THE BOARD MEMBERS appointed by former mayor John Hieftje to oversee the AATA (and then AAATA) were, ostensibly, blind-sided by an article published in The Ann Arbor News on Mar. 20. That paper reported that between 2010-2015 AATA/AAATA “employees overall collectively billed the agency for more than $283,000 worth of travel, conference, meeting and meal expenses.” Of that total, the lion’s share of money for meals, travel and expenses went to former CEO Michael Ford—some $115,000.

That the extent of Ford’s largesse with public money was exposed after voters went to the polls to approve a multi-million dollar millage enhancement for AAATA is unfortunate. However, it should come as no surprise. After the millage was approved, the political appointees on the AAATA Board voted Michael Ford a retroactive raise in pay. It was an irresponsible decision, considering Michael Ford was planning to leave Ann Arbor to lead Michigan’s Regional Transit Authority. Why he landed a retroactive raise in pay on his way out the door speaks volumes about the need for City Council to exercise more stringent oversight of the AAATA Board appointments and those political appointees.

AAATA Treasurer Eli Cooper says he will “conduct a thorough review of the agency’s expense policies and procedures, including those pertaining to conference travel and meals.” Mr. Cooper, the City of Ann Arbor’s Transportation Manager, has the least autonomy of anyone on that Board to examine the agency’s policies and procedures. We question, in fact, why Eli Cooper has been allowed to remain on the AAATA Board. He is a city staffer who lives outside of Ann Arbor. AAATA Board appointments are supposed to go to local residents.

At the AAATA Board meeting where Cooper announced his desire to review the organization’s policies and procedures related to employee expenses, Board Chair Charles Griffith said: “It’s a good time for us to reflect on those policies in light of information that’s been compiled….” Information was not “compiled.” Michael Ford, through public records turned over in response to Freedom of Information Act requests, was discovered to have allowed $283,000 of the public’s money to be used in ways that reflect neither fiscal responsibility nor the reality of how many people in the county live.

Charles Griffith works for the Ann Arbor Ecology Center and his 2006 appointment to the then AATA Board was little more than political cronyism on the part of former mayor John Hieftje. Michael Garfield, who heads the Ann Arbor Ecology Center, has repeatedly endorsed Hieftje. In return, Recycle Ann Arbor (an affiliate of the Ecology Center) has enjoyed a long-term, no bid, $30 million contract to collect the city’s recycling.

City Council must clean house. AAATA Board members have wasted millions of tax dollars on the WALLY and a failed county-wide transit debacle. This Board gave us a Blake Transit Center redesign that forces buses onto city streets where they block traffic and endanger pedestrians at crosswalks. Now we have new revelations that AAATA’s former CEO soaked taxpayers for tens of thousands of dollars on meals out with AATA Board members, Council members and other politicians and political appointees.

City staffer Eli Cooper should be removed immediately. Roger Kerson, whose term ends in May 2015 and who told The Ann Arbor News that Ford’s extravagant spending on meals and travel raised no red flags, should not be reappointed. As for Charles Griffith, his lackluster leadership has resulted in widespread waste of public money, including on the local and state level, with AAATA’s oversight of the WALLY. It’s time he stepped down.