Executive Staff Report

							June 18, 2009


TO:                WSTIP Board of Directors

FROM:              Al Hatten, Executive Director; Jerry Spears, Deputy Director; and
                   Tracey Christianson, Member Services Manager

SUBJECT:           Executive Staff Report – June 2009


2009 INSURANCE PLACEMENT / 2010 RENEWALS
The property insurance program renews on July 1. We have received all the necessary underwriting
information from all members. Staff has been working with our broker, Rick Steddom, are looking at an
alternative to our current property program called PEPIP (Public Entities Property Insurance Program).
The PEPIP program is proprietary to Alliant Insurance Services.

The proposed GEM property program highlights are:

      1.   Coverage issued on GEM paper
      2.   GEM’s facultative reinsurance supports each member.
      3.   GEM has no shared limits and all limits and sub-limits are individual to the pool
      4.   Maximum limits of $350 million per occurrence
      5.   Following form coverage to the GEM Master Policy
      6.   Claim settlement rests with the pool, but the reinsurer has the right to associate.

At this time, GEM will assign the retrocessionaire to The Travelers Companies.

Staff has found the terms and conditions of the property policy to be acceptable and we were successful
in negotiating more than a 17% reduction in the estimated 2009 – 2010 budget renewal. This is
significant because the average renewals for other public entities for the July 1 property programs have
seen increases in excess of 10%.

GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES MUTUAL, INC (GEM)
GEM conducted a telephone conference of its Board of Directors on June 16. The purpose was to
approve the proposed property program and changes to the proposed arbitration provisions so as not to
conflict with individual state laws. Both matters were approved by a super majority. This meeting was
critical as the above properly program needed to have the Board agree to its formation and structure.

The next meeting is July 22-25, in Minneapolis. The dates will include a seminar of coverage
comparisons, a regular board meeting, the annual meeting including the elections of officers, and a
NAGeP meeting. Tentatively, the agenda will include an executive session on Board assessment
process, criteria used to select potential Board members, eligibility requirements for the Board secretary,
and succession planning.

                                                    Page 1 of 5
PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST FOR TRANSIT VIDEO
After the May 11 symposium on compliance to public disclosure requests for system-wide video
recordings, three themes appeared to be of interest. The first effort was to set up an exploratory task
force to look at the prospects of a legislative fix. WSTA held a meeting on June 15 to initiate the “Task-
Force” on a possible legislative remedy. Another meeting of this group is tentatively scheduled for July
16.

The second suggested WSTIP support the development of a “Best Practices policy” in response to Public
Disclosure Request (PDR) for video recordings. WSTIP will initiate a preliminary discussion soon and will
make sure all will be given an opportunity to comment.

The third was to work with the TRB and APTA looking for examples and assistance from other large
entities in responding to public records requests. The only caveat with this idea is that the public records
laws in Washington are liberally construed by the courts. This item was discussed during the Task Force
meeting and likely will be an agenda item for the next meeting.

PROPERTY LIABILITY ADVISORY BOARD (PLAB)
Public hearings are scheduled on July 8 and 9 in Ephrata and July 13 and 14 in Tukwila. The proposed
revisions to WAC 82.60 have been through legal review and the regulator has officially published the
proposed changes. Staff plans to attend both meetings and will testify in support. The proposed WAC’s
are attached as an addendum to this report.

WSTA ROADEO
The Roadeo Steering Committee met in Cle Elum on Thursday to hammer out the details of the 2009
Public Transportation Roadeo. Pierce Transit has agreed to serve as host and WSTIP has agreed to
continue sponsorship for this year’s event. The Committee has discussed numerous strategies to reduce
expenses in an effort to allow this year’s event to be free of registration fees. Changes include
condensing the Roadeo events schedule to build in travel time, hosting the banquet in the late afternoon
at the transit facility instead of a banquet hall, securing volunteers to help prepare and service at the
awards banquet, and soliciting local employees to host competitors at their homes to avoid lodging
expenses. Here are the 2009 State Roadeo details to date:

Event:      Washington State Public Transportation Roadeo
Dates:      August 29-30, 2009 (Saturday-Sunday)
Location: Pierce Transit in Lakewood, Washington
Reduced Schedule:
Saturday afternoon
        12:00 p.m.     Competitors’ Meeting and Course Walk Through
        1:00 p.m.      Course Practice and Pre-trip Inspection and Wheelchair Securement Competition
Sunday
        9:00 a.m.      Course Competition, Uniform Inspection and Competitors’ Pictures
        11:30 a.m.     Simplified lunch (sub sandwiches, salad, chips)
         3:00 p.m.     Late Afternoon Awards Banquet at Pierce Transit

INTEGRATED RISK MANAGEMENT
This item will be reported on under a separate tab and include an update on staff activities, the IRM
Benchmark Subcommittee, and the active driver record monitoring project, and the camera initiative.




                                                 Page 2 of 5
MISCELLANEOUS MEMBER SERVICES

Training Coalition – The Training Coalition goes quiet in the summer months of July and August and
picks back up in September with the Supervisor’s School.

EVERETT STATION – TRAINING ROOM
Everett Transit has approached WSTIP regarding forming a partnership to acquire classroom/training
space at Everett Station. The space is currently used by a cooperative of community colleges and is
already established as classrooms. The cooperative has decided to not renew their lease and the
property will be vacant July 1. WSTIP is working with Everett to form a partnership to keep one
classroom available for training. Chris DeVoll is taking the lead on this project and working with Tom
Hingson. Community Transit has offered surplus furniture items they have available on a long-term
“loan.” The plan details, including a request to allocate funding, will be presented to the Executive
Committee at their July meeting.

UPCOMING AUTHORIZED CONFERENCES
If you are interested in any of the following conferences and would like to attend or find out more
information, please contact any of the WSTIP staff for assistance. The Executive Committee authorizes
the following WSTIP reimbursable trustee development courses: If you would like the Executive
Committee to consider other conference possibilities, please submit your interest directly to the Board
Chair for consideration and approval.

Conferences and Training Events of Interest to Board Members
July 2009:    21 - 24– GEM Annual Meeting – Minneapolis, MN
              Web site: www.gemre.com
August 2009: 2 – 5 – ARMTech Conference – LaJolla, CA *
              Web site: www.armtech.com
August 2009 3 – 5 – AGRIP Institute for Management & Leadership – Burlington, VT
              (Pool Senior Staff focus- Not recommended for trustees)
October 2009: 1 – 3 – GEM Business Meeting – Concord, NH
              Web site: www.gemre.com
October        2009: 19 – 21 AGRIP Governance Conference – Seattle, WA
              Web site: www.agrip.org

*The August 2009 ARMTech Conference in LaJolla, California is highly recommended.

CLAIMS/FINANCES AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
WSTIP currently has 345 open claims. Twenty-four claims are in litigation status. Total case reserves for
these 345 files are $5,982,852. For loss year 2008, subrogation totals are $443,363. All these
subrogation monies are returned to the members when recovered by staff. For 2009, we have collected
$68, 921 so far. Given that Pierce Transit is a full member now, we are incorporating 2009 Pierce Transit
liability claims data into the monthly RiskMaster report. This will include their claims counts, reserves and
paid claims.

Everett Transit had a left hand turn fatality bus/motorcycle accident in March 2007. A $5 million Claim for
Damages was filed by the estranged wife of the deceased a few of months ago. We retained defense
counsel for this matter. It appears mediation will occur later this summer to resolve this case. Everett
Transit was also involved in a serious chain reaction rear-ender collision in October 2006 involving six
vehicles where the Everett bus was the last vehicle in the chain. Fifteen claims developed from this


                                                 Page 3 of 5
accident against Everett Transit. We have resolved eleven of the fifteen claims. We will attempt to
resolve three of the remaining four over the next three months via mediation and/or negotiation.

Ben Franklin Transit had a serious rollover vanpool accident in January 2008. It was a single vehicle
accident. This event has seven claimants including the driver. One passenger was at Harborview in
Seattle for six weeks. We are closely monitoring this file. Four of the seven passengers have retained
the same attorney to represent their interests. We have retained defense counsel and an outside
adjuster to help resolve this matter. We settled two claims at mediation in December. We were unable to
settle a third claim at mediation in Spokane. There is a wide discrepancy on value between WSTIP and
the plaintiff in this case. This plaintiff/passenger filed a lawsuit on this matter but recently returned to
work. There is one other passenger from this accident that is still treating because of this accident. He is
represented by a Kennewick attorney. We do not expect resolution on this one for at least a year. He
has not filed a Claim for Damages or a lawsuit yet.

Spokane Transit has a 2005 case that appears headed for trial in September of this year. It is an auto
rear-ender case. There is wide discrepancy between WSTIP and the plaintiff on the value and extent of
her injuries sustained from the impact. We recently had a telephone attorney peer review on this case.
Jim Plaster participated in the peer review. We have mediation scheduled for later this summer, but it
appears unlikely it will settle. Spokane Transit also has a November 2008 bus/pedestrian accident where
a bus struck a pedestrian in the crosswalk in downtown Spokane. The pedestrian sustained a skull
fracture from the accident. The pedestrian has retained an attorney for this accident. WSTIP has
retained defense counsel as well. No claim or lawsuit has been filed on this matter yet.

Community Transit had a bus/person on scooter collision in April. The person on the scooter was 86
years old, a retired pediatrician and missionary. The scooter driver died from his injuries sustained from
the collision. The accident occurred in the crosswalk near a senior center in Stanwood. The entire event
is captured on the bus camera system. The family of the deceased has retained an attorney. WSTIP has
retained an attorney and adjuster for this event. We will look for opportunities to resolve this matter later
in the year, perhaps early next year.

Finances – Over the next two months staff will start work on 2010 budget development, strategic
financial forecasting for the next 5 years and liability reinsurance renewals. Staff will be asking members
to provide updated exposure data for the 2010 budget development and the strategic financial forecasting
model very shortly.

Cyber Liability – Several WSTIP members in the Puget Sound area are involved in a “smart card”
project. Smart card is a regional fare collection program which enables customers to use one fare card
on multiple systems throughout the four county Central Puget Sound area. Smart card fare collection
technology will be used to allow linked trips between transit, ferries and rail and to significantly expand
each agency’s strategic fare policy capabilities. The participants in this project are looking for cyber
liability coverage to protect themselves from this new and emerging exposure. The WSTIP Broker and
Staff are currently assessing potential insurance coverage, gaps in current coverage and legal exposure
from this potential threat.

Google Transit - Staff has also arranged for a Consultant to be available for those small and medium
member’s that wish to upload their scheduling data to Google Transit. Please contact Andrea Powell if
interested. It appears the WSDOT version of Google Transit, “travel options”, will no longer be funded by
the State effective July 1. WSDOT staff have approached WSTIP/WSTA about moving the data in “travel
options” to Google Transit via the WSTIP IT Infrastructure. There may be state funds (a potential grant)


                                                 Page 4 of 5
available to facilitate the transition and continue the project in a Google conduit and staff are exploring the
potential for a partnership.

WSTIP Web Site – As previously reported, WSTIP is working to redeploy our public website utilizing a
SharePoint platform. The new public site is up internally and externally. The Training Coalition piece was
developed, and Anna and Andrea met in early June to rework the Board event registration pieces. They
have developed web forms that will support our goal of directing more WSTIP operational functions
through a web browser. Andrea will provide an update to the Board on this project at the June meeting.

Pierce Transit - Staff has started the transition process for Pierce Transit’s full membership January 1,
2010. Staff expects this to be a smooth but very involved process that includes meetings, negotiation and
coordination over the next six months. Staff will be meeting with Pierce Transit on June 18 and 19 to start
the process.




                                                  Page 5 of 5