[PRCo] Re: Reply to B.C. statement

[Boris Cefer]

Let us get back to Pittsburgh when it was still a streetcar city :-)

B

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Herb Brannon" <hrbran at sbcglobal.net>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2007 7:54 PM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Reply to B.C. statement


> No where is this more true than in Cleveland. The current General Manager 
> (he changed the title to Chief Executive Officer........isn't he full of 
> himself) is a Joe Calabreese, from Syracuse, New York. That system had 
> less than 100 buses with one garage and about 300 employees. Cleveland's 
> system HAD 1100 buses, 75 heavy rail cars, 50 or so light rail cars, nine 
> operating divisions (three rail/six bus), and 4000+ employees. Now thanks 
> to Mr. Dumbass, who got in way, way over his pea-brain head, the system 
> has dwindled to 750 buses, 50 heavy rail cars, 35 light rail cars, four 
> operating divisions (everything crammed into two bus divisions and one 
> rail division) and just under 3000 employees. There are now longer 
> headway's on all services and the very large operating stations are an 
> administrative nightmare. Many rail cars are sitting in one section of the 
> Central Rail Facility with parts removed, windows/doors missing and body 
> panels missing or wrecked. This is the "rail
> parts room". The same is true at bus garages. At my station, Harvard 
> Avenue, cannibalized buses sit right in plain view of the public on the 
> Harvard Avenue side of the giant facility. Woodhill Station (now unused) 
> is full of non-running buses. All the money for parts, even 'warranty 
> money' from the manufacturer of new buses, is now put in the 'General 
> Fund'. That way the executive staff still has their $100. a plate LUNCHES, 
> golf outings and trips to other systems (usually in warm-weather states 
> during the Winter). Just two weeks ago one TV station ran a report on how 
> RTA and other Cuyahoga County executives are spending the tax payers 
> hard-earned money at upscale restaurants, hotels (why an RTA executive 
> needs a hotel other than for immoral or illegal purposes is beyond my 
> comprehension), and first-class air flights to the warm-weather states. 
> Mr. Dumbass gave his standard reply, "I'm permitted to do this and it is 
> better in the long run for our business." What business
> is he talking about.........this is a taxpayer supported agency. He also 
> now wants to sell off the taxpayers assests without their consent. This 
> would be unused garages, turning loops, etc. I guess funds are running low 
> for the lunches, golf outings, and vacations...........he needs to drum up 
> more money to waste.
>
>  I need to stop writing.............I'm getting angry. Fred, we need to do 
> something to stop this 'New World Order' nonsense.