After building more light-rail lines than it can afford to operate, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has made so many service cuts that it has lost a third of its riders. VTA’s chief financial officer resigned after an outside audit (previously discussed here) criticized the agency for building expensive rail projects to politically powerful (but auto-liberated) neighborhoods without ensuring that the agency had the funds to operate the system.
Last June, angry voters turned down a sales-tax increase designed to help the agency get back on its feet and build more rail lines. Now, under pressure to prove they can be fiscally responsible, the board of directors has hired a new “temporary” CFO, paying him $13,600 for 39 weeks of work.
Excuse me, what was that? Not $13,600, you say, but $13,600 per week? For 39 weeks? That’s $530,400. The previous CFO only got $200,000 a year, meaning his weekly wages were less than a third of the new guy’s. No wonder he did such a lousy job — they weren’t paying him enough!
