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MEETING
Wednesday, August 6, 2014 • Whidbey News-Times
CONTINUED FROM A1 were going to be affected because the agency ran out of money. “Where is Martha Rose and what is she not telling the public?” one audience member yelled out. Oak Harbor resident Jim Pace said he hoped Rose or members of the Transit board would show up; he had a set of hard-hitting questions ready. “Needless to say, when I saw the medium-size fish in the operations manager and the two young folks that look like deer in the headlights were the sacrificial lambs, I knew the jig was up,” he said afterward. Operations Manager Shawn Harris said the administration at Island Transit discussed whether Rose should attend the meeting, but they decided her presence would distract from the goal of discussing routes. He said he would be sure to pass on concerns to Rose. “There might be some trust lost,” he said. “…We are going to do our best to
regain that.” Tuesday, Rose reiterated that the purpose of the community meetings is solely to discuss route changes. She said Island Transit may have a community meeting in the future on the topic of finances, but not until after auditors have looked through the books and come up with answers to what happened. People at the meeting made it clear that the farefree bus service is vital to the community. Elderly people take the bus to hospital appointments. Teenagers grab buses to get to school. People take them to jobs or to court. Harris acknowledged that the route cuts will have “a trickle-down effect for our community.” Perhaps the biggest complaint about route changes was that Saturday bus service, including paratransit, is being discontinued. Harris said his plan is to bring Saturday service back in about a year.
Photo by Jessie Stensland/Whidbey News-Times
Oak Harbor resident Cheryl Louder speaks at a community meeting about Island Transit Monday evening. She relies on buses to travel to the airport. Oak Harbor resident Alamash Aketch said she can’t drive because of medical issues and depends on buses to get to medical appointments as far away as Seattle.
She said she wasn’t happy that the routes she uses are being changed without any input from the community. “It just isn’t fair,” she said. Oak Harbor resident
Cheryl Louder regularly takes buses to get to the airport and back. She said it takes a lot of planning and route cuts will make it that much more difficult. Still, she doesn’t take the
bus service for granted. “I have never been on a bus system where the drivers are so courteous to the riders, especially the elderly,” she said.
troversy at the county commissioners regular meeting Monday. Vaughan also called for the resignation of Island Transit Board chairman Bob Clay. “If public confidence is to be restored, the board should restructure,” Vaughan said. “Mr. Clay should step down. The board should vote in a new chairperson with realworld business experience and someone with no ties to Island Transit. “The public needs to see real changes. Changes that will restore confidence.” Vaughan, who now serves on the Island Transit board with Commissioner Helen Price Johnson, said that at his first meeting last week, he was told that the financial data placed before them to
review was still not correct. “I’m not sure what the board is getting, what they have gotten or if it’s correct,” Vaughan said. Vaughan said members of the Transit board, including Price Johnson, who has served on the board for five years, “have let us down.” Commissioner Jill Johnson, who was attending a family wedding Monday, said via telephone that she, too, would like to see Rose step down. “The main reason Martha needs to step aside is that she has lost the public’s trust,” Johnson said. “When you are a steward of public funds and accept a position where your job is to serve the public, and you break their trust, you have to step aside.
“No one individual is more important than the public’s trust.” Price Johnson also gave a statement Monday saying that she is “upset by the terrible situation” and that the Transit board was “misinformed.” But she did not ask Rose to resign. “It is concerning to me that this past year’s audit and outside CPA review failed to discover the deception,” Price Johnson said. Both Price Johnson and Vaughan called for increased financial oversight and transparency in making financial documents available to the public. Vaughan also called for a criminal investigation. Oak Harbor Mayor Scott Dudley said if he were in a position to make the decision, he would removed Rose from her job “in a heartbeat.” “I’m all about accountability,” Dudley said. “If that were to happen here at the City of Oak Harbor, if the city dollars were that mismanaged, I would step down. The lack of financial forethought is appalling.” If Rose does not step down of her own accord, her future is in the hands of the five-member Transit board,
which comprises Price Johnson, Vaughan, Clay, Jim Campbell and Jim Sundberg. Campbell makes the second board member along with Vaughan who believes Rose should be removed. “I think she’s lost credibility,” said Campbell, who is also an Oak Harbor city councilman. “I spent years of my life as a business manager. If it had gone belly up, I would expect to be fired.” Clay and Sundberg both said they want to wait out the results of the audit before making a decision about Rose’s future. “A lot of people are speculating and don’t have the whole picture,” Clay said. “I do hold Martha responsible for what happens there, but I’m not prepared to ask her for her job.” The Transit board hired a financial analyst to replace fired Finance Manager Barbara Savary with an Aug. 16 start date. Island Transit’s next regular business meeting will follow a public hearing on its Six-year Transit Development Plan at 9 a.m. Friday, Aug. 22. n For more information, call 360-678-7771 or email atinfo@islandtransit.org
CALL CONTINUED FROM A1 been going on for years,” said Aubrey Vaughan, the appointed Island County commissioner. “She has accepted the responsibility, and it is time for her to do the honorable thing. “It is not about personalities, it is not about egos and it is not about politics. It is about what is best for Island Transit and the people of
Island County.” Rose said Monday that she has no intention of resigning and that she is eager to see the results of the investigation. “I want to get to the end of the audit and see what happened,” Rose said. Vaughan, who took office in June, gave a statement about the Island Transit con-
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