Neils Bullshit

The State of TriMet
Posted by Neil McFarlane at Feb 19, 2013 02:15 PM | Permalink

Last Wednesday I presented to the Board the 'State of TriMet' and laid out to them and the community what our finance gurus are telling me. I encourage you to review the full presentation on the web. Here are the main highlights:

1. Last August’s arbitration decision, should it be upheld by the Employment Relations Board, has given us a brief respite from fare hikes and service cuts - with relative stability between now and fiscal year '17 (which starts July 2016). That's the good news, and it holds only if the ATU's appeal of the arbitrator's decision is rejected.(and there is every reason to believe it will be reversed since Trimet has been in the business of breaking laws since Mcfarlane took over)
2. Beginning in FY2017, we would begin to spiral downward with destabilizing service cuts IF the status quo ATU contract prevails.(this is truly pathetic, his lame attempt to pit the riders against the employees, its truly despicable. The man is a slug) If TriMet's proposed contract, or the financial equivalent is negotiated or awarded by another arbitrator, then financial stability continues until 2023 - with a much more modest gap between revenues and expenditures occurring then. (why did he not propose what he wanted first time around? This is some kind of 'Chinese water torture' against employees/retirees? Will the 'proposed' contract also be 'temporary' like this last arbitration decision? Mcfarlane cannot be trusted.)
3. In either case, we won't be growing service beyond the Portland to Milwaukie light rail line, with the exception of our annual small 'fixes' of bus schedules, overcrowding, and connectivity. Recall the PMLR operating increment was part of the 'new' service promised as part of the incremental boost in the payroll tax. (What we have here is the crucial statement, he has just admitted that he expects all future 'growth' to be on the back of his current and retired employees. The system is unsustainable otherwise. My advice, stop growing a system you can't pay for)

All of this, and the assumptions behind these conclusions, is documented in the Financial Forecast Report on TriNET.

The bleak status quo financial forecast should motivate us all to bring the transit system we all deeply care about back to growth. The key step toward a more positive future is achieving a sustainable financial structure.(how bout stop building things you can't afford) That means ATU contract reform – common-sense changes that are already in place for non-union employees, (people that don't work outside, work all hours of day and night, people who's job doesn't destroy their bodies, and people who are not exposed to  every bacteria and virus known to mankind) but need to be in place for the 83% of our represented employees. It also means continuous improvement in other areas of work to ensure we are providing the highest quality of service possible. We can never hold still. We can't be 'frozen' like a deer in the headlights. Every day we must make decisions and take actions that we believe will improve service. Our customers and the region deserve no less! (you can't even run what you have now effeciently, and you want to keep growing, on the backs of the people doing the work on top of it all?   Neil, why don't you tell us how much your pension will be even after you have screwed everything up so badly)

Best to you all this week!
Neil