Monday, July 6, 2009

JULY 6, 2009







TriMet Line 76 Tualatin Short Ride

WOULDN'T YOU BELIEVE IT!

MANAGEMENT SHAKEUP!

Date: July 1, 2009

To: Operations Division Employees; Business Forum

From: Peggy Hanson

Subject: Staff Announcements Within Transportation Operations

Steve Banta announced in April 2009 a process of evaluating every part of Operations to find areas

where we could do with less, and where we could do without. Given the required level of service and

staff reductions, Steve challenged all of us to seize the opportunity to approach our customers in a new,

refreshing and ultimately more effective way.

Effective July 1, 2009, Transportation Operations has a strong, yet streamlined management team in

place that is focused on our core service:

Field Operations Rail Operations Center Powell Merlo

Jay Jackson

ManagerDon AllisonManager

Hayden TalbotManager

EvelynWarrenManager

Lyle PereiraManager

Dan StokesAssistant Manager

James BrownAssistant Manager

Ruth TillsonAssistant Manager

Ken JensonAssistant Manager

Greg LarsonAssistant Manager

Vic KandleAssistant Manager

GregoryDonavonAssistantManager

Robert RomoAssistant Manager

Phil DavisAssistant Manager

Jean CookAssistant Manager

Dan Stokes, formerly assistant manager rail transportation, will join Field Operations in the important

work of overseeing field supervision and fare inspection. Gregory Donavon, most recently an assistant

manager at Merlo, will now support rail operators assigned to Elmonica. James Brown will move from

Elmonica to Ruby Junction, where he will support rail operators and the daily activities of Bus Dispatch

and Rail Control. Ruth Tillson and Robert Romo join the management team at Center Street, and Jean

Cook will join the team at Merlo.

I believe this offers an extraordinary opportunity to broaden the breadth and depth of our experience as a

transportation management team. I am also proud that we have been able to maintain our commitment to

minimizing the impact on our frontline employees.

Thank you.

STEVE BANTA TALKS ABOUT THE REDUCTIONS

























Staffing changes and budget reductions reflect commitment to streamline management while minimizing impact on frontline employees.

7/6/09 Looking at the impact of the budget on Operations

Stephen R. Banta, Executive Director Operations

As you have heard from our general manager, TriMet is in the midst of unprecedented financial challenges that have resulted in service and staff reductions. In making the difficult decision to reduce service to the public, we committed to our riders and to our employees that we would do whatever possible to make reductions in areas that would minimally touch riders and employees. At this point we still have not had to lay off one represented employee, and we continue to hope that represented layoffs will be avoided through attrition.

In order to achieve that commitment, we have examined line items in every department of Operations to come up with targeted reductions in materials and services and the elimination of a number of open positions. There are open positions that we cannot do without, and you will see those posted in the future.

Additionally, some individuals accepted layoffs as part of our need to reduce administrative costs. For example, I am looking at how the Accessible Transportation Program can function without a director, and instead rely on clear communication and collaboration between managers in the department and my staff. A final decision will be made in the near future.

There have been reductions in overtime allotments in both maintenance and transportation. We will not be able to continue to over-expend our overtime budgets moving forward. An "all hands to the pump" attitude is required of each and every one of us to make this successful.

There has been a restructuring of Transportation Operations to better meet the needs of our riders and employees in this new financial environment. You can read more about the specific changes in Director of Transportation Peggy Hanson's memo. We are moving forward with a strong, yet streamlined management team consisting of only two assistant managers at each location. Their challenge is not doing more with less; rather, it is looking at how we can better support the delivery of our service to our customers. These changes offer opportunities for our staff to broaden their experience as a transportation management team.

I am confident that a shared commitment to the quality of our service will allow us to focus on meeting the challenges ahead.



11:45AM-SIGN UP STILL NOT POSTED ON TRINET--our wonderful IT department has fallen down and can't get up!

SIGN UP UPDATE

TriMet Line 96 Express to Tualatin

TRIMET MANAGEMENT ENJOYS TORTURING ITS EMPLOYEES











It's 9:00 am and the TRINET employee website has a disabled link for the fall sign up.
All Trimet operators are on the edge of their seats over this and yet the managment dilly dallies in getting us the information.

NEWS REPORTS ON FARE INSPECTOR'S ASSAULT


WANTED! FOR ATTACK ON FARE INSPECTOR

BILLY MAYS DEAD!

http://rosswrede.blogspot.com/2009/06/billy-maysdead.html