Join this meeting online, by phone or in person: rtamichigan.org/2022-meetings/

Detroit Documenters will have more notes, recordings and archived materials: detroit.documenters.org/assignments/rt…

📎 Today’s agenda: rtamichigan.org/2022-meetings/ https://t.co/QF650UIZ3T

🏃 Need to catch up on the RTA? See our past reporting: detroit.documenters.org/reporting/?age…

See Ashley Williams’ tweets from the last meeting we covered: twitter.com/williams_ashsu…

🗞 @RideDDOT’s ridership has not yet fully recovered from the COVID pandemic. The agency attributes this to being unable to retain and recruit bus drivers, which means they’ve been unable to restore pre-pandemic service levels. @_ArjunThakkar has more: freep.com/in-depth/news/…

Oakland County voters will get to decide on a 10-year public transportation millage on Nov. 8. Expected to raise over $66 million, the millage will be used to maintain transit service and expand it into rural areas. @BriRiceWrites reported on this: michiganradio.org/transportation…

❓ The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan (RTA) oversees public transit and proposes improvements in the counties of Wayne, Macomb, Oakland and Washtenaw. It works with DDOT, @smartbusorg, @CatchTheRide and other transit providers.

The Board of Directors leads the RTA. Its members are appointed by county executives, Detroit’s mayor and the state governor. Your boardmembers:

• Freman Hendrix (Detroit)
• @ericatrobertson (Wayne)
• June Lee (Wayne)
• Paul Hillegonds (@GovWhitmer)
…

• Donald Morandini (Macomb)
• Jon Moore (Macomb)
• Helaine Zack (Oakland)
• Jeannette Bradshaw (Oakland)
• Alma Smith (Washtenaw)
• Ned Staebler (Washtenaw)

rtamichigan.org/about/board-of…

🚩 Need visual descriptions? Reply and I’ll provide them to you.

Something inaccurate? Email documenters@outliermedia.org with the subject “Correction Request.” I’ll add corrections at the end.

See you soon!

My computer is really slow today, so I’ll have to publish screenshots at the end of this thread.

⌚️ At 1:03 p.m., the meeting begins!

📣 At 1:04 p.m., the board proceeds to the Fiscal Year 2023 budget hearing.

The audio and video quality in the online meeting is so low that it’s difficult to hear and see who is speaking.

Someone is introducing the budget. You can read the 2023-2027 budget plan here: secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.69/…

Someone else asks something about the D2A2 intercity bus service… It’s in the budget plan.

Robert, representing Transportation Riders United, wonders how RTA’s budget plan squares with AAATA’s “2045” plan. He says TRU has done a lot of public engagement and, so far, he’s “impressed” with RTA’s work. …

A boardmember says they’re meeting with AAATA next week to coordinate with their transit plan.

There are no other requests for public comment, just Robert. The board closes the public hearing.

Boardmembers introduce themselves.

Detroit Documenters is providing machine transcription for this RTA Board of Directors meeting: otter.ai/u/hSxJPzN-SVRH…

A meeting body member asks boardmembers to speak closer to their microphones. This improves the audio somewhat. They continue to introduce themselves.

Notably, Jeannette Bradshaw says she’s a new boardmember. She says she joined on April Fools Day. Bradshaw says she’s an experienced licensed electrician and labor advocate.

Boardmember Helaine Zack says she’s out of town, but she’s in the online meeting.

The board finishes introductions. They approve this meeting’s agenda and the summary from their meeting in July.

Robert returns to give positive remarks of the board’s outreach efforts and collaboration with TRU. He emphasizes the importance of proposed millages from AAATA and Oakland County. Robert says Wayne and Macomb should follow with their own transportation millages.

📣 By the way, this is public comment. It started at 1:25 p.m.

Megan Owens, Transportation Riders United, talks about TRU’s outreach events. She asks for help in promoting these events. “We know that when we take the time to talk with residents about transit … when we can get that information out, voters are very supportive.” …

Like Robert, Owens also urges the board “to continue to do everything you can” to coordinate with DDOT’s and AAATA’s transit plans.

📝 At 1:33 p.m., the board proceeds to discuss financial reports for July and August. Someone gives the rundown, noting that RTA bought new computers for staff and compensated some travel expenses for a Michigan Public Transit Association conference. …

Boardmember Bradshaw asks if they incorporate bank fees into their budget. The answer is yes.

The board quickly approves these reports.

👉 At 1:36 p.m., the board proceeds to vote upon the 2023 budget. They approve adopting the budget, without discussion.

👉 The board proceeds to vote upon renewing liability insurance for directors and officers. They approve this too.

👉 At 1:40 p.m., the board goes to the “Fiscal Year 2023 WSP Task Order Update.” Someone says the person who was supposed to present this update is not present, but someone else says the board has already reviewed this update. The board approves.

👉 Likewise, they approve the “Fiscal Year 2023 HNTB Task Order Update.”

👉 At 1:42 p.m., the board considers a triennial audit for Fiscal Year 2022 and a draft “Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program.” Someone says they’re combined into one voting item because both have to be done every three years.…

They also say the audit found some inefficiencies in RTA’s procurement, which has led to a proposed update to their procurement policy and procedures. But there’s “nothing major” about the update.

This person notes that they currently don’t have any disciplinary actions included in their conflict-of-interest and procurement procedure policies.

They also talk about the proposed DBEP. This includes a “race-neutral” contracting mechanism, which differs from their current “race-conscious” policy.

Boardmember Robertson asks if the DBEP will address certain issues in the RTA. (I could not hear what exactly.) The person presenting the DBEP says yes. …

Robertson also says she’s happy with RTA exceeding their current DBEP goals, but says they should strive for equity and “make sure that we're being a more inclusive organization.”

Someone asks a question but they are almost completely inaudible. The presenter responds, but it’s also difficult to comprehend what he’s saying with all the acronyms and bad audio. I think they noted that DBEP only applies to federal contracts?

Someone notes that state-funded contracts cannot take gender or race into consideration when hiring contractors.

Boardmember Lee asks if they could create a memo to better coordinate with existing govenment programs for vendor outreach.

📝 At 2:09 p.m., the board proceeds to a Report from the Program Manager. Congratulations made to the AAATA for their success passing the transit millage. …

A new staffmember introduces themselves: They previously served as the chief operating officer for the Mass Transportation Authority in Flint for 17 years. This staffmember says they’re originally from Eastpointe and now live in Birmingham.

Cory, RTA’s new community relations manager, also gives an introduction. She lives in Detroit and have worked with the city government. Cory says after her hiring, she has already done outreach on college campuses.

The person presenting the Program Manager report says they’ll review American Rescue Plan Act spending next month. …

They also say RTA helped secure a $25 million grant for the “Detroit Mobility Innovation Corridor” to be constructed on Michigan Ave. — RTA provided a cost-benefit analysis.

The presenter, Ben, says D2A2 ridership continues to increase, noting that it’s currently “bouncing around 3,000 riders a month” now that colleges have started the fall semester.

💼 At 2:22 p.m., the board proceeds to new business. No items are brought forward.

⏱ At 2:23 p.m., the meeting adjourns!

RTA’s next meeting will be another Board of Directors meeting on Oct. 20: rtamichigan.org/2022-meetings/

That’s my live coverage of this RTA Board of Directors meeting. Thanks for reading.

For more local meeting coverage, check out documenters.org

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Corrections may follow below.