THE TEAM - Vice Presidents

Brent Leonard - Vice President

Vice President Brent Leonard was born in 1973. After attending college, he started railroading in 1997 on Union Pacific as a conductor/switchman. He was promoted to engineer in 1998.

Brent became a Vice President in 2018, was reelected at the 2019 convention, and was elected as the Successor to TD President.

A member of Local 202 in Denver, Brent was elected local chairperson in 2001; vice general chairperson of his general committee, GO 953, in 2003; senior vice general chairperson in 2007 and general chairperson in 2011. The committee represents about 4,000 members and is one of the largest GCs in SMART TD.

As general chairperson, Brent represented Union Pacific employees encompassing 10 states as well as four regional short-line railroads representing both operating and non-operating crafts. Brent negotiated several first-of-their-kind agreements providing significant pay increases, improvements of his members’ quality of life and predictive time off.

Brent has filled past roles of chairman of the Union Pacific Hospital Association (Iron Road H&W), chairman of the District 1 General Chairpersons’ Association and various leadership positions for the Union Pacific General Chairpersons’ Association. As longtime chairman of the Iron Road Board, Brent became well-versed in the world of health insurance and presided over a significant strengthening of Union Pacific employees’ health & welfare benefits.

As Vice President / Successor to the President , Brent has been assigned to the Federal Rail Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) and multiple National Wage & Rules bargaining teams. Brent assists President Ferguson in various administrative duties, including health & welfare plan administration and communication department oversight. Brent was appointed as lead role in SMART’s successful Crew Consist fight against the Railroads.

Brent brings a wealth of knowledge and unwavering commitment to SMART-TD, fighting to improve and protect jobs of SMART-TD members.

Brent and his wife live in Topeka, Kan., and have two daughters.

Alvy Hughes - Vice President

Alvy Hughes, vice president – bus, was born in 1972.

Hughes attended Chowan College and served in the Army National Guard from 1990 to 1998. He began his transportation career with Charlotte Transit in 1995.

As a member of Local 1596 at Charlotte, N.C., Hughes has served as local vice president, secretary of General Committee of Adjustment GO TMM and general chairperson of General Committee of Adjustment GO TMM. He has also served as vice chairperson of the Association of General Chairpersons — District 3. He was elevated to the Board of Appeals in 2009.

On Oct. 1, 2014, he was elevated to the office of Transportation Division alternate vice president – bus – East by the Transportation Division Board of Directors.

He was elected to the office of vice president – bus at the Second SMART Transportation Division Convention in Las Vegas on August 11, 2019.

Hughes and his wife, Lisa, reside in Charlotte, N.C., with their three children and one grandchild.

Chadrick J. Adams - Vice President

Chadrick J. Adams, born September 30, 1971, began his railroad career in 1997 on the BNSF railroad. He was promoted to engineer in 2002.

A member of Local 331 in Temple, Texas, Adams became interested in becoming a union officer early in his career. He has served as a vice president in his local as well as local chairman, delegate and secretary/treasurer. Adams was elected as general chairperson of General Committee GO 393 in 2011.

In 2013 he became alternate to the executive board, and was further elevated to alternate vice president. In 2014, Adams was elected by delegates to the position of alternate vice president. He was elected vice president at the Second Transportation Division Convention in 2019.

Adams and his wife, Tonja, reside in Belton, Texas.

Jamie C. Modesitt - Vice President

Jamie C. Modesitt, a member of Local 298 at Garrett, Indiana, was born July 1, 1974. He attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, before beginning his railroad career with CSX Transportation on June 12, 2000. He holds the craft of conductor and engineer.

Modesitt was elected local chairperson of Local 298 in 2006 and was re-elected by acclamation to that position in 2011 where he was responsible for serving approximately 200 members. In 2011, Modesitt was elected secretary of General Committee of Adjustment GO-049 and was later elected by acclamation to 2nd vice general chairperson in 2012, 1st vice general chairperson in 2014, and general chairperson by acclamation in January 2018, and in January 2019, during the GO-049 Reconvening Meeting.

Modesitt also served as delegate for Local 298 and attended UTU Conventions in 2007, 2011, and the First SMART TD and General Conventions in 2014. He was selected by the Board of Directors to serve as the chairperson of the 2014 SMART TD Constitution Committee. In addition, Modesitt was appointed an alternate member to the TD Executive Board by the Board of Directors on April 4, 2017, and was elevated to the Executive Board in January 2018. Modesitt has presented local chairperson workshops at the SMART TD Regional Meetings and Regional Training Seminars since 2015.

Modesitt was elected to the position of vice president by acclamation at the Second SMART Transportation Division Convention on August 11, 2019. As vice president, Modesitt served on the 2020 National Bargaining Team and serves as a SMART TD board member for the National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB) First Division. In addition, Modesitt serves as a board member on the General Executive Council for SMART.

He and his wife of 27 years, Janelle, reside in Saint Augustine, Florida.

Joe M. Lopez - Vice President

Joe M. Lopez, a member of SMART-TD Local 1532 in Kansas City, Kansas, began his railroading career with the Santa Fe Railway in July 1993 as a switchman and then was promoted to engineer in 1994.

His involvement as a union officer began in the mid-1990s as 1532’s vice local chairperson. He became local chairperson in November 2002 and served as the local’s vice president from 2008 to December 2011. Lopez was elected president of the local and served from January 2012 to February 2014.

In February 2011, he was elected secretary for GCA 009, a position he filled until he was elected general chairperson by acclamation in February 2015. Lopez was re-elected for a second term by acclamation in March 2019 before being elected vice president at the 2019 SMART-TD Convention.

He also served as Local 1532’s delegate at the 2011, 2014 and 2019 conventions.

Lopez was elected vice chairperson for the Association of General Chairpersons’ District 1, is a certified remote control operator and has served as a new hire training coordinator. His home base is Argentine Yard in Kansas City.

He married his wife, Anne, two months after starting on the Santa Fe Railroad. They have four children — Ethan, Allison, Josh and Emily.

David B. Wier Jr. - Vice President

David B. Wier, Jr. was born on March 5, 1982. Wier began his railroad career on September 22, 2000 with Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA) as a Trainman. He was promoted to Locomotive Engineer in 2006.

Wier is a Member of Local 469 in Madison, Illinois, and he began his career as a union officer in 2002 when he was elected to the office of Vice Local Chairperson. Wier was elected Local Chairperson in 2004. In 2005, Wier was elected Vice General Chairperson of GO-919, representing both Trainmen and Locomotive Engineers on TRRA and the former Manufacturers Railway Company. Wier was elected to the office of General Chairperson of GO-919 in 2008. Thereafter, Wier was reelected to the office of General Chairperson of GO-919 by acclamation in 2010, 2014, and 2018. At the Second SMART-Transportation Division Convention, on August 11, 2019, Wier was elected to the position of International Vice President, effective October 1, 2019.

Wier served as Delegate of Local 469 at the 2007, 2011, 2014, and 2019 Conventions. In addition, Wier served as Chairperson of the Short Line/Terminal Railroad Caucus at the 2011 and 2014 Conventions. Moreover, Wier served as Treasurer of the District 1 General Chairpersons’ Association.

In his role as Vice President of SMART-TD, Wier is assigned as one of SMART-TD’s two Labor Members to the First Division of the National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB). Wier has served as the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the First Division of the NRAB. Wier is assigned to assist GO-261 (Soo Line), GO-329 (Gary Railway), GO-377 (Grand Trunk Western), GO-457 (Kansas City Southern), GO-687 (Norfolk Southern), and GO-898 (Norfolk Southern) on a number of Public Law Boards. Since becoming Vice President, between his assignments on the First Division of the NRAB and on Public Law Boards, Wier has been involved in arbitrating over 1,400 cases under Section 3 of the Railway Labor Act.

Wier has also successfully negotiated a multitude of agreements on various short line properties.

Wier studied Political Science at Southwestern Illinois College. Wier and his wife, Rose, reside in Smithton, Illinois with their three (3) sons, Zach, David, and Drew.

Gary W. Crest - Vice President

Gary W. Crest started his railroad career in 1993 with the Copper Basin Railway as a trainman and was promoted to engineer in 1994. He continued to work there as an engineer until December 1997, when he was hired by Union Pacific as a switchman/brakeman. He was promoted to conductor in 1998 and became a licensed remote-control operator in 2009.

During his union career, crest has held the following positions: vice local chairperson, local chairperson, delegate, vice general chairperson, general chairperson, chairman of the Western General Chairpersons’ Committee, chairman of District 1 General Chairpersons’, a member of the SMART TD Executive Board, alternate vice president, Crest has also served on the Federal Railroad Administration’s Rail Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC), and has been a member of the national negotiating team for SMART-TD since 2019.

Crest currently resides in Northern California with his wife Kristen. He is also the father of two, his son Joshua and his wife Alexa reside in Houston, TX. His daughter Nikki is a student and resides in Tucson, AZ.

James Sandoval - Vice President

James Sandoval, vice president of the SMART-TD Bus Department, was born Oct. 10, 1990, and has been a bus operator at the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District for more than a decade.

Brother Sandoval has been intensely engaged with labor efforts after joining SMART-TD as a member of Local 23 in Santa Cruz, first as a local officer and then at a national level.

He assumed his first officer roles as general chairperson of GCA-SCM, alternate legislative representative and local chairperson of LCA-SCM in January 2019. In February 2022, he assumed the position of Local 23’s legislative representative.

Brother Sandoval joined the California State Legislative Board as a legislative chairperson in June 2022, became an organizer in January 2021, and in August 2022 became alternate vice president of the Bus Department serving the western portion of the nation.

On Oct. 1, 2023, he was elevated to the position of Bus Department vice president.

In addition to holding an associate degree from Cabrillo College, Sandoval serves as a board vice president representing Santa Cruz County on the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council as well as serving as a delegate to the council.

He lives in Royal Oaks, Calif., with his wife, Monica, and children James and Melanie.