Sherman -- Following a tumultuous regular meeting Monday, November 30, that included the resignation of the chairman of the board, new leadership of the Texoma Area Paratransit System board of directors will attempt to bring solvency to the struggling transportation organization.
Fannin County Judge Spanky Carter was the unanimous choice to take over the role as chairman of the board at TAPS after the sudden resignation of the former chairman, Collin County Commissioner Chris Hill, during the meeting.
Hill had been voted in as chairman three months ago with the hope that the significant political clout of Collin County would result in a resolution of the public transportation crisis.
Hill, along with board member Chuck Branch, a McKinney City Councilmember, had been soundly criticized for voting to close TAPS at a previous meeting.
McKinney City Council voted to cancel its contract with TAPS and Collin County seems almost certain to follow suit. The City of McKinney had been paying TAPS $854,000 annually, while rural Collin County paid $333,000 annually for TAPS service.
TAPS board members questioned the divided allegiance of their fellow board members from Collin County.
"The dynamics of the board has been divisive," stated Grayson County Judge Bill Magers, vice-chair of the board.
Terrence Steele, TAPS board member and Sherman City Councilmember, had much stronger words.
"Right now, we need a board that is cohesive," Steele told Hill. "Right now, we need a unified board to move this organization to solid ground. I don't see you fighting for TAPS. I see you putting every nail in the coffin."
Hill then resigned, but some of the tough questions he asked will echo through TAPS in the months ahead. In particular, why didn't the lack of timely audit results for the past two years raise red flags?
Carter has the unenviable position of bringing fiscal responsibility to an organization that has gone from 366 employees down to 51 employees and is more than $4 million in the red, including a payroll debt of $275,000.
People who need this public transportation crisis resolved the most -- unpaid employees who desperately need to pay long overdue bills and people with no other means of transportation -- now look to a unified board of directors to negotiate a labyrinth of short-term challenges resulting from what Hill characterized as "gross mismanagement."
If so, TAPS would eventually gain access to millions of dollars from Federal Transit Administration and TxDOT that enable multi-county public transportation organizations to operate.
"This is a very difficult position," Carter said after the meeting, "but there has to be a solution. We've got to find an answer. Too many people depend on it."
