The expectation of transparency
On his blog, KTRK-13's Wayne Dolcefino explains why he undertook last week's two-part exposé of Metro. Here's a portion of his post:
Thursday night Harris County Judge Ed Emmett called on the METRO board to publicly debate the free bus and rail rides provided to METRO employees and their families. Even a member of METRO’s Board was on TV saying he was surprised to learn that spouses of employees enjoyed this benefit. Under this benefit, a METRO employee or members of their family can save potentially thousands of dollars in transportation costs.
As you can see, my stories on this subject have triggered quite a debate among our viewers. Many of you who have written on this blog page are Metro employees, who, not surprisingly did not like this 13 Undercover story. I have heard from some of you that this kind of perk is standard, and that all companies provide perks of a similar nature to their employees. That is not true. Many local government employees do not receive this type of benefit. In fact, while many companies in the private sector may offer discounts to their employees, there are companies who do not provide this. In fact, there are companies that provide no pension, no 401K, and no health, disability or life insurance policies for their employees.
A private company’s financial decisions are subject to review, sometimes by labor unions, sometimes by shareholders, and sometimes by no one.
In government, the shareholders are the voters. While Frank Wilson is the CEO of METRO, there is a Board of Directors appointed by elected officials, who in turn are accountable to the voters. The voters are the bosses here, and have the ultimate say on what benefits are given to public employees at the ballot box. That is why stories like this are more than fair game. In the end, whether METRO employees like it or not, the public has a fundamental right to know and then voice their view on salaries, benefits or anything else provided to their employees.
Contrary to Metro CEO Frank Wilson's statement that Metro operates in a completely transparent manner, Metro fights tooth and nail not to give out any information, as Tom Bazan knows all too well. Metro stalls, delays, asks for Texas AG opinions, sends out wrong or incomplete data, etc. Metro's latest trick is to give Bazan information he's been seeking for weeks/months one hour prior to board meetings.
If Metro employees can't handle the public aspect of being employed by a government agency, they should seek employment in the private sector. Taxpayers deserve to know what Metro's up to.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/01/07 07:04 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Sphere | Comments (5)
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