Doing some research on Neil McFarlane’s hiring has turned up some interesting stuff, thanks to Joesph Rose at The Oregonian.
This first quote strikes me as VERY odd.
Hiring from within the battered agency would certainly explain the quick selection (it has been less than six weeks since Hansen said he was ready to step down). Certainly, McFarlane wouldn’t be forced to play catch up when the agency is so far in the red.
What this tells me is that it only took SIX weeks to find a replacement for the head of TriMet? Sounds ODD to me.
The second quote really shocks me:
Hansen announced his departure less than six weeks ago. TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch said there was a national search, but said she didn’t know the names of the other finalists.
Back up the bus! There was a NATIONAL search? Who were the finalists? As the face of TriMet, not having this information shows that you kept it internal
Earlier this month at a Metro Council Work Session, David Bragdon and Robert Liberty reported on a conversation that they had with George Passadore, president of the TriMet Board. They had hoped that the Metro Council would be consulted on the appointment.
Bragdon and Liberty said they had some recommendations, but were reportedly told by Passadore that TriMet’s board was already down to eight candidates and hoped to have one selected by April 23.
This morning, Bragdon said, “They appeared to already have someone in mind for the position” before the process started.
McFarlane has been executive director of capital projects at TriMet since 1998.
Well there you go. Now we see that McFarlane was a shoe in from the beginning. All because he knows how to spend money. Why do you think TriMet has to cut bus routes and cut BUS service? It’s all so McFarlane can give more money to Capital Projects to build the Light Rail to Trimetageddon.
Well done, Neil. You have screwed up TriMet to the point of no return. Lets call it TriMax or MaxMet. I’m sure you’d love that. Just put light rail everywhere and screw the bus riders.
