Passenger Trains > Caltrain Boss Earns More Than $522,000 After Raise And Bonus

Jim Hartnett, the guy who runs Caltrain, just got a raise and bonus, pushing his annual salary to more than $522,000, according to a story published today by the Palo Alto Daily Post.

This is despite ongoing issues with Caltrain's PTC system, and missing many promised deadlines to get the safety system operational. Caltrain is now embroiled in at least two lawsuits — one filed by the transit agency, and another from a contractor — over the PTC project.

The Daily Post isn't online, but I posted scans of the article from the morning paper. It's in three pieces.

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FUMU


Nudge

Complain all you want, it's not like the guy approved the raises. He's just accepted the money on pay day, just like anyone else would...

Another example of mediocrity being rewarded.  It's got to stop.

coach Wrote:
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> Another example of mediocrity


and even failure

> being rewarded.
>  It's got to stop.

TAW

Those numbers aren't as big as I would've thought. Doesn't excuse incompetency, though.

Some years back about one-half of my work was related to what was then the SP commute system. Everyone from coach cleaners to Operating Dept officers worked hard, resulting in dependable passenger transportation with some not paid enough but no one overpaid. None left work early and some worked very long hours. It was satisfying work. Only in a government job would you find a management-type guy so overpaid, but then it's just the taxpayers' money.

P Hall,
Oh ya. He was trying to get away and they shoved the undeserved money down his throat.

Something like, "No sweetheart, they forced me to stay with them and drink till midnight."

Nudge

spnudge Wrote:
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> P Hall,
> Oh ya. He was trying to get away and they shoved
> the undeserved money down his throat.
>
> Something like, "No sweetheart, they forced me to
> stay with them and drink till midnight."
>
> Nudge

Well, this problem can be fixed. Next election day go to the polls and vote.
The folks who gave him those raises were elected by about 20% of the electorate.
The other 80% couldn't be bothered and now they're complaining.
You lost your "right" to complain when you decided to not vote.

It's a little more complicated than that.

Caltrain's nine-person board is appointed. Three each from Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Francisco counties.

They don't really answer to the voters.

So what? Public agencies got sued all the time, especially by some people with axe to grind. Like the article said, the firing of PTC contractor and subsequent lawsuits are the decision of the Board, not the General Manager. Jim Hartnett was hired as the General Manager of Caltrain in 2015 and responsible for day-to-day operation. Caltrain's farebox return ratio has been above 65% for a number of years, so Hartnett keeping the farebox return ratio high and train running smoothly is enough for the performance clause to kick in.

That should just cover the RENT for a small one-bedroom flat in the The City, so what's the big deal? :)

coach Wrote:
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> Another example of mediocrity being rewarded.
>  It's got to stop.

Not going to stop. It's a cultural problem, where money is the only motivation, often at the expense of actually doing something.

And "voting" (and it deserves the quotes) isn't going to make much of a difference either, regardless of walstib's explanation on how Caltrain's board operates. Even if voters were able to directly determine the fate of Jim Hartnett, they'd get suckered with false promises so he would have stayed on anyway.

We're supposed to be angry about this, but somehow I'm not. All the other mediocrity around us make this really tame.