Our COG’s Directors voted last Thursday to hire an auditor to
audit their annual transit agency financial report.
Dear Editor:
Our COG’s Directors voted last Thursday to hire an auditor to audit their annual transit agency financial report. But, as we have seen in the past, the auditor will not use generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) because, while the private sector is required to use GAAP, our Legislature allows the transit agencies to use Enron-style accounting concealing “off-book” costs and expenses.
I have repeatedly asked COG’s Directors to please tell the SBC voters the truth about COG’s wasteful public sector transit. COG’s reports conceal the truth, and that is bad government. We need to put some sunshine on COG’s County Transit and end the deception and cover up. COG’s reports do not tell the voters County Transit’s “load factor.” It is nearly zero, but COG’s Directors never admit it.
Why the cover up? What percentage of seats on transit buses are moved through town empty? What is the cost per seat per mile for these empty seats? How many empty seats per mile per year do we run? What tons per mile of pollutants are spewed into Hollister’s air by this empty seat transportation? What are the adverse health effects for Hollister’s senior citizens, infants and other age groups? What is the farebox recovery rate for Hollister routes measured according to GAAP (not VTA’s and COG’s Enron-style accounting)? How often (what percentage of total) are buses in town 100 percent empty (with not a single paying passenger)? How much do we lose and how much do public sector union employees win? When will we see them enforce last May’s unanimous decision to privatize our public sector transportation in SBC? Why do we let COG’s Directors intentionaly run up budget deficits? Do we give a damn about the bankruptcies that their socialist-communist transit policy cause?
Caveat viator!
Joseph Thompson,
Tres Pinos
