senatorium t1_je5s6rx wrote on March 29, 2023 at 4:47 PM

They also need to flush the T's board out. The Fiscal Management Control Board, the predecessor to the current board, was highly regarded for its hands-on approach to the T. The current board is the polar opposite. They mostly praised Poftak, ask few questions, and wander away from their computers during the public comment time.

ToadScoper OP t1_je5u6up wrote on March 29, 2023 at 4:59 PM

Precisely- the 2021 control board was set for failure by Baker himself. He ordered the current board to be as hands-off and passive as possible to lower capital costs, and he got exactly that. Unfortunately, our current governor does not recognize this issue and has made no indication of appointing a new board.

Suddenly_Suitable t1_je6inp8 wrote on March 29, 2023 at 7:34 PM

How is this misinformation upvoted? Baker didn't order anything like that.

The FMCB was proposed by Baker in 2015 and is the board structure the state supported.

The legislature allowed the board to expire in 2021 and replaced it with appointees they chose, overriding Baker's proposal.

The expiration of the FMCB coincided with the pandemic and disastrous decay in MBTA operations over the last two years.

Also, capital spending increased massively during the past administration - it was not cut, rather more than doubled. The critique is actually that the T has focused too much on capital expansion at the expense of operations recently.

https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2021/06/30/mbta-fmcb-rip/

CitationNeededBadly t1_jebfenj wrote on March 30, 2023 at 8:05 PM

Your article states that 5 of the 7 on the board of directors were appointed by the governor, not the legislature. The MBTA board of directors web page also says this. https://www.mbta.com/leadership/mbta-board-directors

The other 2 are the secretary of transportation, and one chosen by the cities and towns in the MBTA advisory board.

downthewell62 t1_je5uyrm wrote on March 29, 2023 at 5:04 PM

What is the legal process to do this? Can Wu just...do it? If so, she needs to

Sheol t1_je5x7o4 wrote on March 29, 2023 at 5:18 PM

Wu basically isn't in the conversation for the MBTA. She can exert influence, but has not jurisdictional power.

ToadScoper OP t1_je5wqdl wrote on March 29, 2023 at 5:15 PM

Wu can't do anything, the T control board answers to the governor (which is a whole issue of its own). Baker created the control board to manage the T’s finances, management, and operations to ultimately "fix" the T. This idealism was thrown out of the window in 2021 when he appointed the current board, so we're left with a powerful board that does jack. Healey would need to directly intervene and appoint a new board or even create some form of new governance, which she seems totally uninterested in doing as of now.