Remember Trimet confidential? I sure do. Trimet made him take that blog down and he has been pretty quiet for all the years since that incident
But now, he's back! Here's a great comment on Bike Portland
As a bus driver I do not support this tax at all. This is a terrible idea to give Tri-met a permanent independent source of income without requiring changes in the structure of the Tri-met board. It’s not a matter of who will benefit and who will pay. It’s how will it be spent. Neither Tri-met board nor it’s management team can be trusted to act in a way that will not serve themselves first and the public second.
Reforms must be made to make the board and Tri-Met management accountable to the public that it serves. Even as a bus driver I want to see change. I do not like this witches brew (no offense to witches out there) of Corporation and Government. It’s time to make them accountable first.
Do not think this will go into increased services. This is a grab for capital projects money. We have never needed this tax before! Now though Tri-Met is on the hunt for fund to build their over bloated Capital projects.
4 Reforms-
1: Make the board and Management accountable through reforming their mandate and board structure from appointed to elected.
2: Put a cap on capital projects limiting their size of the Trimet budget by % per year. This would allow them to expand at controlled steps.
3: Open information policy. No more freedom of information acts require to obtain operational information of a non-personal kind. This cat and mouse game of hiding information has got to go. Everything must be open and accessible. Once this would have cost a fortune now it’s virtually free with the internet. DO it!
4: Termination for obstruction of public information. This should start at the manager level. If you change data, hide data or fail to report data you will be terminated. No more finding tens of millions after contract talks are done. No more padding contracts with that are only there to be cut when latter to disguise budgets going over. No more secret pay raises. Above board on everything possible.
When we have the 4 reforms, we will have the ability to control our transit agency. Then I will back giving them more.
