Bobby Jackson, left, plays an audio recording through his phone during a special Twin Transit meeting in Chehalis last December.
The sad saga of the downfall of former Twin Transit General Manager Derrick Wojcik-Damers has had plenty of ink in The Chronicle these past few months.
It all ended with the disclosure that Wojcik-Damers had a past felony conviction for embezzling money, although by all accounts he was on his way out before that came to light.
The final piece in this tale deals with Lewis County Commissioner Bobby Jackson, who has vocally supported Wojcik-Damers well beyond what a reasonable person would do — or what we expected.
Jackson, also a Lewis County Commissioner, is the board chair of Twin Transit. In essence, Wojcik-Damers was Jackson’s pick to run the transit system, and he defended his choice to the bitter end.
One disturbing event toward the end of their relationship involved Jackson taking Wojcik-Damers to Twin Transit headquarters on a Saturday — after the Twin Transit Board of Directors had directed Wojcik-Damers to stay away and work from home while an investigation was underway regarding complaints by transit employees.
Many of the employees went public with their concerns, despite fears there could be workplace retaliation. The Saturday meeting was not a wise move by Jackson, it was not what a responsible board chair would do. Imagine the trepidation of the employees who now are under the interim direction of Jackson. Some accounts have Jackson spending time almost every working day at Twin Transit headquarters.
Jackson confirmed he is acting as an interim manager in a story last week when he stated, “Currently, I am the administrative contact and the administrative decision maker for Twin Transit.”
In Saturday’s paper, The Chronicle printed a letter to the editor from Jean Fairgrieve of Chehalis.
She opens her letter stating, “Stop praising Wojcik-Damers and solve the problems he left behind. … I am sick and tired of hearing the chairman of our Twin Transit board, Bobby Jackson, praise the former general manager.”
She ends her letter stating, “So, Bobby Jackson, rather than continue using your energy to praise the person who was responsible for this mess, please direct your energy toward solving this problem now — before rather than after — somebody is killed while crossing Market to catch the bus.”
In an email sent to The Chronicle over the weekend, Cathy Whitney, the Twin Transit manager from 2003-2014, also wrote about her concerns about the bus stops in Chehalis. She states Jackson needs to “actually address this issue without (a) blaming someone else or (b) praising and making excuses for someone else who screwed up and then you could actually (c) politically pretending or otherwise, come across like you get it that (this) is a problem and you want to deal with it.”
In our opinion, not only has Jackson lost the trust and confidence of many Twin Transit employees, but also from government, business leaders and the general public. The Chronicle Editorial Board also believes Jackson can’t be as effective as he needs to be during a reorganization of Twin Transit management, primarily dealing with day-to-day issues and also the hiring of a new Twin Transit general manager.
We believe it makes sense for Jackson to step down as the chair of Twin Transit and allow either county commissioner Edna Fund or Gary Stamper to take the lead. It is time to start the healing and rebuild the professionalism of Twin Transit.
If Jackson can take a step back and consider what is truly in the best interests of the county, he would lead in this transition.
