ONLY STRAIGHT WHITE MEN NEED APPLY, PART I
Welcome to Part II, finally...
The hiring process of Doug Kelsey and Neil McFarlane were remarkably similar.
From 2010:
TriMet board appoints Neil McFarlane head of agency
From the article:
"Hiring from within the battered agency would certainly explain the quick selection.
Hansen announced his departure less than six weeks ago. TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch said there was a national search, but said she didn't know the names of the other finalists.
Earlier this month at a Metro Council Work Session, David Bragdon and Robert Liberty reported on a conversation that they had with George Passadore, president of the TriMet Board. They had hoped that the Metro Council would be consulted on the appointment.
Bragdon and Liberty said they had some recommendations, but were reportedly told by Passadore that TriMet's board was already down to eight candidates and hoped to have one selected by April 23.
This morning, Bragdon said, "They appeared to already have someone in mind for the position" before the process started.
So, here's my 2 cents:
Sroll down for supporting documentation from Trimet public records.
Years ago when I first moved to Oregon I worked for the County. The person I interviewed with and myself hit it off. She said she was required to interview a certain number of people. She also told me I had the job and went on to say that she'd contact me when their search was over... and that's exactly what happened. I was there for 5 years.
Prior to moving to Oregon, I owned a couple of businesses. I was familiar with private sector hiring but the Government was a whole different issue. When she told me I "had the job" in spite of not being officially hired at that point, I did some research.
tis true. Government Agency's receiving tax dollars like the City, County and Federal are legally bound by Federal hiring laws.
One would assume Trimet's subjected to the same laws because they too receive tax dollars. One could also assume their Board of Directors is a system built on checks and balances for the Agency, since the link to the Board of Directors website is listed under "TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY", then "GOVERNANCE",
in which case they're not being transparent enough with the community or their workers for that assumption to be true. The Board allows citizens, Trimet workers and ATU - 3, as in three whole minutes to state their concerns. It'd be interesting to see feedback or statistics as to how those who went before the Board felt about their experience and if they felt they received decent responsive solutions within a reasonable amount of time if at all, especially if the Board promised they'd 'look into it and get back with 'em. In the meantime, there should be a survey administered by an independent third party. Trimet and the Board, based on their behavior actually needs an ongoing independent oversight committee. Or - what's probably more feasible - The current Board needs to be replaced with a new one, voted in by the community in the district they'd represent. As it exists today, they're in a situation where Trimet and the Board, each respectively, needs oversight. So, when a situation similar like the General Manager's position becomes open, no one's left out of the process without a voice or are left feeling they were scammed.
Board positions are voluntary and some of them are business people. Two names shouted at me out as I looked through the site. Travis Stovall. ..."has directed multi-million dollar development projects...", and Bruce Warner... President of the Board of Directors AND ..."President of the Warner Group, LLC which is involved in transportation and land use management consulting. He has more then 32 years of directorial experience in a long range of public works, public administration, economic development, land use and transportation."
What came up for me between the two men were Stovall, "directed multi-million dollar development projects...", "involved in transportation and land use management consulting." {...} Warner, "economic development, land use and transportation." Street planning and land use - why does a possible 'conflict of interest' come to mind? Perhaps, self enrichment, allegedly? If they're using their private business experience and resources to create Light Rail lines along with "economic development" along those lines ... allegedly - hmm...
Something came up in 2013 were Union members contacted Governor Kitzhauber. His response was that he couldn't get involved because the agency's General Manager can essentially run Trimet as if it were a private enterprise. So that takes away checks and balances. Nevertheless...
This also came up when Governor Brown was Secretary of State. She did an internal audit about how the agency conducts business with it's Union workers. She made recommendations from the worker's side about such things as their lack of trust with management, and from the public side about such things as their lack of accountability and transparency. The bottom line was she couldn't tell management what to do past recommendations. Nevertheless...
Union workers have no say because the Agency mostly looks down on them. They're invalidated, dehumanized at every turn. My theory is the disparaging treatment comes from those who work in cubicles. Very few if any take the bus. They don't know who we are or what we do. Nevertheless...
So when this deal with Doug Kelsey and the Board went down - it clearly pushed buttons for Transit watchers, customers and the Union. The Agency's unlike other Public Agency's in that their business practices are openly deceptive and when that happens all you can do is scream and shout (or write a blog) and hope to hell the media reports it. Mostly the media won't because they fear if they go up against Trimet they won't be contacted when a story breaks. Ya - it's all politics - so anyway - my point is, because it happens again and again, the Agency's become more and more of a public embarrassment. This is, after all, liberal Oregon. We're not supposed to feed and breed professional Union Busters - but sure as shit we are. ie: McFarlane, Stedman and Kelsey - among many others such as the Board of Directors support it.
There wasn't a provable National search. No outsiders, no women, LGBT or minorities. They weren't able to answer my Public Record requests (see below) because transparency continues to be a problem.
Curious as to why Trimet's Board of Directors always appears so openly connected with each other. Cliquish, secretive. They appear to have an 'us against them' mentality. Taking sides against anyone who speaks out against Management or fellow Board Members and appear to be devoid of accountability. Randy Stedman for example. (Scrooge of the Year Award) It's not just the Board, their behavior's inclusive with upper Executive Management as well and on down the chain including Department and Garage assistants and Managers. It's like a big 'good 'ol boys' club: Women managers are like that too.
Good 'ol boys "a person who belongs to a network of friends and associates with close ties of loyalty and mutual support."
They appear uncomfortably similar to Trump's Vow of Loyalty. Close to Mobbing but on a significantly higher level.
Scroll down - documents from a back and forth conversation vis Public Information requests:
Click images for zoom
Their response:
I wanted to see if they'd verify a National search. They weren't willing to. Doesn't mean they didn't but it does show a continuation of secrets.
Decided to get more specific:
Their response:
Public Records let me know the hiring process was put on hold in order to receive more public input. It didn't mean they were gonna change their minds - it meant they were gonna put the pot on 'simmer' for awhile - which is exactly what they did!
I waited to publish this until the final decision was made because they most probably decided - not yesterday - but months ago - and nothing and no one was gonna change their minds. In fact - Kelsey and the Board may have discussed it when he first hired on, as a contingency of his employment. One thing's for sure and that is, it's not anyone's fault but Trimet's Board of Directors.
