Nothing and no one can stop CATS. Not even the Charlotte city council.
Richard Rubin turns up a case of CATS and the city manager’s office conspiring — there is no other word for it — to circumvent the council’s express instructions on spending for CATS’ new office space Uptown.
Only $95,000 was involved, but this unauthorized spending points to the fact that there is no operational city control over CATS beyond what City Manager-Until-June Pam Syfert decides to ride herd on. And even then, Syfert’s sprawling office staff and budget can absorb and hide much of what goes on.
The upshot is that city council members say they are losing trust in CATS’ leadership. Who-haa! That’s a good one. If so, they are among the last people in Charlotte who believe a word CATS says about anything.
In fact, were city council remotely concerned about CATS’ performance going forward, they might take a depth sounding of the ongoing negotiations with the Teamsters for a new bus driver contract. Will this contract also include 4 to 6 percent raises for some drivers as the first Teamster contract did?
