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04 August 2006
Metro boss gets a $1,000 per month car allowance!
Thanks to Tom Bazan for pointing out Rad Sallee's follow-up story on Metro President Frank Wilson's super-secret pay raise:
The Metropolitan Transit Authority revealed Thursday that the raise it voted for July 20 for President and CEO Frank Wilson brings his annual salary to $279,400, a 10 percent increase.
The raise is retroactive to May 1, the date of his employment in 2004. Wilson was hired at $254,000 a year with a five-year contract that allowed for increases. He did not receive a raise after his first year on the job.
The present contract runs through April 30, 2010, and includes pension and benefits, $1,030 monthly car allowance, five weeks' vacation, two weeks' sick leave and membership in the Houston Club.
Metro Board Chairman David Wolff refused to disclose the pay raise details when questioned by Sallee last month, so Sallee filed a Public Information Act request to get the information.
That's a pretty nice salary for Wilson. It's too bad his contract doesn't stipulate that he should live within walking distance of the Main Street Danger Train line. What kind of a message does it send when Metro's own boss doesn't take the train to work, AND requires a car allowance??! Isn't his car one more that's clogging up the roads??
UPDATE (9:05 am): Michael Berry is discussing Frank Wilson's pay raise on KPRC-950.
BLOGVERSATION: TBIFOC.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ car allowance!"> 08/04/06 06:01 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (11)
23 March 2009
Frank Wilson: The Main Street Line is irreplaceable
METRO's very expensive blogger posts an excerpt from a trade magazine interview with Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson, where METRO's CEO says:
"Before there was a rail line on Main Street, Houston didn't understand what rail was. And the first year after it was here, it was a curse that was sent here by the transit gods," said Wilson.
"And now it's irreplaceable in five short years. There's no [sic] here who's going to say we should roll it up and give Main Street back to the automobile," he continued.
It succeeded because of the locations the 7.5 mile line connects - the financial district, downtown and the Texas Medical Center.
"There is no other place that connects all that...Now people use this as a horizontal elevator. It's like a cable car but flat - on and off, on and off, on and off," said Wilson.
It's so irreplaceable, not to mention indispensable, that Frank Wilson has to have a $1,000 per month car allowance!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Frank Wilson: The Main Street Line is irreplaceable"> 03/23/09 05:53 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (11)
21 March 2008
METRO blogger interviews METRO chief for new METRO talk show
METRO's blogger announced that the transit agency has launched a new "talk show" which will air on Houston's public access channel. Mary Sit says, "It's a new way for us to communicate with you." The first guest was (drumroll) METRO President Frank J. "Procurement Disaster" Wilson.
Here are some (rapidly scribbled) notes from the interview:
-- New Baytown service: There is no cost to METRO. County pays all costs, and Wilson said this area really needs to be a part of METRO's service area. (Contrast that with folks who DO pay into METRO but get no service whatsoever.)
-- METRO needs consent agreements with City of Houston to proceed with rail lines, and Mayor White wants one consent agreement to cover all five lines. Wilson says he wants one consent agreement to cover all of METRO Solutions.
-- METRO will be launching a new bus service to IAH. Cost will be $15 and will run every thirty minutes between IAH and the Downtown Transit Center. (See here for an entertaining look at a past experience with an IAH Express Bus Route.)
-- New "signature bus service" called Quick Line is a precursor to light rail, as buses will provide quicker service and be able to go through traffic signals. UH OH!!
-- Q Card: Standard usage at other transit agencies is 2-10%. In the first two months of METRO's Q Card program, usage is 44%. (Visit Laurence Simon for an alternative view of the Q Card program.)
-- What is METRO CEO's biggest challenge? "We need more time."
-- METRO is "committed to remaking the face of Houston."
-- "Growth is great, but must be managed."
-- Frank thinks pretty highly of himself -- he told Mary Sit twice that he was a very special guest to have on her new show, and after he talked on and on, he said that she hadn't asked him certain questions, but he'd answer them anyway.
Were there any other unasked questions? Why yes! Mary Sit didn't ask him about his "rich experience in both the public and private sectors," and she didn't ask him about his $1,000 per month car allowance.
But it was kind of hard for her to get a word in edge-wise.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/21/08 09:31 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (1)
22 August 2008
This week at METRO: Frank Wilson gets a raise; bad bus drivers keep on driving
KPRC-2 has a story posted about how METRO's "Three Strikes, You're Out" rule for bus drivers is just more hot air from the transit agency that could power its own wind farm:
Motorists reported some startling behavior by bus drivers, including road rage, speeding through school zones, cutting off other drivers by swerving into lanes, aggressive lane changes, and nearly running people over in crosswalks.
"We play just like baseball," said METRO Vice President of Operations David Feeley. "Three strikes and you're out. If you have a particularly egregious situation, we say goodbye pretty quick."
Despite that policy, Local 2 Investigates found some drivers remaining behind the wheel with as many as nine or 12 strikes, including numerous complaints alleging the same sort of dangerous driving behavior.
Here's the best part:
Overall, [VP Feeley] said dangerous driving complaints are down 23.9 percent from last year.
"We're doing something right," he said.
And:
Hers was among 7,236 pages of complaints reviewed by Local 2 Investigates, starting from July 2007 and continuing through July of this year.
The 7,200 complaints is a declining trend -- woo!
In completely unrelated news, Rad Sallee reports METRO CEO Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson is getting a retroactive pay raise:
The Metropolitan Transit Authority board approved a 10 percent raise Thursday for president and CEO Frank Wilson, bringing his total compensation to more than $340,000.
Board member George DeMontrond said Wilson's annual performance review was "most satisfactory" and noted that he did not receive raises in 2005 or 2007. Wilson's new base pay will be $307,340.
DeMontrond said the increase in base pay — 21 percent since Wilson was hired May 3, 2004 — was "nominal" in view of inflation. The raise will be retroactive to May 3, 2008, said Metro spokeswoman Raequel Roberts.
[snip]
Although his new contract details were not immediately available, Wilson in 2006 also received $20,000 per year in salary deferred until retirement, a car allowance of $12,600 and membership in the Houston Club. Roberts said those items have not increased.
He still has his car allowance. Because he's too important to ride public transportation.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Frank Wilson gets a raise; bad bus drivers keep on driving"> 08/22/08 06:11 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (10)
26 July 2008
The joy of riding public transportation
We've noted before that most people who say they want more mass transit are hoping other people will use it. Ninety-five percent of the driving public has no intention of giving up their personal transportation freedom.
Recently Metro's blogger Mary Sit wrote a post about mass transit etiquette:
Once on board, move to the back when more commuters step on. Let exiting commuters disembark before you step on the train. Don't stand directly in front of the train doors - stand to the side of the doors to give room for those on the train to step off. There have been many times when I've tried to exit, and there are bodies standing directly in front of the doors, leaving me little space to walk off the train and onto the platform.
More suggestions from the Los Angeles Times reporter: Don't shout, don't shove, once on-board, step away from the doors. Don't swing a huge handbag or backpack around - it could hit someone. And offer your seat to the elderly, pregnant women or disabled.
Sounds like fun! Especially when one reads the post's comments. Here's a gem:
Another suggestion is to carry some hand sanitizer with you. I was riding a train a couple of weeks ago and a man put his hand down his rear end and then proceeded to go all through the car and wipe his excrement on all the handrails. Since then I started carrying a small bottle.
Which reminds me of a comment one of the guys at the Power Line blog recently made:
One of the liberals' favorite antidotes to high gas prices is public transportation. If we would only ride buses and subways, they say, we'd barely notice $4 a gallon prices. Besides, there is something about seeing people crammed together in equal discomfort on public transportation that liberals just like.
Maybe that explains why METRO CEO Frank J. Wilson has a $12,000 per year car allowance even though he lives near a Park and Pillage.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 07/26/08 07:21 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (4)
26 September 2007
Metro: Frank Wilson's too busy to ride public transit
Last night on KTRK-13, Wayne Dolcefino took a look at what it cost to make those goofy videos on Metro's website:
Just how much of your money is METRO spending to convince you to ride the bus and rail you are already paying for? And is it the job of METRO to convince us in the first place?
"This is the METRO Report, your source for news and happenings with your host, Elliot Roberts," said the ad METRO is running on its website.
Who's Elliot Roberts? Let's go to METRO headquarters and find out.
"I'm looking for Elliot Roberts," we said when we went into METRO headquarters.
"Who's Elliot Roberts? We asked METRO's George Smalley.
"He's an actor," said Smalley.
He's an actor you paid to do an imitation of Steven Colbert. You can catch his show on Comedy Central.
[snip]
"We're trying to add a little levity, a little lightness to an education piece," said Smalley.
We showed the video to bus passengers next to METRO headquarters.
"You think it was funny?" we asked.
"It was stupid," said one person.
That cost $46,000, a mere drop in Metro's overflowing, taxpayer-funded bucket.
Next up, a movie trailer!
The movie trailer cost $68,961 of your money to make and took three days to scout a location to shoot the video, even though METRO has more than 25 park and ride lots.
"Odds are, there's one near you," the ad says. "Maybe even in your own back yard."
Add another $115,000 to run the video before movies in 13 theaters. You paid talent fees of $3,750 for the actors. Apparently, no one in METRO's $3 million a year marketing department could do it as part of their work day.
And then this:
One of the park and rides lots is down in Missouri City. There are plenty of empty spaces there. Its near Frank Wilson's house, METRO's chief executive officer, but he doesn't use it even though the 163 downtown express can drop him off just a couple of blocks from METRO's headquarters. And the other bus connects to the METRO Rail that runs right next to Wilson's office.
"He's busier than the average commuter," I said.
"Certainly there is a higher expectation on a CEO about how they spend their time and make most productive use of time," Smalley replied.
But METRO spends your money telling you how much work you can get done on mass transit
"With the study time I get on the bus, I got a 'C+' in history," said an actor in the spot. "METRO rocks dude!"
But of course, Wilson gets a $1,000 a month car allowance. So maybe gas prices don't hit his wallet the same as yours.
Metro's transit offerings aren't efficient enough for a busy CEO, and the average commuter's busy-ness isn't comparable to Frank Wilson's. He's just more important!
Another fine example of Metro's tone-deafness.
Perhaps Metro officials could spend less time and money trying to sell an inefficient product, and more time making their product work better...for busy commuters AND CEO's.
Tonight, Dolcefino promises to show us how to ride the bus and light rail for free!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Frank Wilson's too busy to ride public transit"> 09/26/07 05:14 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (23)
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