Board of Trustees

Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority

Transportation

Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021
9:00 a.m. — 11:00 a.m. EST

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At the time of the meeting, find the livestream at this link: https://www.facebook.com/riderta/videos/

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Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Cleveland - OH Documenters Team

Note-taking by Emily Anderson

Board reviews budget, hears plans for "Month of Merry" holiday promotion

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Live reporting by Gennifer Harding-Gosnell

Board reviews budget, hears plans for "Month of Merry" holiday promotion

Gennifer with a G @GenniferwithaG_

Good morning, #Cleveland! I’ll be covering the @gcrta Board of Trustees meeting today starting at 9:00 a.m. for @cledocumenters #CLEdocumenters & @NeighborUpCle. You can watch along with us live on Facebook at facebook.com/riderta

07:48 AM Nov 16, 2021 CST

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Have questions? Think we got something wrong? Send any enquiries on the meeting or these tweets to @cledocumenters or email us at lcaswell@neighborhoodgrants.org

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Here's some background info on the board and what their responsibilities are to RTA, including hirings, contract approvals, and management oversight:
riderta.com/board

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The available documentation to go along with this meeting is very clear, but there's a lot of it, so I'll try to summarize here. This is the agenda, the first 2 pages give us the rundown of the topics, the remaining 52 pages are the details:
riderta.com/sites/default/…

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The meeting is set to begin at 9 with a presentation by the Operational Planning & Infrastructure Committee on the 2022 Service Plan and their proposed budget. https://t.co/TPK290N70e

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It's 9:11, and no live stream has come up yet on @GCRTA's Facebook page yet, so I shot them a message to ask about it.

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9:19 and still no live stream. Might be one o' those days when you show up on time and somehow still end up missin' the bus... https://t.co/XklAseUeRP

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I spoke with a member of Team RTA and they're going to look into it for us. The meeting is on and there should be a stream, so I'm making a somewhat-educated guess that it's just a technical issue. I'll post again once it's been resolved.

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Okay, we now have a live stream. Unfortunately it starts well into the meeting and there's no audio for about the first 6 minutes, so I'm going to follow the agenda and try to figure out where to start from.

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The live feed starts in the middle of a slide I believe is part of the 2022 Service Plan presentation. There's no audio yet, so I'm not certain, I'm guessing just based on the content of the slide. https://t.co/GNyKHETUGl

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Here's another slide, a rider's personal example used to demonstrate success of the new NEXT GEN service. Still no audio. https://t.co/v3cVKKA8DR

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This woman is now speaking, but there is no audio for the first few minutes. I don't know who she is, but it appears she is giving the presentation on the 2022 Proposed Operating Budget. https://t.co/0g4fnC68yd

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The audio has kicked in, it appears our speaker is providing an explanation of economic and revenue projections. https://t.co/UQFrZ2sEZw

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Why having an agenda is important. Our speaker is Kay Sutula, the Director of the Office of Management & Budget for RTA, and she is definitely presenting the 2022 Proposed Operating Budget: https://t.co/aFKG8gtKbL

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And here is the link to the actual budget report the group is discussing:
riderta.com/sites/default/…

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The budget proposes an amendment to transfer $85M, mostly federal stimulus monies, to RTA's reserve fund. According to Sutula, this is "to support the operating budget, provide stability, and offset the decline in passenger fares through 2026." https://t.co/UwlC5V9gXo

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Payroll expenditures will increase, according to Sutula, primarily the result of increases in cost of employee hospitalization insurance & prescriptions, wage increases, and the addition of 18 new job positions. https://t.co/jewDKHXg4w

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https://t.co/svfWChYcQl

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Sutula says RTA has received no information yet on any allotments or funding that may be provided by the new infrastructure bill the President recently signed.

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The Operational Planning & Infrastructure Committee adjourns, and staff are now moving on to the first Public Hearing for the 2022 proposed budget. Sutula is explaining how RTA communicated notice of these meetings to the public. https://t.co/FRM6Bh3wyy

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The first public speaker is Rev. Pamela Pinkney Butts. She opposes the proposed budget as she believes it is "based in white privilege" and "promotes slavery". https://t.co/bcorsSsrdN

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The second public speaker identifies herself as "Loh", and says she would like to see how these expenditures actually benefit riders. https://t.co/LnIRllkxEC

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The Public Hearing portion of this meeting is adjourned. The Organizational Services & Performance Monitoring Committee is now in session. CEO India Birdsong is presenting on RTA's performance results from the 3rd quarter 2021. https://t.co/8HBJsR4rzC

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https://t.co/Emxy4qM2eR

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What is debt "defeasance"? According to Birdsong, it "allows us to go 9 years ahead for scheduled debt to be eliminated. Again, that's 9 years in advance. That saves us approximately $3M a year for about $14M over a 9-year period."
investopedia.com/terms/d/defeas…

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Following Birdsong's presentation, there were no further questions and the committee was adjourned. RTA's Audit, Safety Compliance & Real Estate Committee is up next.

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Here is the 3rd Quarter Internal Audit Report they will be reviewing today:
riderta.com/sites/default/…

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Tony Garafoli, Executive Director of Internal Audit for RTA, says an audit was performed on all 1,073 cameras & found 6 reportable issues, including "the back-end computer system, which will reach the end of its useful life in 2023." https://t.co/4V4EwifFiO

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This is interesting. Here's the staff trainings undertaken during the 3rd Quarter. https://t.co/ck2msxhvM8

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This committee is now adjourned. The Board of Trustees meting is beginning with a roll call. https://t.co/6xWROhKOqm

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Chair Terence P. Joyce talked about his recent trip to Florida representing RTA, riding a double-decker bus, and people asking about India Birdsong.

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The meeting begins with public comment. Rev. Pamela Pinkney Butts is speaking again. She is looking at resolutions about contract approvals and wants more information about who these companies are. https://t.co/ZbbeIHGhOa

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Hayes Rowan is a Cleveland resident who has called in to comment on vehicle idling policies, record review policies when officer misconduct is involved, and policies regarding stroller use on buses.

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A member of the staff I could not identify says the concerns raised by the caller are all part of "operational management review items", they will review them, contact the caller with any recommendations and follow-up with items for the board if it's deemed necessary.

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HR is now presenting on new hires, including laborers, janitors, and operators.

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The resolutions shown above are now being read/introduced.

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These resolutions have all been approved with no opposition. The Deputy Mgr. of Finance & Administration, Rajan Gautam, is now presenting the Secretary Treasurer's Report to the board. https://t.co/LZnJZFBNER

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Here's a good representation of ridership rates during Covid: https://t.co/Iq2JCMBDhL

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https://t.co/ovP4Ito74V

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India Birdsong is presenting the General Manager's Report. Here is RTA's Vaccination Incentive Program: https://t.co/L522DDjLdv

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https://t.co/zrCJXVtHhY

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The Board has approved a schedule for next year's Board and Committee meetings. Public comment on non-agenda items has begun once again with Rev. Pinkney Butts, who reiterates her point about equity in public transit.

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Resident Larry Rodriguez, who uses Paratransit, is expressing concern over drivers' working conditions, saying he is concerned about them not getting food or restroom breaks. https://t.co/xG8JO6uDyB

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Loh is commenting once again, expressing concerns about technological issues like what were experienced today, and says "we need to level up customer service." https://t.co/9yHT498ZDi

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Fairview Park resident Brian [Givens?] wants to see some of RTA's meetings moved to evening hours so they may be more accessible to the working public. https://t.co/sMuAYunMSy

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The meeting has now been fully adjourned. This concludes my coverage of today’s @GCRTA Board of Trustees meeting for @cledocumenters & @NeighborUpCle. Visit the #CLEdocumenters website for ongoing coverage of local government meetings and happenings. cleveland.documenters.org/reporting/

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Agency Information

Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority

See meeting notes for details

www.riderta.com

(216) 566-5100

gm@gcrta.org

@https://twitter.com/GCRTA

Facebook page

See Documenters reporting

GCRTA, or RTA, is a political subdivision of the state. Its Board of Trustees is charged with managing and conducting RTA’s affairs. The Board also establishes overall RTA administrative policies, which are implemented by the General Manager.