The Honolulu Rail Authority just gave its CEO a 22% pay raise on the condition that she goes back to school to learn about how to be a CEO. In her three years as CEO she has harassed employees, offended board members, and overseen escalating costs, yet the board decided she is worth $336,000 a year.
Honestly there is no point in me making any jokes about this because the whole thing is a joke. Such as the fact that she has no prior CEO experience but instead previously worked for HDR and other rail contractors that helped cause some of the cost overruns. Or the fact that the board will pay for her to spend much of two years at UC Berkeley learning how to do her job. Or the fact that the board will also pay for her to receive executive “coaching,” which is a scam in itself.
And finally there is the fact that the board excused her whopping pay raise simply because it is her first raise since they hired her in 2021. Has your pay gone up 22% in the last three years?
“HART Scrambles To Free Up Cash For Rail’s Push Into The City Center
Other work may be delayed because a $1.66 billion bid was $300 million more than the rail authority had budgeted.” civilbeat 9/5/2024
They had already deferred a $330 million, 1600 stall parking garage (!) at Pearlridge that according to their own 6/3/2022 “recovery” plan would only increase daily ridership by 1,476. One idea for the current crisis is to defer installation of seven statcoms worth about $60 million. Rail agreed to install these years ago:
“ The Honolulu rail authority has agreed to install special equipment to prevent any sudden swings in the electric voltage as the electric trains depart from the stations in neighborhoods around the rail line” civilbeat 12/8/2021
The FTA was right back in 2006:
“The federal lawsuit to stop rail gave the plaintiffs access to FTA’s internal email, which revealed intra-FTA concerns about the city’s ‘lousy practices of public manipulation,’ use of ‘inaccurate statements,’ culture of ‘never [having] enough time to do it right, but lots of time to do it over’” hawaiis1000friends
Happy 9/11! Here’s to many more months of mobility and freedom!
https://x.com/Boenau/status/1833811472792838463
More scary statistics, Jane:
More Drug Overdose Deaths Than Combined Vehicle and Firearm-Related Deaths
Drug overdoses claimed more American lives than did vehicle crashes or firearm-related incidents combined in 2021, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While there were 45,404 motor vehicle traffic deaths and 48,830 firearm deaths in 2021, 106,699 Americans died from drug overdoses or poisonings.
This is equivalent to 13.7, 14.7, and 33.7 motor vehicle traffic, firearm, and drug overdose/poisoning deaths per 100,000 Americans, respectively.
CDC further breaks down the 106,699 drug overdose or poisoning deaths, revealing that 80,411 of these deaths involved opioids and 9,173 involved heroin.
Thursday May 11, 2023
So basically the plot to Billy Madison