NEIL'S NOTES

"EVERYTHING I'VE BEEN HEARING ABOUT PARKING..."

Patience please.

Posted by Neil McFarlane at Dec 06, 2012 09:16 AM | Permalink

"In one of the rare occasions the other day – I drove to work because of an 'unexpected' dental appointment (ouch). When I got to Center Street – everything I’ve been hearing about parking during construction really sank in. WOW! – I hadn’t really dealt with it because I don’t drive to work.Needless to say – it took me a bit to figure out where to park. Fortunately, one of the flaggers helped me out.

It reminded me of the inconvenience we’re putting a lot of you through. Thanks to the many of you who have to drive – whether you’re one of the first runs pulling out or you have to travel here from another facility – thank you for finding your way through the maze of construction. It’s not easy but I appreciate your patience. I would tell you that there are enough parking spaces, but the path to them may be a little unpredictable. By the way, the lot on the old 'Advantis' site has plenty of open spaces.

All of this is to a good end – because when all is said and done – we’ll have a remodeled Operations Headquarters here at Center Street with a state-of-the-art bus and rail control center, a new training center, and a new MAX alignment that might bring many of you to work so you don’t have to drive. Until then – travel safely through it all. Again, there are plenty of parking spaces – it just might take you a little extra time and patience to find it. We’ll get through it all.

Best,
Neil"

We, the workforce, the frontline employee's, be it inside or outside the Buses or trains have been saying it for years.  Those making the policies,  the rules, for the Operators, the mechanics and other frontline support staff,  INCLUDING the riding public HAVEN'T SAT IN THE OPERATORS SEAT OR THE PUBLIC'S SEAT!!!  

BUT, here in this perfect example you have it from none other then the bigKahoona himself!  A confession from someone who's quite simply, OUT OF TOUCH!!!

We've been asking about PARKING since the first mention of Milwaukie Light Rail. Were're we gonna park?  Oh, they say, "Why there's plenty of parking in the old torn down Advantis structure, just a mere  two long blocks away.  But ya know, if you aren't the big kahoona, you might not be so lucky as to find a flagger willing to help you look for a spot. And if you're an Operator or Mechanical staff starting your shift mid afternoon there's a really good chance you'll have to drive several blocks through the neighborhood to find one. So, we'll be taking ANOTHER space away from the folks who live there! And after dark it's a pretty darn long walk out there with all the creepo's who regularly hang out near large empty industrial areas and torn down structures near railroad yards.  And the only Security available is the guard sitting in the lobby of Trimet's Administrative Building during business hours.