Our local public transportation system has been in the news recently. As someone who oversaw its operation for several years, I found this news both interesting and concerning. Public transportation is an essential service for our community. People take it to work, college classes, and for daily business, like grocery shopping and doctor visits. It’s needed by people without reliable transportation, with limited incomes, and those who can’t drive for themselves. It provided over 100,000 rides last year, so it’s clear it’s needed.
The recent news is of interest, as transit impacts our entire community. My concerns come from the performance problems identified by ODOT as well as the resignation of several long- term board members and long-term director. The remaining board members, who are relatively new and of one political perspective, then hired an interim director without transit experience who shares their political ideology. This does not bode well for success, as running a transit district is a very sophisticated endeavor. It requires an understanding of complex regulations, an ability to manage them and accurate/timely reporting. If inadequately managed, ODOT can withdraw funding, as they’ve done in other communities. With all this institutional experience going out the door at once, correcting performance problems, while maintaining operations, could be problematic and jeopardize funding. The commitment and capability of the Board to keep the system intact and operating is an open question. Finally, with most board members having similar political biases, it can limit differing perspectives on possible solutions. This also could alienate people in the community. Having diversity of organizational thought and solid community support is critical for success.
Due to these concerns, I’ve attended recent Public Transit Board meetings. I left with a somewhat hopeful perspective. From past experience I can attest that performance issues have occurred for years. A change in operational leadership is good if it leads to better performance. I’ve seen long-term board members find it difficult to correct problems, so changes in board membership can result in problems being addressed. At the Board meetings most of the actions taken were needed ones. Board members are working to address ODOT’s compliance issues by hiring experienced and skilled staff, including a compliance officer and an administrative expert to assure successful operations and compliance. The Board also stated their goal is to keep the system alive, functional and growing. They seem to genuinely understand the importance of having a functional transit system.
My continued concerns stem from the fact that there may be naivete about what it takes to make this happen. From my experience, finding professionals with the required skill sets can be challenging. Without experienced staff, it will be a challenge to meet ODOT’s requirements within the given time frames. They have identified a compliance officer who seems to have good knowledge. That is good if it works out. If finding qualified staff does become a problem then contracting with other transit agencies for those skills could be a viable option as is done in other rural districts. I’m also concerned about a confrontational tone I heard from board members towards other organizations and leaders in our community as well as ODOT. If the District Board is to be successful it will take support from everyone in the community. Taking a confrontational stance works against this. Also, having a positive working relationship with ODOT is essential for success. ODOT is a partner and ultimately wants the District to succeed.
Transit should be a non-partisan issue as it’s used by everyone in our community. It isn’t something that should be influenced by political biases. Those need to be left at the transit bus door. The ability to work across political and ideological lines for the betterment of our community is critical to making things happen in a community. I learned that working for Republican Representative Gary Leif. He hired me, a Democrat, to work on his legislative staff addressing housing and homelessness. Together we worked in the legislature and obtained funding for what became the Gary Leif Navigation Center. Rep. Leif and I disagreed on many things but we agreed on housing and homelessness issues. By staying focused on our commonality and not our differences we worked together for the betterment of our community. This is a lesson I hope the Transit District works towards, as well as all our community leaders. Having people in leadership working for the common good and willing to put tribalism aside is essential in building a successful community. It’s something we, as Douglas County Democrats, believe in and are working for. Our hope is the Transit District will be able to do this too.
Special District elections including the Transit District occur this spring. Consider running for a position if you want this type of cooperative leadership. In the meantime, we wish the Transit Board success in keeping this critically needed service alive. Our hope is that it doesn’t become a political football.
Mike Fieldman is retired from a 20-year career as the UCAN Executive Director. During this time UCAN operated the public transit system for the county as well as Medicaid transportation services. He was also instrumental in the creation and start-up of the Public Transit District. He currently is a Democratic Party Precinct Committee Person.