B10 NEWS
News-Times July 11, 2012
Phone: 503-357-3181 www.fgnewstimes.com
Firefighters peg pancake breakfast to Concours If you’re heading to Concours d’Elegance on Sunday but you don’t have a breakfast date yet, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue has your ticket. Firefighters will be serving up eggs, ham and pancakes for $8 the morning of Concours, starting at 6:30 a.m. and ending at 11 a.m. Sunday, July 15. The event raises money for the Forest Grove Firefighters Association’s general fund,
which pays for maintenance of Forest Grove’s large ceremonial flag, the municipal Fourth of July fireworks show and to aid people in need. “We’re running it early this time because of the car show, so folks can come over and have breakfast and then head back,” said Dave Nemeyer, Forest Grove Fire Marshal. Children’s pricing and takeout are also available.
Concours preview: Mike and Nancy Hinsch, of North Plains, are bringing their red and white 1957 Mercury to the show. SUBMITTED PHOTO
TriMet: New fare policy could lead to profiling, says transit advocate ■ From page 1
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union that represents TriMet drivers — Amalgamated Transit Union local 757— said the new policy hasn’t made his job as a bus driver any easier. “They want us to be fare informers, not fare enforcers,” he said. “It’s like a whole can of worms.” Bus drivers have a compli-
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cated role, Ackerson said. They are responsible for telling the passenger that they need to pay fare, but can’t write citations or exclusions. When passengers board without valid fare, a bus operator is supposed to tell them their fare is invalid, Ackerson said. If the passenger refuses to pay, Ackerson said operators log that they had a fare evasion and continue on their route. If a passenger becomes confrontational or upset, drivers are supposed to stop the bus and call dispatch for help. Bus operators also have the authority to ask a passenger to get off the bus. That often puts drivers in the middle of TriMet policy and riders who may be defensive or confused about the fare rules. TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch agrees that bus drivers have a tough job, as they have to consider what else is happening on the bus. “They have to get a sense of not escalating the situation,” she said. “They have to take into account the circumstances.” Ackerson said a bus driver’s responsibility as an informer is what can lead to trouble with passengers. He said bus drivers sometimes ignore a passenger with an invalid fare, because if they do tell the passenger that they need to pay, the situation can quickly get out of control and prompt a formal complaint from the passenger. “We’ve been conditioned that anytime we go ahead and become confrontational with a passenger, even if it’s a matter of informing them, they call in a complaint,” Ackerson said. Fetsch said the job of fare enforcement falls on the fare inspectors, who focus mostly on making sure MAX riders pay before they step onto a light rail car. “It’s a matter of targeting areas outside the Free Rail Zone,” she said, referring to the stretch of central Portland where MAX is free to ride. Fetsch said fare inspectors do go on buses at times as well, especially where there are more incidents of fare evasion. TriMet tracks fare evasion to pinpoint which areas have the biggest problem.
But across TriMet’s service area, Ackerson said bus operators like Hendren who enforce the rules and inform passengers when they do not have a valid fare get the most complaints. After asking Ruiz to pay fare, Hendren and Ruiz got in an argument intense enough that
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Hendren asked another passenger to call 9-1-1. The night ended with the Forest Grove police department driving an emotional Ruiz and her four children home to Cornelius, even though the officer told Hendren that Ruiz would pay the bus fare. This isn’t the first time Hendren has had a passenger complain because she asked for fare. According to disciplinary records, in April of 2004, TriMet investigated a complaint that Hendren asked a passenger accompanying his disabled son to pay to ride the bus, though he was legally allowed to ride for free. In August of 2005, a passenger said that Hendren rudely confronted her because she needed to sit down after boarding the bus to get out her bus pass, and that Hendren called the police to remove the passenger. TriMet ruled in the first investigation that there was not enough evidence to discipline Hendren, and in the second that she didn’t violate policy. In the most recent case, Ackerson said Hendren is principled and thinks that not paying for fares is stealing. “All she did was try to do her job,” he said. TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt said the increased enforcement has been successful, as the transit agency is making money from citations and more passengers are paying fare. Fetsch said that passengers are catching on that they have a greater chance of getting their fare checked than in the past. “The message is getting out there,” she said. “Why put yourself at risk for a $175 fine?” But with increased citations, the Multnomah County Courthouse is also buzzing with more passengers trying to reduce or get rid of their fines. Fetsch said cited passengers can choose to take their chances with a judge, instead of paying the full $175 fee. According to the Multnomah County Courthouse, cited passengers have options: plead no contest or not guilty and go to trial, plead guilty and pay $60 for a first offense, or plead guilty and do eight hours of community service to get the citation waived. Jonathan Ostar, the executive director for OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon, a nonprofit that advocates for transit riders, said OPAL is concerned about how TriMet is targeting areas with low-income riders and not equitably inspecting everyone’s fare. He said it opens up the possibility of racial and class profiling and the effective criminalization of poverty. “TriMet has set up a fare inspection and enforcement system that allows too much room for profiling and violations of equal protection and civil
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rights,” Ostar said. Ackerson said the new policy is hard for everyone, from passengers to bus operators and supervisors. “The whole thing is a mess,” he said. “It’s a very confusing thing we are dealing with here.”
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TriMet is still investigating who was in the right when an argument between bus operator Claudeen Hendren and passenger Maria Ruiz on a Line 57 bus June 7 led to the emotional mother and her four kids being transported home by police after Hendren wanted them off the bus. TriMet officials have been speaking with witnesses and Hendren in their efforts to get to the bottom of the latest case involving a crying child expelled from a bus. Normally TriMet reviews onboard video during investigations, but in this particular case, no tape exists. TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch said TriMet did not start looking into the incident in time to get the video before it was recorded over. According to disciplinary records, Hendren was told in October that she had one last opportunity to shape up her customer service, and is at risk for further discipline or the loss of her job. However, TriMet and the bus driver’s union, Amalgamated Transit Union local 757, are also starting the beginning phases of an arbitration related to Hendren’s suspension last October in a similar case to the one involving Ruiz. Hendren was suspended without pay for 10 days after TriMet investigated her dispute with a passenger and her crying toddler, which led to the mother and child getting off the bus and many other passengers choosing to find another way home as well. Jeff Ackerson, union board officer, said the union voted to represent Hendren in hopes to win back compensation for the wages she lost during her suspension. In arbitration, TriMet shows why they disciplined Hendren as they did, and the union challenges their course of action. An arbitrator then has 30 days to review the material and make a decision. Fetsch said the entire process could take years, and no timeline has been set.
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Concours d‘Elegance “Another Classic Tradition”