"They are volunteers with a stipend which is not more than 6,00 dollars a year." Gabrielle Gurley says of Charlie Baker's new MBTA Control Board. "They are basically doing what amounts to two full time jobs. It's a monumental task and the state is getting it at a real bargain."
So what is the five member board tasked with? "It's a pretty daunting...they are there to fix the MBTA. You have five people doing former chairwoman Bevereley Scott's job." Gurley goes on to share that these five experts are delving into procurement, labor issues, workplace performance metrics, and evaluating how many vacancies there are
It bears repeating that last oneL "the MBTA does not know how many vacancies they have." The board is are trying to leverage some data to figure out how to prioritize and determine what needs more attention. "It's a mammoth task, not even taking into account the green line extention." Ultimately this board exhibits how complicated and complex the MBTA realy is. Marcela Garcia goes so far as to compare it to another dysfunctional state agency: DCF. "Given the incredible dysfunction that an agency like DCF exhibits, why not create a similar control board there?"
It's not an outrageous idea, says Elizabthe Roman: "Springfield is known for needing some assistance in the financial department and a control board helped out city to get on track, and a control board's are now being broad on for our school department."
>>>To hear more about the MBTA's control board, an update on this summer's protest against a planned alcohol correctional facility in Western Massachusetts, and who's most effected to the pay gap, listen above.
