Well, look at that.

Now that the votes are safely in the hands of Elections BC, TransLink can start rolling out all the stupid decisions they didn’t want you to know during the voting period.

On Friday, it was the $5.8 million in untendered, outside contracts the TransLink mayors dished out to friends and insiders to try and buy your vote.

And over the weekend, I received a brown envelope with this email in it:

Today the Executive Management Team met with their respective team members and told them that in September, CMBC Sapperton employees will move back to the Gateway location, rejoining our Customer Information and Customer Relations teams.

Due to staffing changes at TransLink over the past two years to meet the requirements of ongoing projects – such as station upgrades, Evergreen integration, and Pattullo Bridge rehabilitation – more space is needed at the Sapperton office. After exploring options, relocating CMBC head office back to Gateway is the most fiscally responsible alternative.

I realize that change is never easy and want you to know that we are here to support you. As with any office relocation, for some staff, the new location has advantages and for others, it is less desirable. Once the decision to move was finalized, we wanted to give you as much notice as possible to allow you to make any necessary arrangements for things like childcare and commuting.

There are still some details to work out, but in the coming weeks, we will share as much information as we can through MyCMBC and your managers, including information on services in the area, floorplans and what you can expect leading up to the move.

I appreciate your ongoing support and understanding as we work through this transition period. I encourage you to talk to your manager or a member of the Executive Management Team if you have any concerns or questions.

Thank you.

Haydn Acheson
President and General Manager

I’m told service design, finance, access transit, and labour relations are all moving back to Gateway.

So why is this important? Well, TransLink moved everything out of Gateway to the new Sapperton building to “save money.” Of course, they never did, as they had foolishly locked into a six-year lease before moving out of Gateway, and paid $145,833.33 a month for empty space. TransLink sublet a small portion of their space, but had to spend $1.3 million to induce them to move in.

And now CMBC is going back – it’s a complete retreat and another example of how TransLink mismanages our tax dollars. Let’s give Burnaby mayor Derek Corrigan the final word (note: these comments were made two years BEFORE the CMBC move-back):

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said it's shocking that TransLink still has a lease to pay in Surrey when it's known for a long time it would be moving.

"TransLink could have simply said it would gradually consolidate all this space in one building," he said. "There's ways in which this could be done that might not suit the convenience of the bureaucrats but suits the convenience of the taxpayers' pocketbook."

Corrigan said the move does not make a lot of sense and it should have been openly debated to give the public a chance to have its say.

"They're supposed to be on an austerity campaign and prove they're doing what they're supposed to do," he noted. "The reality comes up that they've got leases in other buildings and they realize it'll cost a lot more than they thought, there's a lot more consequences, but they've made their mind up and nothing changes. ... It's simply a cost of them getting what they want. You really have to step back and wonder what is happening."