REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum


Welcome to the REVscene Automotive Forum forums.

Registration is Free!You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today! The banners on the left side and below do not show for registered users!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.


Go Back   REVscene Automotive Forum > Automotive Chat > Vancouver Off-Topic / Current Events

Vancouver Off-Topic / Current Events The off-topic forum for Vancouver, funnies, non-auto centered discussions, WORK SAFE. While the rules are more relaxed here, there are still rules. Please refer to sticky thread in this forum.

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 10-18-2012, 07:19 AM   #51
NOOB, Not Quite a Regular!
 
aphextwin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: burnaby
Posts: 31
Thanked 15 Times in 9 Posts
wanna hear a joke?
Spoiler!
Advertisement
aphextwin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 07:22 AM   #52
Wunder? Wonder?? Wander???
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: 604
Posts: 167
Thanked 342 Times in 43 Posts
this shit would never pass
k00laid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 08:00 AM   #53
Banned By Establishment
 
Gridlock's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: New West
Posts: 3,998
Thanked 2,982 Times in 1,135 Posts
God...we need to change our priorities!

We need cost cutting across the board. You name the department.

I was talking with Dino the other day, regarding the 139 mill at Translink that "could" be found. First, although those savings are there, they probably won't all be utilized.

Next, and this is key...I don't think many departments are literally burning money. The money is being spent, and someone, somewhere is going to bitch to high heaven when that tap is turned off. We may not be getting a great benefit for that dollar, but its being used and something is being provided for it.

So, when you start talking about cost cutting, every little thing becomes a sacred cow. We're seeing this in the states right now. They are huge on talking about cost cutting, very small on executing cost cutting. But, the best we've heard of what actually may be cut is planned parenthood and big bird. That's the big fucking show.

It's the same problem here. You cut a night bus that has 4 passengers, and I'm sure the news will find the single mother of 12 kids working 14 jobs that relies on that bus. You need someone that can rise above that, and say "the cuts stay".

Cutting costs is hard! Look at the grief they are taking about the kits coast guard base. One cut. People are out for blood.

This is the problem with an entitlement society...you can't take the knife back out without causing further trauma.

The other bad part, and this is directly where this study comes in, is that these departments feed off spending money. Maybe we need to say no? maybe after the canada line, the port mann project and others, maybe we needed to hold off for 5 years on evergreen, to let a little cashola build up again. That's just me.

BUT-we'll have someone chime in that the Evergreen line is so needed and blah blah blah. Promised for years it was! So you can't win on cutting a single cost, because there is always someone that wants one more sacred cow of spending. And in politics, you can't be popular for making the hard decisions.
Gridlock is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 08:25 AM   #54
Rs has made me the woman i am today!
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Burnaby
Posts: 4,020
Thanked 6,687 Times in 1,624 Posts
^There are two sides to your logic.

Cost-cutting is necessary now, because money was very poorly managed in the past.

How much revenue do you think were bled out because for some dumbass reason, we let people use the Skytrain based on the "honour system." Then, instead of installing gates, they hired people who worked ridiculous amounts of overtime. Then, crime went up, and we hired more of these people, and gave them guns.

Flashy signs that tell you when the next bus is coming. Was that necessary? When I took the bus, I walked up to the pole, pulled out my watch, and subtracted the time the bus was supposed to arrive, to the time it was now. No problems there.

Golden Ears bridge. Enough said.

Perhaps they are receiving more shit than they are actually responsible for, but they deserve every bit of it.

Now look what's happened. Nobody has ANY confidence in them anymore, and THAT'S why someone somewhere will complain. If they had a good track record of doing their shit properly, and then due to circumstances needed extra revenue, and proposed a tax hike, it wouldn't be met with so much negativity and criticism.

As for the entitlement society, I agree with you 100%.

Canada has too many people who fucking complain, and too many people who listen to people who complain. Now, people complain for the sake of complaining, not really knowing what the implications are. People refuse to compromise. Make some fucking sacrifices. Look what's happened to Greece.

I also disagree with your last comment. In politics, hard decisions are easy to make because the people don't really see the effects for a while. It's the guy after that gets shit upon. In that regards, I feel terrible for the next government; much akin to Obama in some ways.
inv4zn is offline   Reply With Quote
This post thanked by:
Old 10-18-2012, 08:37 AM   #55
RS has made me the bitter person i am today!
 
Hehe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: YVR/TPE
Posts: 4,581
Thanked 2,732 Times in 1,168 Posts
How about Translink simply use a little logic... if you can't make something within the original budget, don't.

After billions worth of investment into the infrastructure, Translink is still not breaking even. This can mean only one thing, the plan currently in place is WRONG!

Why do we pour more money into things that would eventually lose more money? They need to figure a fucking way to at least break even. And when they turn into profit, they can start talking about expansion.

Granted I no longer live in GVR, but every time I see news like this, I get mad. It's a slap in the face saying "Look, I spent all your tax money on useless shit and now I am going to grab some more to create some more useless shit."
__________________
Nothing for now
Hehe is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 08:43 AM   #56
Diagonally parked in a parallel universe
 
604STIG's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Burnaby
Posts: 1,415
Thanked 569 Times in 301 Posts
How about they take all the money they collect for roads, maintenance & transit and use it for said things instead of piling it all into General Revenues? And why do we need "experts" from the states to come here with their suggestions? We're taking advise from people who don't have their own house in order.
604STIG is offline   Reply With Quote
This post thanked by:
Old 10-18-2012, 08:51 AM   #57
Zionism gets my shell hard and slimy
 
snails's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: in a shell
Posts: 2,598
Thanked 6,021 Times in 1,129 Posts
we are turning into the UK

pretty much anything the UK and Japan do influences our future in BC...

that being said, expect tiny housing, overpopulated cities, and TAX ON EVERYTHING!

sure it might not happen now, or withing a decade but it will happen and it will only get worse till no one can afford to drive.

the interior is looking better and better by the minute
snails is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 08:55 AM   #58
Revscene.net has a homepage?!
 
Glove's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: vancouver
Posts: 1,243
Thanked 1,619 Times in 378 Posts
couldv fooled me that our roads were maintaned
Glove is offline   Reply With Quote
This post thanked by:
Old 10-18-2012, 08:55 AM   #59
My homepage has been set to RS
 
dachinesedude's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Richmond
Posts: 2,222
Thanked 1,207 Times in 432 Posts
lol money problem? they need a new controller
dachinesedude is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 09:02 AM   #60
Rider
 
dink's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: bby
Posts: 3,669
Thanked 310 Times in 115 Posts
a U.S. expert panel on transportation suggests...

__________________
http://www.revscene.net/forums/dink-8-0-t263995.html
dink is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 09:05 AM   #61
Banned (ABWS)
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: y
Posts: 298
Thanked 54 Times in 28 Posts
first of all why are we getting advice from the US, look at the state the country is in right now lol.

why dont we seek advice from Germany, Switzerland or even HK
BigTrollFace is offline   Reply With Quote
This post FAILED by:
Old 10-18-2012, 09:26 AM   #62
RS has made me the bitter person i am today!
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 4,964
Thanked 2,451 Times in 1,123 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by freakshow View Post
The only thing I learned from that article is that I need a job at translink.
How many people at Translink are executives that make the big bucks (e.g. 150-200K?) Less than 20.

I reckon that your average manager makes around 80-90K. Your average non-union technocrat maybe in the 50-60s. The audit sponsored by the provincial government basically stated that staff salaries are in line with other public sector organizations. Now, if your view is that public employees are paid too much to begin with, well nothing I can say will convince you otherwise.

Not a lot of money, really. Considering the cars, clothes, and vacations of people on this site, I figured that 60-70K was the average salary for working people.

Quote:
How about Translink simply use a little logic... if you can't make something within the original budget, don't.

After billions worth of investment into the infrastructure, Translink is still not breaking even. This can mean only one thing, the plan currently in place is WRONG!

Why do we pour more money into things that would eventually lose more money? They need to figure a fucking way to at least break even. And when they turn into profit, they can start talking about expansion.
Well, Translink basically informed people in press releases related to its proposed 2013 plan that it would have to start cutting service if it couldn't find other sources of revenue.

Cuts are tough to make. Granted most people here wouldn't touch public transit with a 10 foot pole, but a lot of people depend on it.

Last edited by Tapioca; 10-18-2012 at 09:45 AM.
Tapioca is offline   Reply With Quote
This post thanked by:
Old 10-18-2012, 09:52 AM   #63
RS has made me the bitter person i am today!
 
RiceIntegraRS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 4,865
Thanked 1,057 Times in 429 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by darthchilli View Post
This move will push me to move out of Vancouver and work in Hong Kong instead.... I love this city, but this has gone too damn far.

I understand that by adding more transit is necessary with our growing population, at the same time, how about trying to make our transit system that we have now MORE EFFICIENT.

If this was the case, more people will be willing to take transit...not out of misery becuz its too expensive to drive to work but rather have the confidence in our transit system to get them to wherever they need to be on a timely schedule.
Me and my friends had the same conversation a couple days back. BCs getting ridiculous. I love this city but id leave in a second if it wasnt for my good friends and family living here. People talk about there futures and shit...... Theres no future in a place that will eventually tax u for absolutely anything they can. If they could, they would tax u for walking if they could.
RiceIntegraRS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 09:56 AM   #64
I bringith the lowerballerith
 
spyker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Lake Of Fire
Posts: 1,166
Thanked 623 Times in 252 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gridlock View Post
God...we need to change our priorities!
We need a revolution,that's what we need.

Rise up and take a stand.
spyker is offline   Reply With Quote
This post thanked by:
Old 10-18-2012, 10:13 AM   #65
Zionism gets my shell hard and slimy
 
snails's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: in a shell
Posts: 2,598
Thanked 6,021 Times in 1,129 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by RiceIntegraRS View Post
Me and my friends had the same conversation a couple days back. BCs getting ridiculous. I love this city but id leave in a second if it wasnt for my good friends and family living here. People talk about there futures and shit...... Theres no future in a place that will eventually tax u for absolutely anything they can. If they could, they would tax u for walking if they could.

DONT GIVE THEM IDEAS
snails is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 10:25 AM   #66
RS.net, where our google ads make absolutely no sense!
 
toyobaru's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: BC
Posts: 965
Thanked 239 Times in 76 Posts
THIS.JUST.SOUNDS.SO.FUCKING.STUPID.
toyobaru is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 11:19 AM   #67
My homepage has been set to RS
 
tool001's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: vancouver
Posts: 2,217
Thanked 811 Times in 274 Posts
i get the concept of user fees, provided, i am not already being raped by govt on taxes/sales tax/property tax/ high (est) parking fees...etc.
tool001 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 11:21 AM   #68
I contribute to threads in the offtopic forum
 
asahai69's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Richmond
Posts: 2,805
Thanked 1,260 Times in 321 Posts
i suggest getting new experts. preferably ones whose expertise isnt in anal rape
asahai69 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 11:22 AM   #69
Official Texas Ambassador
 
El Bastardo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 10,333
Thanked 5,671 Times in 1,324 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lomac View Post
Okay, so now that the initial shock has worn off for us, there are a couple things to keep in mind. First off, these are just suggestions. There were probably many more but these were the ones the media chose to run with in their stories.

I have a feeling that this was the "suggestion" that they made seem was the "most likely" in order to incite public rage and pushback so whatever they DO end up proposing won't "seem so bad" but on any other day would be ridiculous.

Lets hear "Plan B"
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by MG1 View Post
She taught me right from wrong and always told me to stay positive and help others no matter how small the deed - that helping others gives us meaning to carry on. The sun is out today and it's a new day. Life is good. I just needed a slap in the face.
El Bastardo is offline   Reply With Quote
This post thanked by:
Old 10-18-2012, 12:05 PM   #70
RS has made me the bitter person i am today!
 
icemiko's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 4,568
Thanked 232 Times in 112 Posts
Vancouver, best city to live in and get raped by taxes!
icemiko is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 01:03 PM   #71
nuggets mod
 
freakshow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: richmond
Posts: 7,044
Thanked 3,782 Times in 977 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tapioca View Post
How many people at Translink are executives that make the big bucks (e.g. 150-200K?) Less than 20.

I reckon that your average manager makes around 80-90K. Your average non-union technocrat maybe in the 50-60s. The audit sponsored by the provincial government basically stated that staff salaries are in line with other public sector organizations. Now, if your view is that public employees are paid too much to begin with, well nothing I can say will convince you otherwise.
If you could quote some sources with those numbers, that be helpful. If those numbers are true, that's not so bad.. however, even if the salaries inline, the number of staff that they have i'm sure could use some work.
I'm basing this on my experiences and conversations with friends at WorkSafe and CBSA. So if those are unique examples, then I take it back.
__________________
I searched for truth, and all I found was You
freakshow is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 01:17 PM   #72
RS has made me the bitter person i am today!
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 4,964
Thanked 2,451 Times in 1,123 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by freakshow View Post
If you could quote some sources with those numbers, that be helpful. If those numbers are true, that's not so bad.. however, even if the salaries inline, the number of staff that they have i'm sure could use some work.
I'm basing this on my experiences and conversations with friends at WorkSafe and CBSA. So if those are unique examples, then I take it back.
I work in the public sector, so I have a pretty good idea of salaries across the board. I know the provincial departments in BC pay about 10-15% less than equivalent positions in other levels of government. I also have a friend who works for WCB and like other Crowns, average compensation is slightly higher than regular departments. The audit noted that Translink employees are about in the middle between Crowns and provincial government regular employees.

For the benefit of RS, here's some information about salaries at the federal level:

Your typical program manager is probably a PM-4 or PM-5. Salary range is $62-82K/year.
Program and Administrative Services - (AS, CM, CR, DA, IS, OE, PM, ST, WP) 8 / 10

How much auditors working for CRA get paid:
Audit, Commerce and Purchasing AV 5 / 9

What a statistician, or some kind of analyst makes. These people are typically classified as EC-02s and EC-03s ($50-62K/year):
Economics and Social Science Services (EC) 231 13 / 15

What a border guard makes (probably in the FB03 or FB04 category):
Border Services (FB) 8 / 11

A typical clerk or administrative assistant makes ($47-58K):
Program and Administrative Services - (AS, CM, CR, DA, IS, OE, PM, ST, WP) 8 / 10

In my experience, federal compensation is roughly comparable to jobs at the municipal level.
Tapioca is offline   Reply With Quote
This post thanked by:
Old 10-18-2012, 02:56 PM   #73
(╯°□°)╯聽不到 ╮(°□°╮)
 
Tim Budong's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: The Womb
Posts: 17,974
Thanked 11,193 Times in 2,275 Posts
Global just tweeted this...
Bus Fare Dodgers.... at least 2.1million people didnt pay their fares..which is a rough estimate..

Fare evasion costs - Noon News Hour - Videos | Global BC
Tim Budong is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 03:06 PM   #74
Wanna have a threesome?
 
MindBomber's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Squamish
Posts: 4,889
Thanked 5,054 Times in 1,657 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by freakshow View Post
If you could quote some sources with those numbers, that be helpful. If those numbers are true, that's not so bad.. however, even if the salaries inline, the number of staff that they have i'm sure could use some work.
I'm basing this on my experiences and conversations with friends at WorkSafe and CBSA. So if those are unique examples, then I take it back.
Since I read the audit, I can comment on this as well.

From 2009 and 2011 the size of the Translink executive team was shrunk from 34 to 17 members creating a 31% savings in executive compensation. Translinks executive compensation structure was found in the mid-range and reasonable by the audit.

From 2007-2011 numbers of both Union and Non-Union employees have grown about 25%, but it's difficult to say this money is being misspent because service has also seen significant increases.

The maintenance department was grown by 30% in preparation for the Olympics, but the work requirements have now declined and the department has not been scaled back. The audit suggests the department see a 10% cut.
MindBomber is offline   Reply With Quote
This post thanked by:
Old 10-18-2012, 03:41 PM   #75
Rs has made me the woman i am today!
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Burnaby
Posts: 4,020
Thanked 6,687 Times in 1,624 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by MindBomber View Post
From 2009 and 2011 the size of the Translink executive team was shrunk from 34 to 17 members creating a 31% savings in executive compensation. Translinks executive compensation structure was found in the mid-range and reasonable by the audit.
This is not a valid argument without more details about what it previously was.

If the 34 executive board was in place since the beginning of Translink, and was only beginning to shrink in 2009, you do the math of how much unnecessary salary was paid before the "restructuring." And who is not to say that the members that were booted out still retained positions in the company, albeit no longer "executive", and retained similar salaries.

There are loopholes and shady wording all over the document.

Dismantle Translink. Bring back BC Transit to take care of buses and skytrain; if they don't have enough money, at least their lack of money won't affect everything else. Set up several other corporations to maintain each part of the infrastructure. One for roads and bridges, building & maintenance. Let the CRA, or set up a provincial branch of it to control and regulate taxes and such; The parking tax is fucking absurd. And all of this should be managed by a responsible and transparent government who can instill confidence in the public that they are working towards to the good of the province/people.
inv4zn is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 04:53 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
SEO by vBSEO ©2011, Crawlability, Inc.
Revscene.net cannot be held accountable for the actions of its members nor does the opinions of the members represent that of Revscene.net