Saturday, August 1, 2015

Fassbender in charge of TransLink after cabinet shuffle in B.C

Fassbender in charge of TransLink after cabinet shuffle in B.C.

IAN BAILEY

VANCOUVER — The Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Jul. 30, 2015 1:33PM EDT

Last updated Thursday, Jul. 30, 2015 11:23PM EDT

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B.C. Premier Christy Clark has handed the intractable question of how to fund transit infrastructure in the Vancouver region to the trusted cabinet minister who solved one of her last difficult dilemmas.

In a surprise move Thursday, Ms. Clark announced Peter Fassbender will now preside over TransLink after moving from education, where he secured a deal with teachers last year after a six-week strike.

The move to take the file from Transportation Minister Todd Stone was a notable part of a larger cabinet shuffle and comes after the plebiscite on a proposed 0.5-per-cent regional sales-tax increase was soundly defeated by voters in results announced earlier this month. The No side won with 62 per cent, compared with 38 per cent for the Yes side.

The failure of the plebiscite has produced fissures in the council of mayors that oversees transit in the region and it prompted mayors in Vancouver and Surrey to speculate about going it alone as they respectively seek to build a subway system and light-rail transit. The province has agreed to provide one-third of the funding for projects, and talks are under way with Ottawa for another third, leaving mayors to find their one-third share.

Mr. Fassbender, who dealt with TransLink issues as mayor of the Lower Mainland municipality of the City of Langley, later told reporters he would keep an open mind, but move quickly to consult and figure out how to reform the organization that manages transit and transportation in the Vancouver region.

TransLink spending and corporate perks were among the issues some say shifted voters against approving the 0.5-per-cent regional sales tax during a plebiscite Ms. Clark promised during the 2013 election campaign.

Mr. Fassbender, whose specific new title is Minister of Community, Sport, Cultural Development and Minister Responsible for TransLink, said he supported the plebiscite, but the result made it clear work needs to be done to restore public confidence in TransLink’s fiscal management and direction.

However, Mr. Fassbender said he has no specific plans on how to proceed beyond working with the mayors on these issues. “I don’t walk in with either a mandate from the Premier to do anything specific other than find a solution that stops the challenges we’ve had,” he said.

“We’ve heard some very clear messages, so my mandate – and what the Premier has asked me to do – is to roll up my sleeves, work with the mayors in the region and the other stakeholders.”

Mr. Fassbender said his past comments as a mayor dealing with TransLink were not necessarily a blueprint for his current plans. “I am not going to lay out any absolutes this early in the game,” he said.

Mr. Fassbender said Mr. Stone had done a great job and that he wouldn’t take any dramatic new direction on the file. “There may be some of the nuances that I have dealt with in the past that will help me provide context,” he said.

Ms. Clark’s move takes TransLink out of the hands of Mr. Stone, who saw through Ms. Clark’s plebiscite commitment. “He’s lost a big chunk of responsibility,” NDP critic George Heyman said of Mr. Stone. “I think he reached the end of his rope.”

Mr. Fassbender’s appointment was hailed by Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner, chair and vice chair, respectively, of the Metro Vancouver mayors’ council.

Mr. Robertson said a TransLink-responsible minister recognized the province’s key role in reforming the organization and enabling investments in transit.

Mr. Robertson noted, in a statement, that he was impressed with Mr. Fassbender’s “strong understanding of transportation pressures” in the region based on their work together on the Mayors’ Council for Regional Transportation.

Ms. Hepner said, in a statement, she had had a “long and very positive” working relationship with the incoming minister. “As the former mayor of Langley City, he brings the added and welcome perspective of the critical needs of our communities.”

Ms. Clark was not available for comment Thursday.

Controversy brews over new Translink CEO’s possible pay in B.C

Controversy brews over new Translink CEO’s possible pay in B.C.

FRANCES BULA AND KAT SIENIUC

VANCOUVER — Special to The Globe and Mail

Published Monday, Jul. 27, 2015 9:44PM EDT

Last updated Monday, Jul. 27, 2015 9:48PM EDT

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TransLink hasn’t even finished the search for its new CEO and already there’s controversy over what the winning candidate will be paid.

The transportation agency’s search firm posted a job advertisement online last week that outlined a compensation package very similar to that of former CEO Ian Jarvis. The compensation package posted by Boyden Global Executive Search specifies $319,000 in base salary, a bonus of up to 30 per cent, a $14,000 transportation allowance and a $1,200 parking allowance.

Executive pay was one of the frequently cited sore points during a recently defeated plebiscite that asked Vancouver-area residents to vote on a new sales tax to fund transit improvements.

That has prompted questions from the agency’s long-time critics, concern from Transportation Minister Todd Stone and confusion among the region’s mayors, many of whom said they knew nothing about how the decision on compensation was made.

“I don’t know how they can have a recruitment when they don’t have an approved executive-compensation plan,” said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie. “I don’t know how they can designate remuneration.”

Mr. Brodie said many mayors in the region would likely not be in favour of the new CEO getting the kind of pay his predecessor received – pay that Mr. Brodie said increased substantially since the mayors last had control over TransLink – in 2007.

“I think many mayors would have a problem with this,” he said.

The mayors were given the right to review executive compensation by the province last year in response to their lobbying efforts for more control of TransLink.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and Barry Forbes, the vice-chair of TransLink’s board, said there is a process to review the compensation package while the job search is under way.

Mr. Forbes sent an e-mail to the mayors late Monday spelling out the details and saying the compensation question is being assessed with the help of a third-party consultant.

“Discussions with some representatives of the mayors’ council have taken place in order to get feedback on the proposed compensation plan, including CEO salary ranges, and we look forward to presenting our recommendations to the mayors’ council,” he wrote.

Mr. Robertson, one of two mayors with a seat on the board, said the job posting reflects the salaries of both the former and interim CEOs.

Asked if he believed the salary should be rolled back, Mr. Robertson said “it should be competitive with other cities. Obviously we want to have great people running our transit authority here, and at the same time it shouldn’t be at the high end of the range.”

The TransLink CEO’s pay has been highly scrutinized in recent years, partly because it rose so sharply and partly because of the attention the agency’s spending gets.

According to a public-salary database compiled by The Vancouver Sun, Mr. Jarvis, the previous CEO, had the 39th-highest compensation package of about 75,000 employees of provincial or municipal government agencies. (The database does not include federal employees.) That was more than the deputy premier but less than the CEOs of Port Metro Vancouver, a federal agency, and BC Ferries.

Mr. Jarvis was removed from his job by the board just before the plebiscite voting started. Interim CEO Doug Allen leaves the job Aug. 10.

Saturday, August 1, 2015