Attend the City Council Meeting
Tuesday Dec 9th at 2:00pm at City Hall 255 W. Alameda
The Issue: Route Cuts and Fare Increases
SUPPORT BUS RIDERS – SUPPORT PLANET EARTH
by Brian Flagg,
The all Democratic City Council needs to follow the recommendations of their own Transit Task Force. For the sake of bus riders, many whom live in poverty, and the environment, they need to take a long term approach to the health of our transit system.
The Task Force is taking the lead of Councilwoman Karen Uhlich in advising them to do nothing in the short term that would harm the bus system in the long term.
The transit bureaucrats claim they need more than $500,000 to keep the transit system running this budget year. The Transit Task Force reluctantly agreed with them on some efficiencies and cuts to the system that would give them approximately $300,000.
Here are a few of the many suggestions on where they can find the other $200,000:
1 – Oregon Iron Works – They owe the City $2.9 million in fees for the late delivery of the streetcar (Daily Star, 12-2-2014). Settle this now!
2 – The Genfare company owes the City as much as $250,000 for “unbudgeted costs and potential damages” to the City due to numerous malfunctions with the implementation of the SunGo card system. Go after this right now!
3 – Fuel price decreases – Obviously, it is costing less to drive the buses around town!
4 – Golf – The Star reported (12-6-2014) that the five City courses lost $688,000 last fiscal year. Stop the bleeding – Reinvest that money to important core services such as Transit!
Even though a fare increase right now won’t help them come up with the $500,000, the transit bureaucrats never miss a chance to try to sneak in a fare increase, which they plan to do on Tuesday.
The Transit Task Force has a better idea: for the City to engage in an aggressive marketing campaign to significantly increase ridership which will increase revenues. The Task Force, the Bus Riders Union and Councilman Cunningham are full of ideas on how to do this. Give this a chance before losing ridership, which always happens when fares are increased.
The City Council is under much pressure to harm the bus system.
Please pray with us at Casa Maria that the Creator God at this time will shower the Mayor and Council members with compassion, wisdom, clarity and the strength to do justice on this matter so important to our City.
And please attend the Council Meeting on Tuesday.