KPBS investigation of North County Transit District

[calwatch]

Ever heard of the saying, if you're deep in a hole, quit digging? Well due to some security guard allegations, KPBS, the local public radio station in San Diego, began an investigation of the North County Transit District, which operate the Coaster, Sprinter, and local bus service. After stonewalling about the security guard issue (basically alleging they didn't receive enough training), apparently KPBS found there was something to hide. Since then KPBS and inewsource (run by the journalism school of San Diego State, which also operates KPBS) have now run 14 articles on NCTD. NCTD's management has responded defensively to these allegations, which just generate even more stories, including a great piece on the rebuttal letter on KPBS where three experts rebut NCTD's mixing of operating and capital expenses. The CEO and the communications manager are surely on their way out, but it is instructive to public agencies on how NOT to respond to bad press.

http://inewsource.org/project/san-diego-transit/

 

[Bob Dylan]

Probably True about Most Municipal/Local Government Transportation Agencies! Cap Metro in Austin sure fits! :angry:

The Cover Up is always worse than any Actual Crime involved! (See Nixon/Clinton/Spitzer etc. etc)

 

[DET63]

Best to get dirty laundry out quickly, and hope for the inevitable next scandal somewhere else to come along and replace it ASAP.

 

[calwatch]

Here we go again... and Richard Katz, Metrolink Board chair, is quite concerned as to what else they're hiring, given that he was brought in to clean up Metrolink after the Chatsworth train crash. No elected official wants to go on the record, which either means the CEO has got them cowed or they are plotting some way to get rid of him and his communications manager, whose shotgun approach has totally backfired on them.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/jun/11/auditor-finds-major-deficiencies-nctds-contracts-d/