Saturday, February 7, 2009

ITS HERE!

FRED BASHING

I've been particularly hard on Fred lately and have been been unmerciful since I saw him during the storm sliding around in his loafers in NW Portland in the middle of the workweek. (It turns out Fred lives almost next door to me!)

The Oregonian also did a story where they stated for the record that "Fred Hansen was on vacation".

Well anyway I have been told by someone who works directly with Fred that he was indeed there during the storm and was just doing some errands at that time picking up gifts for the holiday. It's a reasonable enough explanation from a reliable source. I'm sure that the person relating this to me would not make it up just to defend Fred.

Apparently during the last storm Fred walked all the way to Center Street from the West side of the Ross Island bridge. (boy, I wish I could have seen that!)

OK, so I believe that Fred actually was at work at that time.

Question #1; Why was the Oregonian told that Fred was on vacation when they did the WES bailout story, which was during that storm.

Question #2; Why did FRED not make even one public statement during the storm.

Finally; this is from the staff person that works directly with Fred, someone we can believe:

I'm not a cheerleader for Fred, and I certainly don't always agree
with his strategies. On two issues, though, I have a lot of respect
for the man. He has a very strong work ethic and I have never seen
him make demands of employees that he's not willing to meet himself,
and he has made a commitment that layoffs are the last option in the
budget when times are bad. As a non-union employee, this is
particularly important to me personally, of course.

NEW BUSES TO ARRIVE-at merlo no less



















2/6/09 Pilot bus has arrived at Center Street

by Steve Banta — last modified Feb 06, 2009 04:37 PM

The first of 40 New Flyer buses was delivered today, more to arrive next week.

2/6/09 Pilot bus has arrived at Center Street

Stephen R. Banta, Operations Executive Director

I am pleased to let you know that we received the first of 40 new low-floor buses from the bus manufacturer today. The pilot bus, which was manufactured in St. Cloud, Minn., has been in Portland for a couple of weeks undergoing testing, and is almost ready to be put into service. This is exciting news, as it has been some time since we last received new buses. The 2900s will be the first low-floor buses to be based out of Merlo Garage, where all 40 will reside.

The pilot bus, #2901, will be on display at all three garages next week for employees to look at, and is expected to go into service within the next two weeks. The new buses have 2007 emission compliant engines, and to help with driver comfort they feature adjustable sets of brake/accelerator pedals and electric assist steering with a smaller diameter steering wheel. They also feature additional break lights for visibility to following motorists, additional exterior lights to enhance pedestrian safety, and rear-facing cameras on the driver's side.

Additional buses will begin arriving in the next week.

Pilot bus 2901Come and take a look at #2901 at:

Center Street: Monday, Feb. 9, Track 4

Powell: Tuesday, Feb. 10

Merlo: Thursday, Feb. 12

Do you have questions or thoughts about the new buses? Share them with me at stevemail@trimet.org.