Transit- Meeting Agenda (12/18/1997)

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made which were reported. Had she been on the Board then, wouid she have made different decisions? Maybe: She cannot-go-back and unring a bell. She finds it regrettable that we have to read stores like this in the newspaper. From her briefings and what she knows about the project, the news stories did not seem 100% accurate. She fully supports the project, and Transit District staff and the General Manager and all the hard work they have done. She hopes the project goes forward now on a much more positive ncte. If there was one thing positive about the report the Statesman Joumal did it is that it brought it to the forefront again and is giving the public of Salem and surrounding areas an oppo~tunity to participate if they choose. It is giving them a new fon~m. She did not receive any telephone cails from any constituents with the exception of one which was a very positive comment. That in and of itself is quite telling. Director Newton said the articles have brought a lot of attention to this project. That would be the strength of what he read. While the effort is made to get the worci out at public hearings and deliberations on the Board, lots of times that does not excite the community and develop their interest and support. The feedback he has had so far has been substantially positive in that they would like to see the process move forward. Of the many good things that have happened, the focus seems to be on a few af those eROrs that may have been made. The General Manager and the County have both said that there are some things in retrospect that they would do differently in the future, and he is here to help see that mistakes are not repeated. That is why he likes to be on this Board. It is his feeling that the project should proceed and not worry too much about the Statesman Joumal newspaper coverage. Director Kelley said, like President Caraballo, she has been involved in the project for a lot longer than those members who joined the Board in ~ July 1997. There are a couple of concems that she has about the way that the project was presented i~ the articles. First, it sounded sort of like the project just appeared out of the blue in 1995-96. There is a long history of having the old Senator Building block as a°bus terminal°, as it was named on a Downtown Master Plan in 1978 after a City of Salem staff report. There additional staff reports as well. She was really somewhat appalled that there was not real mention of the Citizen Siting Committee in the a~tiGes that happened in 1995. There was a committee of 25 citizens who gave of their time to meet for 15-20 hours and generated good work. The committee really tried to look at all of the potential sites that anyone called in about. The cuRent General Manager was not with the Transit District at that time. The District was under the administration of a General Manager Pro Tem who had a very good transit background. Her concem was that the community involvement that the District strives to get into the project was totally negated. Her concem was that when Mr. Andersen-Wyckoff was hired there was some note that he had not had a transit backg~ound. That was why he was hired. The District has a very strong management staff and group of employees who go beyond the call of duty many times. The drivers are good and the Board always hears about that. She hears at her business from people who do not even know she is a Transit District Board Member when they are buying a bus pass. The Board made the decision that they did not want to train someone new in Salem. The District needed someone who had community outreach and experience. The District has a great technical st~ff what was needed was someone who was a quick leamer on pa~t of the process, but was good in the community. The intimation that two of the former Board members hired the General Manager and then got deals out of him bothered her the way that it was written. They were not even involved in thinking about talking to the current General Manager when the issue came up. The real Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting Salem Area Mass Transit District November 20, 1997 - Page 13