Editor,

It’s time to set the record straight regarding the error-filled narrative of Island Transit Board of Directors Chairman Bob Clay and the remaining “old guard” board members, Helen Price Johnson and Jim Sundberg.

Lie: According to the Saturday, Nov. 29, Whidbey News-Times article “Coupeville Council Calls Mayor Dudley Visit Inappropriate,” Bob Clay stated, “This month, transit has more than $724,000 in available working cash. We are on target with what our recovery plan was. By the end of 2015, the board anticipates having an ending working cash balance of $844,000 and plans to move $525,000 into reserves. This is a balanced budget. It’s doable.”

Truth: Yes, they have $724,000, but their typical obligation before they receive additional funds runs between $800,000 and $900,000.

Bob Clay says Island Transit is “on target with our recovery plan.”

What recovery plan? Who has seen it? Does it actually exist? Is it a secret? The truth is the 2015 budget has Island Transit moving $525,000 in 2014.

How is that going to happen when during the last several months the available cash balance has dropped to sometimes less than $0. Where will that money come from?

Every penny is obligated until the next big check comes in to cover “little things” like fuel, payroll, insurance and servicing $2.3 million in short-term debt.

At the end of the day, Island Transit has no appreciable reserves; it is still in financial in extremis, and no amount of wishful thinking is going to change that.

Mayor Scott Dudley’s visit to the Coupeville City Council to ask for Bob Clay’s resignation was absolutely appropriate.

The “old guard” Island Transit Board of Directors, Bob Clay and Helen Price Johnson in particular, along with Jim Sundberg, has run Island Transit into near bankruptcy due to their complacency, lack of oversight, and inability to analyze and understand the Island Transit financials.

They need to be replaced immediately.

Julie Lauderdale

Coupeville