Frank Kruesi: As Unhelpful As Ever

By Margaret Lyons in News on Jan 7, 2008 6:48PM

Ex-CTA head Frank Kruesi broke his era of silence just in time to disavow any responsibility for the clusterfuck of mismanagement, power jockeying and buck-passing also known as the transit funding crisis, telling the Sun-Times "I made the decisions that I thought were right at the time. I don't think anything is gained by going back and rehashing things." Because learning from the past is for assholes.

Kruesi says a lack of review of transit funding, plus vanishing capital funding programs, have led to the CTA's precarious position (recall: the newest doomsday is scheduled for Jan 20).

Had there been a review of transit funding and policies every six years as there is on the federal level . . . I don't think transit in this region would be in anywhere near as bad financial shape as it is now... For many states that have good transit, there is a predictable, reliable source, not only of operating funds, but also of capital funds. So it's possible to plan for, and be competitive for, federal funding for major capital improvements. Unfortunately, that's not the case in Illinois.

He neglected to add "I did nothing to solve these problems, and my ineptitude may have exacerbated them. I apologize." Oh, well.

Kruesi believes the State will get it together to figure out a "resolution," and that Ron Huberman and Carole Brown are doing a good job.

Kookybites does the snarky captioning for us, with "That train is moving...unlike any mass transit funding reform in [S]pringfield." Snap!