Re: “Transit tax battle includes pigs and a poodle,” March 6.
It continues to amaze me how much credibility is given to Jordan Bateman’s mocking of TransLink, in particular the public art poodle at Main and 18th, in the name of saving taxpayers’ money.
Where is his outrage at the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent at YVR on its amazing public art collection? That money was raised by a user fee set by an unelected board with no public input and no public accountability, overseen by a CEO paid more than the TransLink CEO.
The media gleefully feeds at the trough of Bateman’s glib and superficial award for waste to TransLink. Meanwhile Jim Pattison, 19 out of 22 of the region’s mayors, MLAs from both sides of the legislature, the premier, the minister of transportation and leading business groups supporting the Yes campaign prefer to look at what auditors and credit-rating agencies say:
“The Aa2 rating assigned to TransLink is supported by … solid governance and management practices” … and “track record of finding cost efficiencies.”— Moody’s, Nov. 2014.
The latest (2012) independent audit of TransLink determined it was “not wasteful” and that compensation levels were “reasonable,” prompting then-Transportation Minister Mary Polak to call it “world-class.”
But, hey, check out that pig!
Peter Ladner, Vancouver
