Comments on: Gerber, Murphy Named to Transit Board

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 01:37:10 +0000

Thanks, yes, I was depending on your report for my comments. Anxious to hear how it goes.

By: Mary Morgan

Mary Morgan — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:28:44 +0000

Re. Gerber's regional transit simulation: Our earlier report on the RTA board applicants [link] included this description of the event:

In her application’s cover letter, Gerber reports that she has been organizing “a large-scale role-playing simulation” involving 150 masters students at UM’s Ford School, to be held over a three-day period in January 2013. “The topic of the simulation is regional transit in Southeast Michigan. Specifically, the students will take the perspectives of diverse decision-makers and stakeholders at the state, regional and local levels involved in the RTA. Now that the legislation has passed, their task will be to consider questions of governance, implementation, and funding. Over 30 experts are scheduled to participate in the event, including Governor Snyder.”

During her Dec. 27 interview with the selection panel, Gerber indicated that both Conan Smith and Michael Ford would be participating in the exercise. Since the previous simulations going back through 2003 have been documented online – for example, see the 2012 simulation on U.S.-Mexico border policy here [link] – I assume the upcoming regional transit simulation will also be available at some point.

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 16:00:07 +0000

Professor Gerber has indicated that she is organizing a simulation of regional transit using quite a few people at the UM in the near future. I hope now that she will be representing us, the results of that simulation will be published in an accessible fashion. It should be interesting, both as a theoretical study and as an indication of how she may conduct her duties on this board.

By: Jack Eaton

Jack Eaton — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 15:23:43 +0000

Conan Smith has demonstrated a persistent disregard for any sense of propriety. Apparently, every member of his advisory committee “expressed some concern about [his] relationship with [Mr. Murphy] and the impact that might have on local partnerships and the potential conflict of interest it could represent.” Yet he appointed this personal friend and professional colleague over those objections. His efforts to try to remove the appearance of conflicts only serves to emphasize the substance of the concerns expressed by his advisors.

This brief report implies that Mr. Murphy was not favored by any of the advisory committee members. One must wonder why Mr. Smith needed an advisory committee if he was going to ignore their recommendations. Was the purpose of the committee to give the process an appearance of legitimacy?

Professor Gerber seems highly qualified. I hope the manner in which Mr. Smith conducted this process does not reflect poorly on her or on the members of the advisory committee. Hopefully the next Chair of the County Board of Commissioners will learn something about the appearance of propriety from this sad episode.

While Mr. Murphy seems well acquainted with transit issues, I hope he understands that his friend’s self dealing does not help his own reputation. The new RTA will accomplish little during 2013. Other members of the Board may not be appointed for months, the RTA has no authority over state and federal funds until the new fiscal year (October) and Mr. Murphy’s term ends in December. The state legislature may yet remove Washtenaw County from the RTA. Mr. Murphy may want to consider withdrawing from this position, just to help the reputation of his friend and himself.

By: Alan Goldsmith

Alan Goldsmith — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 11:36:46 +0000

Conan Smith, once again, proves himself to be a political hack, beholden to forces other than from his own Ann Arbor district and Washtenaw County. I’m sure sure Governor Snyder and Bob Ficano are having another good laugh over this manipulation of the puppet strings. Nice conflict of interest representation of his day job interests. And nice photo op for his spouse, smiling away in the background, during the Governor’s signing of the RTA last week too. Thanks Ms. Warren. Nice move covering for the political future of the ‘next’ County Board Chair as well.

By: David Cahill

David Cahill — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 23:01:35 +0000

Shucks! I only batted 50% on my predictions.

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 22:59:32 +0000

My picks were Nacht and Gerber. Murph is certainly knowledgeable and well-qualified professionally, but I’m not sure that a person who has been involved in crafting such a structure has the distance to be able to deal with day-to-day conflicts and practicalities of merging so many entities. In other words, he may be too much of a true believer.

And then there is the employment conflict. Thank you for your careful reporting of the process.