Transit

Metro's governance task force needs more sunshine

by Dan Drummond   •   August 17, 2010 10:01 am

Back in May a group of business leaders formed a task force to look into how Metro is governed. Soon thereafter the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments appointed a group of former elected officials, staff and three current elected officials to join the cause.

Photo by Lorenzo Cuppini on Flickr.

As a member of MWCOG's Board of Directors, I voted against MWCOG's involvement because I didn't believe that there was enough of a voice from the rider community, environmental organizations and other groups representing the public. I also didn't think this group was going to operate in an open forum like the City Council or MWCOG does.

Sure enough, this organization has held ONE public meeting on July 1, its actions are unknown and most distressing is that the public is not involved in this process. According to this document there have been several closed work sessions and another public meeting isn't scheduled until September. This really isn't the way a body that is looking at governance should be operating.

These meetings—all of them—need to be held in the open. The public must be able to attend each one, detailed minutes taken and time be allowed for comment at every meeting. Otherwise, this process and this "task force" will have little credibility. It is not right that business group—albeit well-intentioned and well-respected—lead this effort. Metro is a public entity and these proceedings need to be treated as if we were operating under the same rules of the road of a public body like COG or City Council.

It was suggested to me that this effort was really following Metro's own public meeting guidelines and that the reason closed sessions were needed was because of the sensitivity of the issues. That doesn't wash. First, Metro's existing governance structure isn't exactly an example we should use. We should be aspiring for a higher standard. Second, while I understand the need for candor I don't believe we need to hold meetings in the dark like we're sharing top secret information because we aren't.

An August 10 letter from the Riders' Advisory Council for Metro to COG Board members makes clear that they have not been involved in the governance task force. They also point out that commitments were made by COG to keep the public informed. Unfortunately, COG has not done this. The task force has not done this. And the public is the one who is left out in the cold.

Metro's governance needs to be revamped. No question about it. I've even offered some suggestions on what should be done, especially to give smaller jurisdictions like the City of Fairfax more of a say. Yet, the public needs to know what's going on and understand how decisions are being made by a private sector group that may change the way a public transit system is governed. It's time to let the sun shine in.

Dan Drummond is a member of the Fairfax City Council and the City of Fairfax's representative on the MWCOG Board of Directors. This editorial is crossposted from his blog, The Corner Of....

Dan Drummond is a member of the Fairfax City Council and the City of Fairfax's representative on the MWCOG Board of Directors. His blog is The Corner Of...