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ChineseWhy Denise Tyrrell did the right thing
Added on Monday, September 15th, 2008
Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell being consoled by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky Friday after the Chatsworth train collision. Photo Mel Melcon, Los Angeles Times.
Aside from the focus on the victims of this horrible tragedy, attention has been turned to the travails of Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell. After breaking down during a press conference Friday night, she stated the results of the preliminary investigation: that Metrolink was responsible for the incident due to the engineer failing to stop at a red signal. That triggered a firestorm of coverage, from angry denounciations by the union, to a backdoor backstabbing from the chair of the Metrolink board: - all while the CEO remained curiously silent, until Monday morning when he belatedly defended Tyrrell, but only after she resigned in disgust. Others have called the announcement ill-timed, while others have claimed a power struggle between the NTSB and Metrolink staff. Lots of comments on the matter, too, including the most comments I’ve ever seen to the Bottleneck Blog.
But I think she did the right thing here. As she stated in the statement (which for whatever reason I can’t find online), Metrolink is a family. I’ve talked to Board members, staff, and passengers, and there is a unique bond between the passengers and the staff, which has survived previous incidents, annual fare increases, and other issues. And sometimes, you have to face up to the reality of what happened, and try to start the healing process. The odds of the story changing are very slim, probably slimmer than the chance of the collision happening in the first place.
After an incident, there is a lot of speculation. Could it be the Union Pacific’s fault? A case of terrorism? (After all, almost simultaneously to when she made the statement, a special Board meeting was held regarding a potential threat to public safety.) Tyrrell needed to reassure commuters by telling all of the facts she knew. NTSB investigations usually take over a year and at the end they tell everyone what they already know. Meanwhile, a lot of goodwill is lost. Should she have kept her mouth shut because of the liability? I mentioned that in my original comment, but some experts state that, buy quickly admitting responsiblity, they can insulate themselves from additional punitive damages.
Local transit activist Dana Gabbard notes the insularity of the Metrolink Board, which you can take a glimpse at by reading the minutes. Metrolink management made the right call to go with what they knew at the time.
And Tyrrell made the right call to resign. In an interview with CBS, she chose to resign rather than backtrack over something that she knew - and was told by Metrolink CEO Solow - was not true. The Public Relations Society of America’s Code of Ethics stresses the need to advocate informed debate, to be honest with the public, and to be loyal to the CEO, David Solow, to whom she works for. Unfortunately, many public relations professionals don’t care about “free flow of information”, “disclosure of information”, or “enhancing the profession”. But Ms. Tyrrell did, and for that, I, and many other Southern Californians who ride the rails, are grateful for it. Let’s hope the other public relations professionals at Metrolink can keep the dialogue open with the public about the changes that need to be made after the incident.
