Former Langley Township councillor Jordan Bateman is leading the “no” side in the referendum over adding 0.5 per cent to the provincial sales tax to pay for new transit projects in Metro Vancouver.
He has insisted all along that the referendum is really a prime opportunity to send a message to TransLink. That message is, in his view, that it needs to deal with issues more transparently, proactively and cost-efficiently before it is entitled to one more cent of taxpayers’ money.
His opponents, the Better Transit and Transportation Coalition, and the Mayors’ Council (except for three mayors who oppose the sales tax idea), state that the referendum has nothing to do with TransLink. They say it is about securing a source of funding to build new projects which, they admit, will be managed and operated by TransLink.
Bateman’s message is clearly resonating. TransLink’s secretive board (high on his target list) has voted to remove Ian Jarvis from the CEO position, although he will continue to collect his $468,000 annual salary until his contract expires in 2016, and will continue to advise TransLink.
Reporter Bob Mackin tweeted about the situation with a unique comparison that is worth repeating: “Rare moment in history: Two popes, two MLB commissioners and two TransLink CEOs, but problems abound in all three organizations.”
Jarvis is being replaced temporarily by Doug Allen, who earlier worked in reorganizing BC Ferries. This was at an early point in the BC Liberals’ tinkering with that organization. He will be paid $35,000 per month. Allen has been running InTransit BC, the private company that operates the Canada Line.
Even before the mayors decided on the sales tax increase as the best way to boost transit funding, it was obvious that TransLink’s record would be a big issue with voters. Bateman, who in his capacity as B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has revealed many of its blunders, had a nice, easy target.
It seemed to me back in December that someone would have to take ownership of those problems and clean up — but the clean-up required starts at the top, with the way the organization is overseen and structured. The CEO does have day-to-day control over how it is run, but there have been a lot of other cooks spoiling the broth over the years.
It’s high time the BC Liberals admitted that giving a number of secretive, private boards authority over how to spend and raise tax dollars at TransLink and its various subsidiaries isn’t working. When the first act of the private TransLink board was to give directors handsome retainers, it was obvious that serving the public was very low on the list of priorities.
Transit is an essential component of large urban areas. Much of what TransLink does works quite well. But mismanagement of SkyTrain breakdowns, the Compass card, police overtime and executive compensation has turned off a great number of hard-working taxpayers.
TransLink’s bumbling attempt to throw Jarvis under the bus (albeit with a wallet full of cash) isn’t going to bring them back on side.