[PRCo] Government Corruption (was Wheels__&__Shoes)

[ktjosephson at earthlink.net]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred Schneider" <fschnei at supernet.com>

>......  When he left state service
> we said he was going to write a book about his experiences in government.
A year
> later he told me he abandoned the project "because no one would believe
what he
> wrote."   The truth is, no one would believe how corrupt government can be
unless
> you are lecturing to the choir.

So true. Many of us (public employees) know of some awful situations and
incidents going on where we work. We also know if we revealed them, we would
not only get framed and fired, but we would forced to leave town, looking
over our shoulders. I am serious. The "whistle blower" laws are a big joke.

I know of one public entity which has a former newspaper reporter employed
as their public relations official. His real job is to use his connections
with the local media to keep that entity's mis-steps and dirty dealings out
of the press and off the T.V. news.

It's funny how local politicians and their cronies in the press hammered
PRCo for years when it was an "evil" (read PRIVATE) profit-seeking company.
I wonder if today's politicians keep some of PAT's affairs (read total
screw-ups with TAXPAYERS' money) from the media. That is, unless they have
an axe to grind with an appointed transit offical and want to pressure or
embarrass him/her enough to leave.

As I understand it, transit buses currently purchased with federal funds
(formerly local money that has been hijacked to D.C. for the "general
welfare" of the masses) have to be retained for about twelve years.
Therefore, instead of the dependable beasts of burden from a generation ago
(and before), we wind up with buses that are worn out and not worth
rebuilding after just over a decade of use. Love 'em or hate 'em, most of
those old Macks, GMCs, Brills, Flxibles, etc. could last long after they
were fully depriciated. And of course, struggling transit companies would
give them the necessary TLC to keep them useable for many years.

I don't know how long today's rail cars are designed to last, but I wonder
if they will be able to haul loads as long and as reliably as Chicago's "Old
Pullmans" (1907-1954) or as most PCCs did. Fred will point out that
Pittsburgh had to make their remaining PCCs last as long as they did since
they had nothing else to put on the rails prior to the Steel City's "light
rail" era. But PAT did have knowlegeable and skilled shop crews that did
their jobs well. And many of them stuck around long after the former PRCo
engineering staff was given the boot.

K.