MERRILLVILLE | The Northwest Indiana Regional Bus Authority wrestled with issues surrounding a disability rights group at its regular monthly meeting Monday night.

A motion to rescind previous board action designating Everybody Counts as the RBA's trainer for compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act failed on a 10-2 vote because 11 votes in the affirmative are needed to pass any action at the RBA.

Most of the board now appears hostile to a designation members approved only a short time before.

The vote took place as members of Everybody Counts, ADAPT Indiana and Act Now held posters reading: "Apologize," "Liars" and "The issue has not gone away" in the conference room at the Methodist Hospitals Southlake Campus.

Act Now member Gordon Sunny said it was ironic that he still was fighting for his rights on the 20th anniversary of the ADA and 12 years after he first brought a lawsuit to make Northwest Indiana transit providers comply with the act.

Four years ago Sunny and other plaintiffs were victorious in that lawsuit. Northwest Indiana transit providers entered into a federal court consent decree to work with Everybody Counts to see that compliance with the ADA was achieved. But the group recently has accused the RBA of violating that decree.

RBA board members Sheila DeBonis argued Everybody Counts had proved itself antagonistic to the RBA's goal of complying with ADA and should not be paid to provide any services to the board.

Everybody Counts Executive Director Teresa Torres described the RBA's attempted action a "juvenile temper tantrum."

The controvesy between Everybody Counts and the RBA is not the only one roiling passions.

A controversial move by the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority to get Gary Public Transportation Corp. to agree to consolidate with the RBA is on the agenda again for GPTC's board of directors at a meeting scheduled for Thursday.

That meeting will be at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 5 in a GPTC conference room on the third floor of the Adam Benjamin Metro Center and is open to the public.

The controversial memorandum also came up at Tuesday's RBA meeting when the board began discussing a proposal to have all transit providers seeking RBA funds sign a similar but less detailed memorandum pledging to work toward consolidation.

That motion also failed to gain an affirmative vote from the board.