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Trimess
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Story continues mushrooming-front page feature Oregonian
Unknown: If your employer was covering up an incident that had wide-ranging public safety concerns, would you not want to blow the whistle and call it out?
TriMet is a public agency and therefore bound to conduct its business in the public eye both as a right and a responsibility. Covering up a MAX safety issue is detrimental to both public safety (shouldn't the public know if there's a safety defect or other problem?) as well as good governance (if TriMet can cover this up, what else is it going to cover up? Do we have a truly open government?) The fact that Al is a blogger who just happens to work for TriMet as a part-time bus driver should mean nothing - what if I had my blog, and received the video from Al (who received it from another party)? Sure, TriMet could have its (taxpayer funded) attorneys telling me to remove it and I could refuse; TriMet could sue me (on what?) and I could simply refuse to answer to them on the grounds they are unable to prove I committed a crime, since they would have to prove I illegally accessed their server where the file was stored - and I'm not a computer hacker.
So, what's better? That Al is open and honest (where TriMet isn't)? Or that it's better to resort to anonymity, subterfuge and deception to report on something that should be public information to begin with?
4 comments:
Isn't it financially hazardous to continuously poke your finger in the eye of your employer?
Unknown: If your employer was covering up an incident that had wide-ranging public safety concerns, would you not want to blow the whistle and call it out?
TriMet is a public agency and therefore bound to conduct its business in the public eye both as a right and a responsibility. Covering up a MAX safety issue is detrimental to both public safety (shouldn't the public know if there's a safety defect or other problem?) as well as good governance (if TriMet can cover this up, what else is it going to cover up? Do we have a truly open government?) The fact that Al is a blogger who just happens to work for TriMet as a part-time bus driver should mean nothing - what if I had my blog, and received the video from Al (who received it from another party)? Sure, TriMet could have its (taxpayer funded) attorneys telling me to remove it and I could refuse; TriMet could sue me (on what?) and I could simply refuse to answer to them on the grounds they are unable to prove I committed a crime, since they would have to prove I illegally accessed their server where the file was stored - and I'm not a computer hacker.
So, what's better? That Al is open and honest (where TriMet isn't)? Or that it's better to resort to anonymity, subterfuge and deception to report on something that should be public information to begin with?
I'm well aware that I could be outta here after all this mess.
It would be unethical for them to do that of course but they do what they want to do.
So I retire four months ahead of schedule, its ok with me.
FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LAST! THANK GOD ALMIGHTY I AM FREE AT LAST!
And that is exactly how I would feel if I didn't have to answer to them anymore.
Sooo, we need to set up a PDX Transit Beer (or something) in about 4 months i understand......
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