NEW CASTLE — More than 1 million vehicles travel over the Delaware Memorial Bridge every month, a number that doesn’t even begin to include travelers seen by the Delaware River and Bay Authority’s airports and ferries.
Hundreds of professionals statewide help ensure the safety of those travelers, as well as many in New Jersey, all at the direction of DRBA Executive Director Thomas J. Cook.
“This is literally one of the most diverse organizations that I’ve been involved with,” the Kenton resident told the Delaware Business Times. “We have blue-collar workers, white-collar workers and a lot of professional people that make this operation run day in and day out. The people who make this happen are the employees and I’m just lucky enough to work beside them.”
Cook became the fifth executive director for the quasi-governmental organization in 2017, succeeding Scott Green who held the post since 2012. Prior to working at the DRBA, he was proud of his role as the longest-serving secretary of finance for the state of Delaware, although he laughed when detailing how his successor, Richard J. “Rick” Geisenberger, is on the verge of dethroning him from that accomplishment.
“We joke that we didn’t leave soon enough, but really, it’s an honor,” Cook told DBT. “I’ve been fortunate enough to have a great career that has impacted things for the public.”
All told, Cook spent 25 years in governmental service including his role as deputy secretary of finance and later on secretary of finance, as well as Government Information Center manager and state election commissioner.
Over the years, his list of “trendsetting” accomplishments continued to grow, focusing on improving the state’s use of technology, specifically the internet, as a way to streamline processes, increase data accuracy and create more accessible services to citizens and businesses.
But one experience outshone them all for Cook.
In the early 1990s, he was asked to help rewrite the computer system that collected votes on election night. At the time, votes were collected by machine and then called into a central location where the numbers would be added to the larger database and tabulated. Working closely with key officials in each county helped make the project a success and one that would end up being a cornerstone moment in his career.
“The state election commissioner was retiring at the time. County officials from both sides, democratic and republican, all six of them, wrote letters to then-Governor Tom Carper recommending me to the position of state election commissioner. It was very powerful, probably one of the highlights of my career,” he told DBT.
His leadership proved impactful as state election commissioner when he advocated for the use of electronic voting machines in Delaware, convincing leaders to upgrade all of the outdated mechanical voting machines in the state.
“That was trendsetting. We became the first state in the nation, for the 1996 election, to have all electronic voting machines of the same type,” he recalled. “I was fortunate enough to be there at a time that had some monumental changes that certainly made it easier for the voters.”
From there, he was chosen to move on to the Government Information Center where he helped bring Delaware further into the new era, including uploading state laws for public access via the internet.
“We literally took the Delaware Code and put it online and had a process put in place that when a bill was passed, it would basically update and put it online. It was an impactful project that I was on there,” Cook told DBT.
With all of those experiences under his belt, and the title of DRBA executive director underway, he continues to lead the state, and the organization, to safer travels.
“Each of those experiences, from my financial background or technology background, has all allowed me to be a good manager in this role [at DRBA]. I work with some of the brightest and the best, including engineers, our police force, and I let them do what they need to do and I try to listen to their ideas,” he added.
Those ideas and experiences have helped Cook lead DRBA toward new and innovative projects such as the $93 million ship collision protection system at the Delaware Memorial Bridge, $12 million airport terminal expansion in New Castle County and new hybrid ferries that will adapt with future sustainable fuel options. These are just a few of the impressive projects led by Cook’s team at DRBA.
“These are all exciting projects that I think will have a long-lasting impact,” Cook told DBT.
The DRBA mission and values also includes economic development in Delaware and New Jersey and community service which Cook said he hopes the organization can do more of soon now that the COVID-19 pandemic is wrapping up.
Personally, Cook served as the past president of the Greater Dover Boys and Girls Club and volunteered with the Dover Little League, hoping to give back in a way that was instrumental in his own upbringing.
“I lost my father to cancer when I was 9 years old. My mother raised me; we were very fortunate to have a great support system. While my mother was working, my grandmother would come down and spend the week with me and my grandfather would take me to my Little League games and he would have a catch with me. I think that it’s so important at such a young age to have a support system and it’s not always easy,” he told DBT.
“There are changes in life that people have to adapt to, but I think at those young ages, that helps you really build character,” he continued. “Being able to be a part of the Boys and Girls Club where you can provide activities and services that help the kids grow not only intellectually and physically, but to grow to be a better person, that has a lifelong impact on that person and that family. I think things like that are very important.”
He said giving back to organizations focused on children and community is one way DRBA gives back throughout the year, too.
“I’d like us to do more. We’re not just about transportation. We’re about connecting people,” Cook said.
