SORTA board members depart

 

Three members of the board that runs the Metro bus system in Cincinnati and Hamilton County have submitted their resignations, including Jason Dunn, who is the chairman of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority.

 

The resignations are effective as of the agency’s next board meeting in January. Joining Dunn in resigning are Ken Reed, the vice chair, and longtime board member Karl Schultz.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/12/19/sorta-board-members-depart.html

Agency agrees to city demand that it increase wages

 

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority has agreed to increase the pay of all of its workers as well as employees of its contractors to $15 an hour, avoiding a showdown between the agency and the city of Cincinnati.

 

SORTA will spend about $300,000 starting Jan. 1 to comply with the city’s living wage mandate, which requires all city employees and contract employees to make $15 per hour.

 

“This letter is not an acknowledgment that the living wage legislation applies to us or to our contractors,” wrote SORTA CEO Dwight Ferrell in a letter to the City Council. “This letter serves only to explain our plan to meet the City Council policy aim … We hope that by agreeing to move forward with these wage increases voluntarily, we can avoid any further legislation and litigation concerning this matter.”

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/12/21/agency-agrees-to-city-demand-that-it-increase.html

Agency agrees to city demand that it increase wages

 

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority has agreed to increase the pay of all of its workers as well as employees of its contractors to $15 an hour, avoiding a showdown between the agency and the city of Cincinnati.

 

SORTA will spend about $300,000 starting Jan. 1 to comply with the city’s living wage mandate, which requires all city employees and contract employees to make $15 per hour.

 

“This letter is not an acknowledgment that the living wage legislation applies to us or to our contractors,” wrote SORTA CEO Dwight Ferrell in a letter to the City Council. “This letter serves only to explain our plan to meet the City Council policy aim … We hope that by agreeing to move forward with these wage increases voluntarily, we can avoid any further legislation and litigation concerning this matter.”

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/12/21/agency-agrees-to-city-demand-that-it-increase.html

 

Hopefully this change will help relieve the bus driver shortage!

Michelman exec tapped to chair SORTA board

 

The board of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority has new leadership after Michelman executive Kreg Keesee was selected to chair the board and labor leader Maurice Brown was selected as vice chair.

 

They replace the outgoing chair, Cincinnati USA Convention and Visitors Bureau executive Jason Dunn, and vice chair, Ken Reed, a manager with the Ohio Transit Risk Pool and a former general manager of the Butler County Regional Transit Authority. Both resigned late last year.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/01/17/michelman-exec-tapped-to-chair-sorta-board.html

Lawsuit accuses Metro driver of eating chili during fatal crash

 

A lawsuit filed last week accuses the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) of negligence and wrongful death in a 2016 striking of two pedestrians, which killed one of them.

 

Pleasant Ridge resident Emily Frank filed the lawsuit in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas on Jan. 24 against SORTA and Tyrone Patrick, the driver of the Metro bus that struck her and killed her father, Stephen Frank. Patrick pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in August 2016 and was sentenced to three years probation.

 

A spokeswoman for SORTA said the group could not comment on pending litigation.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/02/01/lawsuit-accuses-metro-driver-of-eating-chili.html

That's the most Cincinnati headline I've ever seen.

That's the most Cincinnati headline I've ever seen.

Need to know what kind of chili it was. I suspect the verdict in court will hinge on this detail.

The plot thickens.  Looks like the county is pushing back against Cranley's tax shift plan. Plus, SORTA board magically found $7.9 million.  So if it was being intentionally hidden then Cranley was trying to force the tax hike. 

 

 

Big Mac attack:

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/02/14/cranley-appointee-could-face-major-opposition-at.html

 

 

 

Rayshon is toxic on social media. I don't think he would be a good fit. I can't understand why they don't just give Cam Hardy a seat on the board.

Because Cranley doesn’t want to appoint people who favor expanding transit to the SORTA board. He wants a .5 sales tax that maintains current service levels, not a .8 or .9 sales tax that improves our bus system and adds BRT routes.

Rayshon is toxic on social media. I don't think he would be a good fit. I can't understand why they don't just give Cam Hardy a seat on the board.

 

He's one of the 10 or so characters who caused me to quit discussing local politics online (outside of this site).  Him and Michael Beck, red sweater, Steven Frank, etc.  These people are actually insane. 

Rayshon Mack was voted down 6-3 today. Finally a check on Cranley's appointments.

Rayshon Mack has said so many anti-transit things on Twitter, it's actually quite shocking that Cranley put him forward as a candidate. Not only is Mack vehemently anti-streetcar, but he is also opposed to giving buses any signal priority, longer green lights, or transit-only lanes. Cranley clearly only made this appointment because he wanted to see "liberal tears". The two Republicans on City Council and Smitherman voted to approve Mack. The six Democrats all voted no.

Rayshon Mack is a huge backer of Cranley and Smitherman. That's why he was nominated.

I think Cranley set up Mack a little bit here.  That nomination episode isn't so embarrassing for Cranley as it is for Mack himself.  Good luck on job applications when the background checker wonders why you were nominated and then not confirmed for an appointment.  It looks shady because the guy is shady. 

 

^ He is already blaming "white liberal racists" on Twitter ... yeah, man, that's it ...

From the Business Courier article:

 

"In an interview on Friday, Cranley said he nominated Mack because council members, including Sittenfeld, have said they want a regular bus rider on SORTA’s board, which he says describes Mack."

 

So now Cranley can say he tried to do what council asked of him, but they rejected the appointment. Now he's clear to nominate one of his pals and council can't really complain as much.

As long as council doesn't roll over, they can continue to complain all they want about a bad nomination. Cranley and Mack's supporters tried to make the confirmation hearing about the streetcar, but the council majority successfully shot the narrative down by not acknowledging it and keeping their comments to what their actual problems with the nomination were.

"In an interview on Friday, Cranley said he nominated Mack because council members, including Sittenfeld, have said they want a regular bus rider on SORTA’s board, which he says describes Mack."

 

When Cranley appointed Heidi Black to the SORTA board (who just happens to be the wife of his former Campaign Chair/Chief of Staff), didn't he try to claim that she was a regular transit user? Is he now admitting that was a lie?

 

So now Cranley can say he tried to do what council asked of him, but they rejected the appointment. Now he's clear to nominate one of his pals and council can't really complain as much.

 

Cranley can say whatever he wants. But Council is not obligated to blindly approve his appointments. I'm sure Cranley can find a regular bus rider who doesn't have a completely toxic social media presence.

Now he's clear to nominate one of his pals and council can't really complain as much.

 

There is literally a grassroots coalition of bus riders who would all be better candidates Aside from being everyday users, they actively promote improvements and ideas on their Twitter accounts rather than going out of their way to refer to Chris Seelbach as "Chrissy." Cranley wanted a vocal proponent who would be a yes man (who used to refer to himself as a "future city councilman," who no doubt is allying himself for future ambitions) and Chris Smitherman/Pastor got to go out of their way to make it seem like he was being targeted for "thinking independently."

 

Thousands of regular transit riders in this city still available for the appointment.

I don't think Cranley really wanted a grassroots transit supporting bus rider on the board. I think he wanted this to go down exactly as it did - a black man was denied a seat on the SORTA board by PG, Seelbach, et. al. I don't do Twitter and the account linked above is protected, so I know next to nothing about Mack, but if he's as mean on there as is being implied, Cranley probably picked him under the assumption that fellow Democrats on council would reject his appointment. Cui bono? Smitherman, and his likely campaign against PG for mayor. Race has consistently been an interesting factor in mayoral elections, and if we end up with Smitherman v. PG in 2021 it will be very, very interesting, and little tidbits like this one could easily pop back up as talking points.

I don't think Cranley really wanted a grassroots transit supporting bus rider on the board. I think he wanted this to go down exactly as it did - a black man was denied a seat on the SORTA board by PG, Seelbach, et. al. I don't do Twitter and the account linked above is protected, so I know next to nothing about Mack, but if he's as mean on there as is being implied, Cranley probably picked him under the assumption that fellow Democrats on council would reject his appointment. Cui bono? Smitherman, and his likely campaign against PG for mayor. Race has consistently been an interesting factor in mayoral elections, and if we end up with Smitherman v. PG in 2021 it will be very, very interesting, and little tidbits like this one could easily pop back up as talking points.

 

Yeah I think Cranley played Mack.  If he got on the board, fine.  If it caused a minor dust-up, better. 

 

Redevelopment authority, SORTA get new board members

 

The Cincinnati City Council approved Mayor John Cranley's appointees to two key boards earlier this week but not without more questions from council members and activists.

 

Council approved Rod Hinton, a vice president at the Children's Home of Cincinnati, to the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority board and Patrisha Smitson, the former CEO of the local American Red Cross chapter, to the Greater Cincinnati Redevelopment Authority board.

 

SORTA's board is important as key stakeholders in business, government and nonprofits discuss a way to improve the region's transportation system. The redevelopment authority, formerly known as the port, does work involving clearing sites for potential advanced manufacturing sites and other business expansion and rehabilitating housing with the aim of revitalizing neighborhoods in the city and Hamilton County.

 

Council member Wendell Young voted against both appointments, saying that his opposition is centered around council's need to better vet Cranley's nominees, not at the individual people.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/03/02/redevelopment-authority-sorta-get-new-board.html

Chamber unveils its strategy to boost transportation in the region

 

Cincinnati is a place where a variety of elected leaders, activists and others have different agendas on how to fix transportation in the region.

 

Mayor John Cranley wants a countywide bus-only expansion of the Metro system. Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune wants action on such an expansion to wait until a three-state, eight-county transit commission can be formed. He also favors adding regional rail to Metro's offerings. The Better Bus Coalition, a group of bus riders who see a decaying system that needs investment now, wants a 1 percent sales tax levy put on the ballot this year for Metro. And that's just a few.

 

Jill Meyer, the CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, and George Vincent, the chairman of Dinsmore & Shohl, the city's largest law firm, and, think that's a good thing because a half decade ago, nobody was talking about the need to better connect the region through modes other than single-occupancy cars.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/03/22/chamber-unveils-its-strategy-to-boost.html

Hamilton County is now talking about proposing a sales tax increase to cover the county's project budget deficit next year. Now it's clear why the county doesn't want a SORTA sales tax on the ballot this year to compete with theirs.

Free Wi-Fi coming to Cincinnati public transit

 

Metro will offer free wireless internet on more than 60 buses through a pilot program partially funded by the federal government.

 

The free Wi-Fi will be available on 59 regular Metro buses and five Access vehicles, which serve the elderly and disabled.

 

Special decals and signage outside and inside the buses will let customers know if their bus has the service.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/04/06/free-wi-fi-coming-to-cincinnati-public-transit.html

http://www.rcnky.com/articles/2018/04/12/southbank-shuttle-offering-free-rides-while-roebling-bridge-closed

 

Mildly interesting, but between now and May 31st the Southbank Shuttle will be free to try and make up for the Roebling Bridge being closed.

No tax increase vote yet for SORTA, but latest study presents grim financial picture

 

 

The latest examination of the agency that runs Cincinnati’s bus system shows it faces a cumulative $184 million deficit over the next 10 years and that cost controls, fare increases and revenue enhancements probably will not solve the fiscal crisis.

 

The audit by Ernst & Young is at least the fourth analysis performed by an outside group that looked at the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority’s finances since 2013. But this one carries the imprimatur of the senior Cincinnati business leaders who commissioned it, including the Cincinnati Business Committee, the Cincinnati Regional Business Committee and the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce. Influential SORTA board member Brendon Cull, the chamber’s COO, also said it’s the most detailed study yet.

 

Ernst & Young did not recommend a countywide sales tax to deal with the agency’s financial issues and expand service, but it was the elephant in the room as SORTA board members stare down a July deadline to make a decision.

 

“Next month we’ll have a decision on the levy one way or the other,” said Kreg Keesee, chairman of the 13-member SORTA board of which seven members are appointed by the city and six by the county.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/06/19/no-tax-increase-voteyet-for-sorta-but-latest-study.html

The Enquirer ran a piece interviewing Better Bus Coalition co founder Cam Hardy:

 

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/07/10/transportation-one-mans-obsession-improving-cincinnatis-system/739771002/

The phone rang at 7:34 a.m. It was Cam Hardy, four minutes after he was due to meet The Enquirer at a Downtown coffee shop.

 

Hardy was stuck at a bus stop on Colerain Avenue in Mt. Airy. His app said the Line 17 bus was only six minutes out. But it had been promising “six minutes” for the past 30.

 

“It’s frustrating,” said Hardy, who had been on his way to talk with The Enquirer about the city’s public-transit woes. Now, thanks to the late bus, he’d have to bail in order to make work on time.

 

Hardy, a 28-year-old legal assistant at a Downtown law firm, has been traveling the city, preaching the need for a better transit system. The Mt. Airy resident doesn’t own a car, so he takes the bus everywhere he needs to go.

 

And he's fed up.

Decision on tax increase delayed

 

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority board is delaying a decision on whether to put a sales tax increase on the November ballot to stem red ink on its balance sheet and expand bus service throughout Hamilton County.

 

The agency’s board had been set to make a decision at its 6 p.m. meeting on Wednesday, July 18. The board will schedule a special meeting to be held the week of July 23, according to the agency.

 

SORTA has the power to put a sales tax on the ballot on its own, without Hamilton County commission approval. The deadline for it to do so is Aug. 8. SORTA can request up to 1.5 percent, but discussions have centered around a tax rate of 1 percent or less.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/07/16/decision-on-tax-increase-delayed.html

Hamilton County tax increase vote set for next week

 

The fate of the region's largest bus system will begin to come into focus next week, when the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority board votes on whether to put a sales tax increase on the November ballot.

 

SORTA will have a special meeting at 9 a.m. July 25 to make the decision on whether to send voters another tax levy and, if so, at what rate.

 

The announcement came before the board met on Wednesday evening, where Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune again urged SORTA not to put a levy on the ballot. Portune has called for a regional transit system that includes counties in Kentucky and Indiana as well as Hamilton, Butler, Warren and Clermont counties in Ohio.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/07/18/hamilton-county-tax-increase-vote-set-for-next.html

I suspected that Hamilton County Commissioners and the local business community might have something like this up their sleeves. Rather than passing a .7% tax for Metro, pass a 1% tax where .7% goes to metro and .3% go to other projects that might be more appetizing to suburbanites. The other projects could include things like the Western Hills Viaduct, Wasson Way (bike trail not LRT), etc.

 

SORTA board mulls 1 percent sales tax increase that includes money for roads

 

SORTA’s board is expected to vote on a sales tax levy on July 25. The concept on the table right now calls for the sales tax to be increased by 1 percentage point, with 70 percent of the revenue, or $105 million in the first year, going toward the bus system, and 30 percent, or $45 million, going to infrastructure. The plan would increase local funding for bus service by 86 percent over current levels and fund expansion throughout Hamilton County. It’s unclear how the infrastructure funding would be divided up.

If it gets suburbanites to vote for the levy, I'm fine with it. It's not like there aren't huge road related infrastructure projects that are desperately needed, too.

But does SORTA even have the authority to administer a tax that would go to fund things not related to transit? I'm skeptical.

That is the question. As a regional transit authority under Ohio law, SORTA has the ability to put a transit tax on the ballot themselves. I don't believe this type of hybrid levy would qualify. However, Hamilton County could put it on the ballot and administer it, essentially passing 70% of the revenue it collects to SORTA.

The Enquirer kicks the can:

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/2018/07/23/editorial-metro-should-go-bigger-just-not-right-now/797520002/

 

Of course it's not the right time.  It's never the right time. 

“Of course we support transit! Just not right now...” is such a BS tactic, I can’t believe anyone actually falls for it. It’s classic Concern Trolling.

My worry is this:

 

With an organized right-wing opposition to it, the Enquirer coming out against it, and many Democrats coming out against it (like Portune), does it stand a chance to win? If it can't win in November, then it isn't the right time. Regardless of the reasons people or oganizations oppose it, if this tax fails in November at the ballot box, how do they come back and ask again any time soon?

My worry is this:

 

With an organized right-wing opposition to it, the Enquirer coming out against it, and many Democrats coming out against it (like Portune), does it stand a chance to win? If it can't win in November, then it isn't the right time. Regardless of the reasons people or oganizations oppose it, if this tax fails in November at the ballot box, how do they come back and ask again any time soon?

 

Not to mention: it's so late in the game now, was the effort really heartfelt in the first place?

Every bold new idea for transit gets shot down with the “this isn’t the right plan, now’s not the right time” line.

 

The current plan is the most minor, incremental transit levy possible. This year is a midterm that is supposed to have a “blue wave” showing up at the polls. If this type of transit ax won’t pass in a year that’s this favorable to transit levys ... then to be perfectly honest, I don’t think Cincinnati ever has a chance of improving its public transportation syste.

It would be foolhardy to go forward with the tax now. People are not going to support a 1 cent tax on top of the county tax and given the current opposition against it, it is time to pause and wait for a better time.

 

Go big, but take time to show the value. YOu cant win the value prop in 3 months. This would get slaughtered in the polls.

SORTA has completely dropped the ball on this. They should have had a plan ready for months and been touting the benefits that it will bring everyone. They should have been confident in their plan and pushed aggressively. Worked with the business community to get buy in from them, etc.

 

Even if they go forward with a sales tax, I doubt they will push it very hard and all of the anti-transit noise will be a lot louder.

There is no better time. There is always another levy on the ballot for Metro to compete with. There is always another stadium to build.

There is no better time. There is always another levy on the ballot for Metro to compete with. There is always another stadium to build.

 

I agree with your point, but I think the board has failed the community. I don't see it passing.

There is no better time. There is always another levy on the ballot for Metro to compete with. There is always another stadium to build.

 

Back in 2002 when they did the Metro Moves initiative, they had been touting the program for over a year before it hit the ballot. While it failed miserably, there was plenty of time for the public to at least assess the value of it. MetroMoves was a flawed plan but they did a very good job of trying to get engagement and build the case for the program. You cannot do that in a 3 month period. Couple that with the negative impression of the streetcar in the suburban areas and it is doomed for disaster. You can compete against other levy's in the future if you have made your case. There is not enough time to make your case now.

There is no better time. There is always another levy on the ballot for Metro to compete with.

 

It's rare to have two sales tax increases on the ballot at the same time. I can't remember it happening before, off hand. We'll know by August 8 if the other tax hike will be on the ballot but the chances are good that it will be - about 38,000 signatures were turned in, only 23,629 need to be valid to get it on the ballot.

 

^ Sales tax increases are less common around here but it seems like levys are on the ballot nearly every election. I think the average voter doesn't get much beyond "Issue 3 is the Library, Issue 6 is Union Terminal, Issue 8 is Metro" and if they support those things, they will vote for the issue. Practically nobody is calculating much their actual tax bills will go up if each issue gets approved.

^ Even more important for Metro to educate the public. People are geared to vote against transit almost all the time here. If you start the education process and invest into years of education, you can change the paradigm. Throwing a sales tax on the ballot now is a huge loser.

There’s hardly anything to educate the public about. Metro needs money to keep the lights on and if this passes they will have that plus enough to add some frequency to main routes. It’s as bear bones as it gets.  I actually think the “late start” on this is an advantage because it give opponents less time to spread their lies.

 

It’s a very favorable climate because a stinker of a library levy passed easily last year and Democratic voters who should be sympathetic on this will supposedly show up because of Trump.

 

Should be full speed ahead on this. People are being overly cautious.