Posts tagged Board Of Trade
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Almost everyone agrees WMATA needs funding
Momentum is growing for dedicated revenue, and possibly associated reforms, for the struggling Metro system. A group of 21 business associations issued a statement last week calling for action to save Metro. So did 18 nonprofit organizations. And so have five local faith-based organizing groups and Metro's largest union. Will legislators follow? Keep reading…
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GAO says clarify WMATA board role, don’t restructure
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its long-awaited report on WMATA governance this morning. The report concludes that the board lacks clarity about where its role begins and ends, but rejects some of the drastic structural changes that have been proposed, instead arguing the board can and should fix problems itself. An ambiguous definition of the board’s… Keep reading…
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Experts should make technical decisions, not policy
From the WMATA governance debate to the 2030 Group’s transportation report, there’s been a recent push from business groups to convince elected officials to stay away from making decisions and instead leave the policymaking to “experts.” That’s dangerous. If you want to get cable TV, an expert cable installer knows which pieces of equipment… Keep reading…
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Dear COG and Board of Trade: Democracy is healthy
Last week, the Board of Trade/COG WMATA Governance Task Force held a public meeting to hear ideas from stakeholders about improving WMATA’s governance. Sadly, the Board of Trade and COG continued their trend of keeping the task force quite distant from those who actually work hard to improve WMATA. The meeting was structured like a typical public hearing where public… Keep reading…
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Shouldn’t “we” have a say in WMATA’s future?
You might never know it, but influential business leaders and former elected officials are meeting behind closed doors to determine the future of WMATA’s board and whether you have board members who listen to your concerns. The Greater Washington Board of Trade is a lobbying group made up of business leaders from the Washington region. It pushes for policies that benefit… Keep reading…