Warner's long ride boosts TriMet

Warner's long ride boosts TriMet

{"“Neil is operating with the full understanding and support of the board,” Warner says. “We respect what he is trying to make happen.”}
~~~>Experienced Trimet enthusiasts know full well Mcfarlane is not operating alone here. He is following a carefully scripted plan, most likely laid out by himself and his predecessor Fred Hansen (currently soaking tax payers for $16k each and every month) and whoever the power players are that are hidden from public view and scrutiny. (the hack in the governors office comes to mind)

{ATU 757 officials question whether the board is aware of everything McFarlane does, however. “When you go to the meetings, you wonder if the board has even read what they’re voting on,” says ATU 757 President Bruce Hansen}
~~~>It's perfectly reasonable to assume that board has very little understanding of what they are voting on. The only information they get is given to them by Mcfarlane or his hand picked cronies. They get no outside counsel

{No one who knows Warner should be surprised by his high profile. Before becoming board chairman, he held a series of increasingly pressure-filled public positions in the state and region. They include executive stints at Hillsboro, Washington County, the Portland Development Commission, Metro and the Oregon Department of Transportation.}
~~~> The man is  a career technocrat, much like Mcfarlane, spending his entire career as a tax funded bureaucrat. What does he know of the concerns of the average man in the street or the guy that drives the bus. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

{In person, Warner hardly seems like the kind of person used to negotiating with elected officials, running large bureaucracies, and brokering multimillion-dollar deals. Trim and fit, with graying hair and a thick mustache, he looks more like a favorite uncle at a family gathering. He has a relaxed personality and is even dismissive of his extensive background}
 ~~~>Pure subjective PROPAGANDA, plain and simple.

{The board unanimously approved the $485 million budget a few minutes later.}
~~~>That's not news, that's the way it has been done for years and years. The board (in reality sock puppets) routinely approves whatever the general manager puts in front of them.

{Bringing credibility}
~~~>HUH? Says who? The writer of this propaganda piece that's who!

~~~~>I can't read anymore of this drivel, sorry. Such obvious propaganda it sickens me. I am sick of this disgusting hero worship that passes for news. Warner is a hack sent in to prop up that bumbling general manager Mcfarlane who under his watch:

1-Has lost more than a few unfair labor practice complaints
2-Hid raises for himself and his cronies
3-Was fined by the courts for obstructing justice
4-Intentionally obstructed the Oregonian investigation into overtime at Trimet.
5-Intentionally obstructed the investigation into the yellow line crash at expo center.
6-Has sent drovers of storm troopers onto trains (even with dogs) to terrorize riders
7-Has created an institutional disrespectful workplace  by dragging his problems with the union onto the public stage creating a hostile public to the union workers.

Mcfarlane is a disgrace, and Warner is a disgrace for trying to prop him up.

Will you allow this contrary point of view to remain on your web site? Who knows.

TriMet, union negotiations don't have to be open to public, judge rules | OregonLive.com

TriMet, union negotiations don't have to be open to public, judge rules | OregonLive.com

TriMet has submitted a list of media outlets, including newspapers, radio and TV stations, the labor press and at least one Portland transit blogger, it would like to invite. But the agency says the two sides have not reached agreement on the issue. 
~~~>So they are allowing 1 blogger huh? Who is it?

Following Roberts' ruling, ATU President Bruce Hansen said the union plans to appeal.
~~~>Right on!

In the end, Hansen said he has a problem with TriMet essentially cherry-picking media outlets. 
~~~>As he should

The slugs running trimet will continue to bully and distort information to get their way. The only way to get accountability out of these people is by shoving transparency down their throats. As long as they can continue their secret ways there will be problems at trimet

MAX mess: Tiny surge protector at Steel Bridge caused massive system failure | OregonLive.com

MAX mess: Tiny surge protector at Steel Bridge caused massive system failure | OregonLive.com

There is a systemic problem here that is being ignored.
If it takes that long to find  something so small then the transit system has serious engineering problems and more serious flaws in its troubleshooting procedures.
That means there has been some very bad, even incompetent management at the top.
A well designed and managed system should be able to troubleshoot this sort of thing quickly and efficiently.
Obviously that is not and has not been the case.

And Joe your story is pretty incomplete.

You completely left out the MAX breakdown on the west side and the resulting evacuation of riders.
Some particular reason you left that out?

You also left out  the fact that the  controllers desk top computers crashed in the middle of the crisis, a kind of important fact don't you think Joe. Controllers were directing MAX traffic blind. Kinda important you know from a safety point of view.

All of this points to a very incompetent management, something else not mentioned. I wish I had a job where I could screw up this bad and face no consequences.

One is too assume from your article that the whole thing was 'just standard stuff'.
It was hardly standard stuff.

Sometimes I wonder about you Joe, are you really being impartial? Seems to me you leave a lot of very important facts out of some of your stories. Facts that make the management of Trimet look bad are sometimes left out of some of your stories. Not all your stories, just some of them, like this one.

The Kid's Take: Portland Transit Activism from the Bottom Up.: Letting Go

The Kid's Take: Portland Transit Activism from the Bottom Up.: Letting Go

Portland Transport: Comment Preview

Portland Transport: Comment Preview
Ya I know you can censor anybody you want, lots of blogs do, you guys have censored me for years.

I just love the obsession with 'nicety' with you guys.

Such nonsense especially in light of the guy you were talking to at that table literally hid $1,000,000 in raises for himself and his henchmen in a 'contingency' budget that we were told was for emergencies! And he knew that he had done that while he was talking about how bad off Trimet was

"this is a place for civil discussion" says his highness.

Don't mind those people watching the store as they rob public funds, just make sure you have a 'civil discussion'

Ya right.


We know where the moderators of this blog stand:

hy·poc·ri·sy  (h-pkr-s)
n. pl. hy·poc·ri·sies
1. The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.
2. An act or instance of such falseness.