tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377041740998843346.post2046508281294030052..comments2023-09-05T11:45:39.403-04:00Comments on Laurels and Lances: Public transit in Pittsburgh is in a death spiralRDChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01135696674274574449noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377041740998843346.post-81111185088573282982008-01-21T10:48:00.000-05:002008-01-21T10:48:00.000-05:00I haven't had time to deal with the blog due to wo...I haven't had time to deal with the blog due to work and family but this response forced me to find a little time to make a response to the above apologist for Skoutelas.<BR/><BR/>First off, the nickle and dime waste adds up and sets the policy for wasteful spending. You don't seem to get that simple point. Add to that the fact that under Skoutelas, PAT inflated costs in such areas as inventory due to having to have every bus order as different from the earlier order as they could get it. Even a brain-dead idiot can see the link between nickle and dime waste leading into larger wasteful spending practices.<BR/><BR/>As far as the 1 billion in development you claim exists, I seriously doubt that the 1 billion came strictly from private funds. A sizable chunk of that came from tax money through sweetheart deals, low interest loans from the taxpayer that rarely get paid back, special taxpayer funded grants and other items which ultimately are paid for by the taxpayer. Besides, PAT is there to move people from point A to point B, not to be a development agency.<BR/><BR/>Skoutelas may have "grown" the system through transit projects but he couldn't afford to run what he already had in place. Too many systems are doing the same thing these days. You need to live within your means and under Skoutelas, he was living large but without a way to pay to run it all. Think of it as living strictly off your charge cards. You can for a while but it catches up with you and soon your deep in debt with no way out. PAT has reached that point. It's too large and too costly to operate without major changes. One of those changes must include changing its fiscal ways which means living within its means, not growing the system more.<BR/><BR/>I have news for you "Anonymous", PAT would be in the same shape it is in today, if not worse, if Skoutelas was still in charge. His spending practices were largely responsible for helping to place PAT in the position it finds itself in today. I still find it funny that he jumped ship before the ax fell on PAT so that someone else would have to shoulder the blame for implementing the major service cuts.<BR/><BR/>Apologists for wasteful spending practices are the real losers and "anonymous", your a real apologist for wasteful spending. Transit can be run efficiently and effectively but your type can't understand that. You just want the fiscal band-aid to patch up the yearly budget while letting the hemorrhaging of cash through wasteful spending practices continue.<BR/><BR/>Under Skoutelas, PAT invented more ways to spend money on everything but providing service than happened under any other PAT executive director in its history so please, don't hand me that bull about how great of a fiscal leader Skoutelas was. <BR/><BR/>Nickel and diming adds up. Ignoring it as you want to do "Anonymous" only allows more money that is needed for keeping service on the street to be drained away for frivolous expenditures. By the way "anonymous", given how you seem to defend waste, I'm sure you can justify the $800 desk clock that Skoutelas just had to have when he became PAT's CEO and paid for by PAT out of operating funds. That clock was just the start of his wasteful ways. I wonder if that clock which I helped pay for through my taxes is still at PAT or is it on his new desk at his new job...RDChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01135696674274574449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377041740998843346.post-76626243751012413792008-01-19T22:08:00.000-05:002008-01-19T22:08:00.000-05:00You do not know what you are talking about. Paul ...You do not know what you are talking about. Paul Skoutelas brought $1 Billion, yes billion dollars of transit development to Pittsburgh. And only 10% of those funds came from the locals. The 'burgh will never experience that much growth in the transit system again. You fools are attacking the person whoc grew the system. The jerk that is in charge now is tearing it down, much like Millar did before Skoutelas came back to save the system. He was worth every penny that he was paid, and worth every penny of pension he is collecting now. You people who pick at the BS and miss the big picture are sad and a bunch of losers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com