TransLink board replaces CEO Ian Jarvis
Posted February 11, 2015 4:50 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SURREY (NEWS1130) – One month before the transportation referendum, there’s been a shakeup at TransLink.
Doug Allen is replacing Ian Jarvis as CEO, effective immediately.
“The Board and the organization are committed to improving transit service and transportation in Metro Vancouver. The Board of Directors is listening to customers and the public regarding the need for change and has taken action,” says Translink Board of Directors Chair Marcella Szel in an emailed statement.
The Board of Directors has put in place a search committee to find a new CEO, which is expected to take several months.
“The person selected as the permanent CEO will be responsible for meeting the challenges of a growing region that expects to see one million new residents in the next 30 years. Either there will be major new investments to implement or there will be the challenge of underfunding. Regardless, TransLink must restore public confidence, and new leadership is the first step,” explains Szel.
Transportation Minister Todd Stone says the board has sent a strong message to Metro Vancouver voters ahead of the referendum.
“I think that’s going to be a critical message that the people of the region are going to need to hear.”
NDP TransLink critic George Heyman says the transportation minister made it known he wanted Jarvis out, but this firing doesn’t get to the root of the problem. “The government’s model that his government imposed in 2007, which operates in secrecy without accountability, is at the root of the problem of both trust, accountability and hiring of senior executives.
Mayor’s Council leader and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson says he’s been calling for Jarvis to leave for a while. “There have been real concerns around the SkyTrain breakdowns. There certainly have been concerns around executive pay and historically, for streamlining of the staff and executive.”
When asked about the extra costs now that there are essentially two CEOs, Robertson says it’s best to ask the chair of TransLink’s board.
Jordan Bateman with the No Translink tax coalition says the move has done nothing but convince voters there is a reason to not have confidence in TransLink. “If he’s truly so bad, why is he staying on as a special advisor to the board? That’s like keeping John Tortorella around to advise Trevor Linden on Canucks’ issues.”
Jarvis will continue as an advisor to the board until June 2016, when his contract expires. He will earn his CEO salary until that time.
Allen will be paid $35,000 per month as interim CEO.
