An Open Letter to the Governor
The Honorable Ted Kulongoski:
Dear Governor:
Lane Transit District is in trouble. It is destroying a world class transit system by taking risky projects on and without doing the appropriate due dilligence. Millions of dollars have been wasted in the last few years and it is going to get worse before it gets better. In addition, to the waste, an uneccessary labor dispute is building and could result in a strike.
There is an opportunity for you as the Governor to take steps to insure that the public resources are being managed properly with solid oversight from an independent and diverse Board of Directors. LTD Managers have taken the lead for decades in developing candidate applications to submit to you and other Governors, for appointment to the LTD Board of Directors. There are three vacancies for this January 2005. On behalf of many citizens and employees at LTD I urge you to look closely at the applications and conduct your own independent recruitment for these positions. The LTD budget exceeds $70,000,000. In addition, the Board has oversight over two private pension plans for the employees with combined asset values of over $15,000,000. So you can see this is no small matter.
At present the Board of Directors has among its seven members four lawyers, two social service directors (one of whom is on the Sacred Heart Board of Directors, an entity that LTD is involved in litigation with presently) and a retired vocational rehabilitation counselor and regular bus rider. You appointed this last member for an unprecendented third term, simply because LTD would or could not recruit another regular rider of the transit system. There are no members of color or ethic diversity on the Board nor has there ever been such representation on this Board.
There have been no advocates for the environment, neighborhoods, open space, children and very few representatives from the University of Oregon, certainly LTD's largest source of riders. There has never been an member from a union - someone who works in a unionized position. There certainly no prohibition for a labor leader to be placed upon the LTD Board of Directors. No there has been none of this, simply because it does not reflect the wishes and interests of the LTD management, who desires disinterested busy citizens, with high business profiles, so that the management agenda can be created, managed and pursued completely and without question from anyone especially Board members.
Sadly, I am writing using a psuedonym, because the likelihood of retalliation by LTD Managers for even speaking to the Governor about matters considered to be exclusive to their province and discretion is real. Frankly you should consider carefully the idea of firing this entire Board and starting over like you did with higher education. The waste of millions of dollars has occurred at LTD. It is proveable and was not necessary. Such public mismanagement simply should not have such weak and ineffective oversight by its Board.
I urge you to look closely at the situatuion at LTD.
Sincerely and In Solidarity,
Joe Hill
JH 33
Email: Joehill_1915@hotmail.com
4 comments:
Joe...thanks so much for your hard work in exposing the rampant corruption and mismanagement at LTD. I am sorry to be slow in putting a comment in to the site as I have been wrapped up in these presidential politics. I found it particularly insightful your remarks about the LTD board lacking diversity (and the inability to question the spoon fed pablum they get from Hamm and company) and thoroughly applaud your letter to the governor. I think that at this point, Rep. DeFazio should get your letter and that the media ;ie Eugene Weekly, should be aware of the problems that you have so magnificently pointed out.
Some of my first thoughts when I was reading your commentary on BRT was that it had too much political momentum to stop. But the more I thought about it, I realized that this is a big ego trip for LTD management . I do value the idea of innovative ideas for mass transit but this particular project needs to be put on hold until secure funding is available (monies not made off union brothers and sisters backs). Our present state of the economy, both regional and national, dictates that these projects be iced until later. I think we need to get our ridership (guest is not in my vernacular) informed that gaining 3 minutes time will probably result in reduced services in order to fuel the egos of LTD management.
In the past I was willing to give management the benefit of doubt but with their initial contract offer and your educating papers I will fight until we get competent management at the helm.
The Comment removed was a duplicate of the comment that preceeded it.
Joe Hill
Are you actually sending the letter to the Governor, or was that just an example
of what you could do?
You should send the letter to the Governor, he needs to know what is going on
and things need to been fixed when it comes to our (cough-choke)board of directors.
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