BY KERA ABRAHAM
LTD Shake-Up
Questions linger at Lane Transit District.
A
fter five years of declining bus serv-
ices and worsening employee
morale during his tenure, Lane
Transit District General Manager Ken Hamm
announced his resignation on Dec. 2, the day
after EW published a cover story outlining
complaints against him (“Fed Up with
Hamm,” 12/1). Hamm, who stated in
November that he had no intentions of retiring,
has led the district since 2000 and may remain
on the job through March 3.
On Dec. 9, the LTD board designated
Assistant General Manager Mark Pangborn as
the interim general manager, effective from
Hamm’s resignation until the board hires a per-
manent general manager, probably no earlier
than September 2006.
Questions about the terms of Hamm’s res-
ignation and Pangborn’s appointment as in-
terim general manager remain.
Hamm has asked for a severance pay of
about $117,000, an amount close to his current
salary of $122,300. But the proposal contradicts
Hamm’s employment contract, which states, “If
Mr. Hamm is terminated for cause, or resigns
his employment, he shall not be entitled to re-
ceive any severance benefit.”
Oregon law does not require severance pay,
but LTD’s attorney, Roger Saydack, said that
Hamm’s proposed severance pay is “reason-
able and realistic.”
Some employees disagree. “It’s way, way
too much,” said Jim Stinson, an LTD driver for
12 years. “Getting that many months’ pay and
guaranteed attorneys’ fees is way overboard.”
Carol Allred, the spokesperson for the
union that represents 230 LTD drivers and me-
chanics, said that Hamm’s contract should
make the question of severance pay moot.
“The district holds the bargaining unit to our
contract,” she said. “If [Hamm’s] contract does
not provide for any severance, then why are we
even talking about it?”
Now, as Hamm prepares to leave LTD, the
focus shifts to his replacement. In a Dec. 2
press conference, LTD Board Chair Gerry
Gaydos announced that board members would
appoint an interim general manager to head the
district during the search for a permanent gen-
eral manager. Gaydos indicated that the board
would hear from employees and the union be-
fore making that appointment.
LTD drivers Dave Barton and Dan Dreier,
who had been leaders in the push to force
Hamm out, circulated a petition encouraging
board members to appoint former LTD
General Manager Phyllis Loobey to the in-
terim position. More than 70 percent of LTD’s
unionized employees signed it, and Barton and
Dreier wrote an op-ed in The Register-Guard
to the same effect. Loobey said she was willing
to take on the role.
But on Dec. 9, the board made a surprise
announcement: There was no decision to
make. Pangborn would be the interim general
manager, in compliance with a resolution
passed by the board in 2000 which states,
“LTD Assistant General Manager Mark
Pangborn is designated as the general manager
pro tempore for Lane Transit District during
the absence or disability of the general man-
ager.” Pangborn has worked as an LTD man-
ager for 23 years and currently earns a salary of
$114,000.
Employee reactions to the announcement
were mixed. Dan Dreier, an LTD bus driver for
21 years, worries that Pangborn’s appointment
as interim general manager forebodes more of
the same problems that festered under Hamm.
“Hamm got into the predicament he did walk-
ing hand-in-hand with Mark Pangborn,” he
said. “The source of the disease that’s eating
LTD really is Pangborn.”
“Most of us are pretty upset with the ap-
pointment,” added Jim Stinson, an LTD driver
for 12 years. “He has a real low opinion of
working people. But he’s pretty smooth, and
he’s real good at politics. He can convince peo-
ple of things that he wants them to believe.”
Union leadership is willing to give
Pangborn a chance. “The board’s appointed
him, and it’s my job to work with him,” Allred
said. “I’m hoping that he will be cooperative
and at least listen to what we have to say. He’s
a sharp guy. So we’ll see.”
Pangborn is slated to lead LTD only until
the board hires a permanent general manager,
but he may be a candidate for that position. “If
he wants the job as permanent general man-
ager, he will position himself over this interim
period as a strong candidate,” Barton said. “I
think we have to give him a chance.”
Pangborn, Gaydos and LTD spokesman
Andy Vobora declined to comment.
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