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Released: 1/18/2012
DRPA Commissioners Appoint New Deputy CEO, Inspector General
The Delaware River Port Authority Board of Commissioners today made two executive appointments: Michael J. Conallen Jr. to succeed retiring Deputy Chief Executive Officer Robert P. Gross and Thomas W. Raftery III to fill the newly created position of inspector general.
Gross, 62, joined the DRPA in April 2003 after serving as vice president of business development for Keating Building Corporation. He also served for 13 years as the executive director of the Atlantic County Improvement Authority.
“We’re grateful to Bob Gross for helping to manage the DRPA through a time of transition, and we wish him well going forward,” said DRPA Chief Executive Officer John J. Matheussen.
“We’re also delighted to have found two new professionals with valuable experience in the public and private sectors,” Matheussen said. “Mike Conallen and Tom Raftery are fully equipped to help us continue our transformation into one of the most efficient, transparent, regional transportation leaders in the country.”
Conallen, 41, an Iraq War veteran, has served for the past 15 years as a lawyer, naval officer, regional representative for the U.S. Department of Education and corporate government relations executive. He also worked as a chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and to former U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa. Conallen is leaving his position as vice president of government affairs and sales for Environmental Tectonics Corporation.
A resident of Yardley, Pa., Conallen holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Temple University and a J.D. from Temple University School of Law.
Raftery, 52, is a 23-year law-enforcement veteran who served as an FBI special agent from 1988 until 2010 with assignments in Oklahoma City, Okla., Newark, N.J., and Atlantic City, N.J.
In 2010, he joined the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) as a special agent in Kabul, where he investigated corruption, contract fraud and money laundering related to reconstruction funding.
As inspector general, Raftery will report directly to the chief executive officer and the Audit Committee of the Board of Commissioners. Only the board can remove an inspector general.
In addition to assuming routine organizational audit responsibilities – including preparing audits required by law, bi-state compact or bond agreement – Raftery also will work to root out any waste, fraud, abuse, corruption, mismanagement or illegality that might involve the DRPA.
A resident of Ocean City, N.J., Raftery holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Dickinson College and a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from Drexel University.
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