The Daily News has been keeping score which MTA officials have actually been showing up to the meetings where the public gets to air its opinions about the proposed fare hikes. And now that the meetings are over, the News names the three MTA board members who were no shows: (pictured, from left to right) Andrew Saul (who is Vice Chairman of the Board), Donald Cecil, and Susan Metzger. And mind you, these are members who will be voting on whether to pass a fare hike.
Assemblyman Rory Lancman told the News, "Membership on the MTA board is a privilege, not a right, with awesome responsibilities. Members who can't drag themselves to even one fare hike hearing to face the riding public not only shouldn't be allowed to vote for a fare hike, they shouldn't be on the board at all." Additionally, some voting members have only attended one meeting.
Interestingly, Saul, who seemed to support the fare hike before the News made light of his no-shows, released a statement saying he would "review all viable options" that might avoid a fare hike. And Metzger told the News that she was on a vacation that she and her husband had been planning for a year and promised to read transcripts. However, the Staphangers Campaign' Gene Russianoff told CBS 2, "If you believe they read the transcripts of the hearings, I have a bridge I sell to you."
What does Governor Spitzer, who could move to stop a fare hike by increasing funding to the MTA, think? "I'm not going to justify anybody's not attending. I will personally make sure that any board member who votes on this has immersed himself or herself in the factual presentations and diversity of views." Yeah, good luck with that.
And the Daily News has an editorial demanding that Metzger, Cecil and Saul be kicked off the board: "For all the benefits heaped upon them, board members have limited duties. These three failed to carry out even those."
