004 as the inaugural Director of the Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority. His experience in public transportation working in both the private and public sector dates back to 1985. Eby holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas and a Master of Public Administration from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He also holds a certificate in non-profit management from Duke University and is a 2008 graduate of Leadership Wilmington. Eby is a member of the NCPTA Board of Directors and serves as Chairman of the Association’s Legislative Committee. He is a member of CTAA, ASPA and NCPTA.

Johnny Ford

Johnny has worked in the transportation industry for over 20 years, including in the university, private and public sectors of our industry.  Johnny began his career in transit by working at East Carolina University in several capacities including, driver and management. He has also worked with Mayflower and later with Laidlaw Contract Services as Facility manager and the County of Lenoir as Transportation Coordinator.  Johnny currently works for Durham County as the Transportation Access Coordinator Johnny is married and has three children.

Matt Kunic

Matt Kunic joined Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority in June 2006 as an intern through the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Public Transportation Division Internship Program. Following a successful internship, Mr. Kunic was hired as the Authority’s full time Planner in December 2006. In March 2010, Mr. Kunic was promoted to Director of Planning and Development. He holds a B.A. in Communication Studies, a Master’s of Public Administration (MPA), and is currently working towards a post-baccalaureate certificate in Environmental Studies. In addition, he has completed Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) Training and has received Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Certification. Some of Mr. Kunic’s duties include planning, grant writing, ADA compliance, and marketing.

Mike Lovett

Mike is the Director of Greene County Transportation, Snow Hill, NC. Greene County is a small, rural farming community east of Interstate 95 with a population of 21,000.  Mike was hired in 1998 as the transportation coordinator with instructions to develop a plan to create a transportation service operated as a County Department. In July 1999, Greene County Transportation Department began operations with Medicaid, Work First, EDTAP and Home and Community Care Block Grant as the funding sources for rides. Today as a Community Transportation System he oversees the operation of 8 vans, 9 employees and juggles eight additional funding sources to provide  19,800 trips annually over 190,000 miles.

Prior to employment with Greene County, Mike spent 24 years in the United States Navy. Mike is married, has a daughter at NCSU and a son in High School.

Having started Greene County Transportation from  the ground up, 12 years experience Mike feels it’s time he gets involved with Transportation across the State at a different level. 

Kurt J. Neufang

Kurt J. Neufang brings over 26 years of experience in the public transportation industry to the NCPTA Board. Kurt is a Senior Transportation Planner for the URS Transportation Consulting Firm in the Morrisville, NC office. Prior to joining URS, Kurt worked for the North Carolina Department of Transportation in Raleigh, the City of Greensboro and the Town of Chapel Hill. Additionally he worked as a senior planner at the MPO in Atlanta, GA. His career includes managing university transit operations at the University of North Carolina, Georgia Tech and the University of North Texas. He has served in a leadership role in planning rural human service transit systems, small urban transit systems and a regional ridesharing organizations. Kurt has worked with public transit systems throughout NC in providing coordinated transit planning.

Pierre Osei-Owusu

Originally from Ghana, West Africa, Pierre graduated from the University of Georgia, in Athens, Georgia, and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, with Masters Degrees in Transportation Geography and Transportation Planning respectively. In 2009 he obtained a Doctor of Management (DM) degree from the University of Phoenix.

Pierre began his career in transportation career in 1988 with the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), in Atlanta, and later with Greenville Transit Authority (GTA) in Greenville South Carolina, as a Planning Director. Pierre currently works for the City of Durham in North Carolina, as a Senior Transportation Planner, serving as the link between the City and TTA, the current contract operator of DATA. In addition, he has served as an Adjunct Professor at the North Carolina Central University in Durham teaching transportation-related courses for the past ten years.

Pierre is married with two daughters ages 6 and 9.

Presently, a member of the NCPTA’s Rodeo and Conference Planning Committees.

Carmalee Scarpitti

Carmalee Scarpitti has been employed by the City of Raleigh since 1987. She has worked in transportation since 1999 and currently serves as the Transit Planner for Capital Area Transit (CAT). In addition to short and mid range transit planning she reviews development plans securing access agreements and transit stop easements. Carmalee serves on the Wake County Transportation Advisory Board. She holds the Bachelor’s of Science in Agriculture from The Ohio State University and is currently earning a Master’s in Public Administration at Andrew Jackson University.

Carmalee is a native of Ohio. She and her husband Rick have one son and six international high school exchange student children.

Becky Smith

Becky has a BS Degree in Business, prior to working in transportation she was a underwriting manager for Geico for 23 years. She has been the director of Clay County Transportation for 13 years and completed the NC Transportation Leadership Development Program in 2001.

Steve Spade

Steve Spade is the Transit Director for Chapel Hill Transit of the town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Chapel Hill Transit is the public transit system serving the towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and the University of North Carolina. The system is best known for their community-wide fare free system that has more than doubled ridership since 2002. Chapel Hill Transit provides over 6 million rides annually to a service area of 90,000 persons.

Steve joined Chapel Hill Transit in April of 2006 after retiring as the general manager of the Des Moines Metropolitan Transit Authority. In his 2 years at Chapel Hill he has seen the fleet grow from 83 to 99 buses, introduced hybrid and articulated buses in the community and completed construction of a $22 million maintenance facility.

Prior to coming to Chapel Hill Steve was one of the longest tenured managers in the country having spent 32 years in Des Moines before his retirement in 2006.

Prior to that he worked for transit systems in Burlington, Iowa and Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

Steve is an active member and participant in APTA and the North Carolina Public Transit Association currently serving as a member of the NCPTA legislative committee and state roadeo committee.

Steve is a graduate of Indiana University. He and his wife Amber have a six year old daughter, Avery.

Dana Spurgeon

Dana holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Chattanooga (UTC). He has been in sales for over 44 years and in the bus business for the last 20 years. Dana is currently the Regional Sales Manager for National Bus Sales & Leasing with responsibilities for North Carolina and South Carolina. He currently serves on the Transportation Association of South Carolina board (TASC). Dana has been married for the past 35 years with 3 sons and 3 grandchildren. His hobbies are golf and restoration of old cars.

Camille Sterling

Camille Sterling has been in the transit industry since 2001. She has served on the NCPTA Board for two terms, the conference committee for seven years, and the affiliate committee for three years.

Myra Thompson

Appointed as the Guilford County Transportation Director, January 2008. She worked in local government over 25 years with 15 of those years with Guilford County. Myra started with Guilford County as a Management and Budget Analyst. While serving in that role she was able to learn various county operations with the Transportation Dept as one of her primary budget dept. responsibility; therefore the transition to Transportation Director was an easy one for me. She looks forward to serving on the board of directors for NCPTA

Amber Wagner

Amber has been in the public transit industry for over 18 years now. Since August 2010, Amber has been the Executive Director at Chatham Transit Network. Prior to this she was the director of the North Carolina Public Transportation Association for three years. Amber started her public transit career in the state of Iowa as a transit director of a five-county regional system in Northwest Iowa where she was also a member and held a board position on the Iowa Public Transit Association. She holds a bachelors degree in English from the University of South Dakota. In 2009, Amber was recognized as one of the “Top 40 under 40 in Public Transportation” in Mass Transit magazine.

L. J. Weslowski

L.J. came to North Carolina from his home state of Massachusetts, and has been involved in transportation since joining the Army National Guard as a Motor Transport Operator at age 17. He entered the public transportation arena in 1994 while in college as a driver at Umass Transit, where he also worked as a paratransit driver, dispatcher, trainer, and motor coach operator before moving into Operations Management. After a short stint working (not playing) in minor league baseball, he re-entered the world of transportation as the Director of Operations for Fixed Route in Greensboro. A short move south brought L.J. to his current position as the General Manager of Concord Kannapolis Area Transit, a position he’s held since the system’s inception in 2004. In 2007, he completed TSI’s Transit Safety & Security Program.  He is also a member of the Cabarrus Regional Chamber of commerce Land Use Planning and Transportation subcommittee.

L.J. has been involved with NCPTA since 2004, starting out as a Roadeo volunteer before joining the Roadeo Committee in 2005.  In 2008, he became involved in the Conference Committee, as well as the Conference Relocation Research team. L.J. loves sports and photography, has been married to his better half Beverly for 3 ½  years and has 2 children, Socks & Dodger.

Dennis Williams

Dennis has served as Executive Director of the Alamance County Transportation Authority since July 1, 2002. Prior to joining the Authority, he was in the trucking industry serving in various administrative, controller, and financial capacities.  He also served for a number of years in the textile industry serving in the same capacities. Dennis grew up in South Carolina and is a graduate of Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. He served on active duty in the U.S. Army as a Reserve Officer. Dennis serves on Alamance County’s Welfare Reform Committee and has chaired the Workforce Development Board for Alamance, Orange and Randolph Counties. Dennis is an active Rotarian and lives in Burlington, NC. He is married and has two grown daughters and one grandchild.