Twin Transit, Board Remain Under Microscope

The resignation of general manager Derrick Wojcik-Damers last month appeared to mark the end of a tumultuous period for Twin Transit. 

However, as the search for a new manager ramps up, actions taken by Wojcik-Damers and by advisory board chair Bobby Jackson continue to create roadblocks for the embattled agency.

Twin Transit employee Alison Meyn filed a tort claim late Wednesday related to Jackson and Wojcik-Damers’ surprise appearance at the Twin Transit building on Feb. 2, after Wojcik-Damers was ordered to stay away pending an investigation on complaints against him.

Meyn names Jackson, Wojcik-Damers and the Twin Transit Advisory Board as the responsible parties and is seeking $20,000 in damages. The Chronicle will publish more information on the claim as it becomes available.

Meanwhile, Jackson has made statements within the past two weeks — drawing scrutiny from city and county officials — suggesting leaders already took action to expand the Lewis Public Transit Benefit Area countywide despite the fact that a ballot measure on the topic failed in November. 

Additionally, the county commissioner refused to answer questions from callers related to the separation agreement between Twin Transit and Wojcik-Damers during a recent appearance on KELA-AM 1470.

Jackson represents the Lewis County Board of County Commissioners on the Twin Transit Advisory Board. His actions have drawn the ire of high-ranking county officials, including his fellow commissioners.

“My concern is that as far as getting all the information on these issues, and I hate to say it, most of what I get is what I read in the newspaper,” Commissioner Edna Fund said. “We need to have a public conversation on this, and I do have some questions (for Jackson). I’m hoping to get more information and I’m hoping to get it soon.”

Jackson and Wojcik-Damers caused a stir last month when they showed up at Twin Transit the same day Meyn and additional employees were quoted in The Chronicle alleging poor management and the creation of a hostile work environment by both men. Wojcik-Damers had been instructed by the advisory board to work from home and avoid contact with Twin Transit employees while under investigation for complaints filed by two managers and nearly half the rank-and-file staff.

Maintenance supervisor Steve Wark later claimed that Jackson left the building before Wojcik-Damers, leaving him alone in the building with employees who had filed complaints against him. Jackson has denied leaving without Wojcik-Damers and has previously stated he was advised by legal counsel that he could chaperone Wojcik-Damers’ visit without impacting the ongoing investigation.

Meyn said Wednesday that an investigation into the incident by human resources manager Melissa Shoemaker found Jackson and Wojcik-Damers to be in the wrong.

She and other employees have alleged Jackson brought Wojcik-Damers to the building during a time they knew staff members would be on the premises. Employees reported feeling threatened and intimidated by their presence before operations manager Aaron Rollins ordered them to evacuate the building. 

“(Shoemaker’s) investigation showed that their being on the premises wasn’t good,” Meyn said. “She couldn’t prove that (Jackson) left him there alone, because it was a ‘he said, he said’ situation. She has informed the board that Mr. Jackson and Derrick were in the wrong by being there and left it at that.”

As to the future of efforts to expand Twin Transit service countywide, Jackson has claimed in multiple public forums that the failure of a fall ballot measure did not mean the Lewis Public Transportation Benefit Area map remains the same — confined to metropolitan Centralia and Chehalis.

According to Jackson, city officials at a public transportation improvement conference convened last April by the Board of County Commissioners voted to expand the boundaries of the LPTBA under a provision of Revised Codes of Washington chapter 36.57A. Per the RCW, the conference could follow a procedure to adopt a resolution establishing or changing the boundaries of a public transportation benefit area.

Jackson made this claim at a Feb. 25 meeting of the Winlock City Council. While there, Jackson spoke highly of Wojcik-Damers, who stepped down following reporting by The Chronicle that revealed a felony theft conviction he incurred under a prior name as well as a long civil legal history of financial troubles.

“We at that conference expanded the benefit district to the entire county, and so countywide transit is still an idea we are discussing and are going to talk about, because we have made it available to every part of the county,” Jackson told the council. “The difference being, we don’t have the tax revenue to support that. … I don’t even know that it will be a ballot measure, it may be some other way. We’re going to look at all of our options.”

However, adjusting the boundaries of an established area such as the LPTBA without a popular vote requires a second hearing and notice given in the same manner as the original hearing held in April. That does not appear to have taken place, and those who were at the conference say that’s not what they were led to believe they were voting on. 

Jackson’s recent statements are the only time on record anyone has suggested that the conference resulted in a change to the LPTBA’s boundaries. 

“That certainly wasn’t my understanding and I’m not sure where (Jackson) is coming up with that,” said Chehalis Mayor Dennis Dawes. He abstained from the April vote on behalf of Chehalis, because Twin Cities residents did not get to vote on the expansion question in November.

“I think he’s stretching his logic pretty hard to say the transit system expansion was already done. To me, that’s going to be a pretty good stretch and a cause for concern, because that’s not what was talked about. It was about what happens if the voters decided to expand it, and given the vote of the people, I’m personally not interested in expanding anything without the funding.”

The language of the official ballot measure distributed to Lewis County voters states the BOCC “adopted Resolution 18-230 concerning a sales and use tax to finance public transportation within boundaries of the (LPTBA)” and that if approved, the proposition would authorize a sale and use tax of two-tenths of 1 percent to fund the service.

The ballot measure itself reads as though the boundaries had already been expanded, but the resolution authorizing the proposition does not. It includes a section stating the transportation improvement conference voted for a resolution to ask voters to authorize the inclusion of areas sought to be annexed into the LPTBA as well as the tax issue.

Additionally, the explanatory statement included in the voter’s guide states that, “If approved, this measure will expand the (LPTBA) to include all of Lewis County … Presently, the LPTBA includes only the city limits of Centralia and Chehalis.”

Those two documents appear to follow another subsection of RCW 36.57A regarding annexation into public transit benefit areas. The process laid out by that section would require the Twin Transit Advisory Board to pass a resolution supporting such a proposal, which it did on Aug. 21 of last year. The RCW then requires a proposition be put on the ballot “authorizing the inclusion of the area within the public transportation benefit area and authorizing the imposition of such taxes authorized by law to be collected by the authority.”

Eric Eisenberg, deputy prosecuting attorney for Lewis County, said he was looking into the discrepancies between the resolution passed by the BOCC, the explanatory statement and the ballot language. He began to do so following an inquiry made to the prosecutor’s office earlier this week.

Eisenberg’s initial sense is that the LPTBA boundaries remain constrained to Centralia and Chehalis, though he wants to examine additional documents before making a final determination.

“If it is the case that the boundaries were expanded and then the tax was voted down, that would beg the question of whether the district’s boundaries should be reduced back down to where they were,” Eisenberg said. “If the plan was to expand the district, then pay for it, but the people said ‘no thank you,’ that might be a step to look at.”

Another lingering question held by many Lewis County citizens has to do with the separation agreement signed by Wojcik-Damers and Twin Transit board members in tandem with his resignation.

Twin Transit agreed to pay Wojcik-Damers six months of severance pay, cash out his accrued hours of paid time off, reimburse up to $5,000 in moving expenses and six months of health insurance in exchange for Wojcik-Damers releasing the agency and parties under its umbrella from any potential legal liabilities.

Wojcik-Damers earned a salary of $112,545 at the time of his resignation. His paid time off bank started with a balance of 80 hours, accrued 25 hours each month, and ended with 120 hours unspent. All told, Twin Transit owes Wojcik-Damers more than $65,000, not including the value of his health insurance premiums.

According to Wojcik-Damers’ employment contract with Twin Transit, a copy of which was obtained by The Chronicle, he was an at-will employee and could have been let go without cause in exchange for three months of severance pay and the value of his unused time off. Twin Transit attorney Janean Parker explained the reasoning why the agency chose to go the route it did.

“My understanding is that it’s usually a common practice, whether there’s any specific liability or not, just for that extra protection,” Parker said. “My common advice in most situations is for that extra protection. That cost is worth that protection … though I’m unaware of any specific legal liability or issue.”

Jackson appeared as a guest of host Peter Abbarno on the Tuesday edition of “Let’s Talk About It” on KELA. All but one call from listeners during the half-hour segment was a question for Jackson about Twin Transit. 

Jackson brushed the first caller aside, who incorrectly asserted that the payment had come from Lewis County, choosing to instead speak to the need to hire a new manager in order to handle issues such as safety for bus passengers on Market Street in Chehalis.

The second caller scolded Jackson for not addressing the separation agreement earlier and also asked for clarification about what Jackson meant when he spoke in Winlock about the LPTBA having expanded despite the vote of the public.

“Well, I think I’ve already answered those questions,” Jackson responded. “Quite frankly, I think it’s time to move on. Let’s take another call.”