Transit- Meeting Agenda (12/18/1997)

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kicked around downtown, in two different locations and parked on the sidewalks, and moved to a temporary site downtown where ft has tieen ~ for eight years. He was on the Board when the project site was selected. The adjacent businesses, including the Statesman Joumal, hated the idea of having a transit system next to their business. Businesses threatened to move to different locations because of the transit siting. He is not surprised right now that the same people in this general area are supporting a conference/hotel center rather than a transit center for everyone to enjoy. That does not surprise him a bit. When Mr. Andersen-Wyckoff was hi~ed by the District, he was picking up the pieces irom a General Manager who was hired and had a history of nothing but transit. The District took the bumps up and down because of the fights he had with local business people, the local community, the Chamber of Commerce, and others. Mr. Andersen-Wyckoff also arrived just after the former General Manager had tried to present a payroll tax to the voters which went down ~~ T~ames and left a bad taste in every downtown businessman's mouth. Mr. Andersen-Wyckoff came on board and was able to get a tax base passed first thing. Without that, the District would have gone down in flames. Mr. Andersen-Wyckoff saved the Dist~ict. The Statesman Joumal's personal vendetta against Mr. Andersen-Wyckoff is u~wa~ranted. If they a~e going to go after Mr. Andersen-Wyckoff , they better go after Di~ecto~ Campbell as well because he is the longest-tenured Board member, helped hire Mr. Andersen-Wyckoff, helped give him a raise, and helped save the Courthouse Square project. The only thing Mr. Andersen-Wyckoff is guilty of right now is having a dream for the city, and he is just as guilty as Mr. Andersen-Wyckoff because the people downtown around his area have dreamed of a transit center to get transit patrons out of their way, and to get them some public restrooms. They have been waiting for over 15 years for this. Mr. Andersen-Wyckoff is the person who made the CheRiots a transit system to be proud of, or it would have been down in flames. That goes for the staff as well. As far as he is concemed, his vote is for the Courthouse Square project. If Marion County pulls out, his vote will go for a new transit center on the same block. He does not care if there is a parking lot on both sides of it. Also, Bill Frey is one of the best people in town to hire. Pefiaps he had been a Board member. It may have been a mistake to get him mvolved in it, but those are mistakes made. This is a ventu~e that no one in Salem has done. The newspaper brought up facts such as Mr. Andersen- Wyckoffs proposal for a coliseum and that it did not work. He is one of the few with an idea that this could happen. This has been going on in Salem for years-this downtown mentality of, "iYs never going to work in Salem " People have short memories and forget about people. The Riverftont development would never have occurred without Mr. Andersen-Wyckoff s help. The District is lucky it hired him. The Board members approached Mr. Andersen-Wyckoff about hiring him. Regarding the raise, he was hired at a very low cost with the knowledge that he would get a raise. It has nothing to do with the project. The salaries of the Police Chief and others should be compared because they are comparable. There has to be 100% trust in the General Manager, and the Board has that. The transit project is going to go forward regardless of what the newspaper prints, and everyo~e must support the General Manager 100°/a. President Caraballo concluded saying that the other key component of the success of the District is the patrons, and he takes umbrage to the innuendoes made about the District's patrons as "those kinds of people" or undesirables. He happens to be one of "those people". As an ethnic Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting Salem Area Mass Transit District Novembe~ 20, 1997 - Page 15