Bus Fares . . .
The mayor blogs the following (no point in linking it, when he posts something new, this will disappear, so I quoted it):
But in the case of the TPC and fare increases it works the other way around. The council had already acted in passing the 2009 City budget to budget for a fare increase. If the TPC action stands it would essentially have vetoed the council’s action, which in my view and the view of many council members was inappropriate even if it was technically within their authority. What I was trying to do in giving the TPC another run at it was to let them set the exact fares within the context of the budgeted amounts for fares set by the council and I.
At the root of the problem is an ordinance that confuses the lines of authority. The council and the mayor are responsible for the budget, but the TPC is responsible for setting fares. So, what happens when the council budgets for higher fare revenues than the TPC is willing to go along with? Well, this happens.
Another problem is the different political pressures that come to bear on the TPC and the council. The TPC hears heavily from those who want neither service cuts or fare increases. The council feels these two pressures plus the pressure not to increase taxes too much. This, I think, is the primary structural reason that the council supports fare increases while the TPC doesn’t.
Here’s a problem, if according to the mayor the “fares set by the council and I” was intended to be a fare increase, we just put our federal funding in jeopardy. We didn’t follow our written rules for having a public hearing before we raised the fares. Those rules are a condition of our federal funding.
And, I’m glad to hear the Mayor admit “in my view and the view of many council members was inappropriate even if it was technically within their authority.” So, I guess the technicalities and rules can just be ignored when the Mayor disagrees with them? How Bushesque.
TPC wasn’t vetoing us. We acted out of order to bully them into something we didn’t have the authority to do and which violated our commitments for our funding. Lets be clear, the lines of authority are clear – the mayor just doesn’t like them and wants them changed to give him more power.
The reality is that the TPC acts as a check and balance for the transit system and its riders.
If the council wants to raise the fares, we should have had a proper public hearing on the matter and then see if the decision would have been the same. We avoided hearing from the public and the people who depend on the system, now its a done deal and I suspect many won’t waste their time showing up. Well played. Must be convenient to ignore the “technicalities”. I just hope we don’t jeopardize the $23M operating funds from the state and federal government or the $3M in capital funds.
