Well, I went to the emergency meeting at Island Transit today, and all I can say is that Im concussed. The meeting was such a dizzying experience, I sincerely doubt that Ill be able to think in a linear fashion again, ever. An example: The board and the director didnt seem to have ANY idea what they were doing. The chairman of the board insisted that the board never voted on a particular issue, the director said they did. What is amazing is that there should be a record, minutes, for Gods sake, that will outline what these folks have been doing for the last 20 years. It didnt occur to any of them that the discussion was non-productive. Another example: The director, Martha Rose, is now asking for time to reconstruct the financial history of the last 8 years. WHAT? how do you reconstruct history? Why do I feel uneasy about this? You mean we didnt spend the money we say we spent on what we were supposed to spend it on? Is anyone elses head spinning? Another example: Helen Price Johnson, after serving on the board for years, is responsible for overseeing the finances of Island Transit. But today, she displayed an existential meltdown and dithered on about where she and the board members would find the time to meet in order to clean up the mess they had just spent the last few years creating. They have other responsibilities, you know! Did it occur to Helen that if she couldnt make the time, then maybe she should resign? That there arent others in our community who have the skill set AND the time to clean up this mess? (What would that do to her brilliant political career, but then, again, I digress.) It feels like Im watching a comedy of the absurd, except, of course, nothing is funny. Folks with severe medical issues arent receiving the para-transit assistance that has been funded by the federal/state government for years. Routes are being cut for the most vulnerable of us, and Helen cant organize her daily planner. Ill write more later, but until my daze clears, Im simply going to watch the video I made of (most) of the meeting. Maybe the dust will settle sometime soon, but I sincerely doubt it. Todays meeting was the paradigm for whats wrong on Whidbey Island. The board should resign, after humbly apologizing. But, first, they should fire Martha Rose, with no parachute. I just hope that the State Auditors Office takes an interest in Roses reconstructed history. As I was leaving the meeting, I was ready to wash my hands of ever doing a good deed again in my life. Others will only exploit my good intentions, abandon the needy, and fuss about their schedules. I have a friend who I caught up with after the meeting. Hes a gnarly curmudgeon, Im a drifty, granola crunching air-head. But after the meeting, he was so upset about how poorly we were in addressing the needs of the truly distressed (to his credit!) while I was thinking WTF. And that, friends, is your government at work.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 00:07:03 +0000
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