Fletcher

  1. We did but we did not have enough people show up to have a quorum. Only ten showed, there are eighteen in total out of twenty-one. The three vacant positions come from Porter County. They have been vacant for well over two years if I'm not mistaken. That was the reason they extended Tom Brown's contract until the end of the year. Since July he's been on a month by month contract extension until September when they extended it until the end of the year, without reducing the pay since the job duties were reduced, out of fear of no quorum. Don't forget that former president of the BoD, Dennis Rittenmeyer, was in charge long before Tim became director. Current BoD president Merrillville Town Councilman Richard Hardaway could do what DR did but then he'd have to do something. TB former Town Manager of Merrillville. Just follow the corruption, I mean connections and you will get a very clear picture of conflicts. For example RBA/RDA/NIRPC/Valpo City Attorney Dave Hollenbeck. How can you be an attorney for four government entities and represent your clients interests. Valpo has a request in for $100k. Is DH, as City Attorney for Valpo going to send a letter to the RBA attorney DH? How does he negotiate that deal? These are the conflicts I've objected to but again I am the only one keeping an eye on our taxpayer money. As for the next meeting I can not answer that because they have yet to ascertain which date they can get a quorum, it's between two days currently at Merrillville Town Hall 12/12 11a or 12/17 at 4p.
    December 03, 2012 9:02 pm on RDA wants to start transit fund
  2. "Are we still paying Tim Brown's salary?" Yes we are, at $90k/yr.

    South Lake County Community Services Executive Director Margaret Sabato sits on the RBA BoD and has received much money from taxpayers. Conflict of interest? I believe so, but I am alone in that thought. The City of Hammond offered Dan Rabin transit plaza for $1/yr whereas the RBA contracted with the Town of Merrillville for a small office space at $500/mo totaling $2500. I voted "no" on that but was the sole person to do so. That would have saved $2499. How much more could have been saved if they listened to common sense ideas?
    December 03, 2012 6:53 am on RDA wants to start transit fund
  3. The RBA did not have a quorum this past Tuesday to appropriate the request, Hollenbeck has a conflict of interest on this issue and I will not vote to send money to Valpo when Hammond totally lost their bus system. Valpo hasn't put a single penny into the RBA therefore they should not benefit from the remaining funds. Additionally Valpo has its' own board etc and wasn't part of the RBA. I don't feel comfortable voting for money for an agency that didn't have to follow the same rules as HTS/RBA Easygo, ECPT or EPTC
    November 23, 2012 8:51 am on Valpo gets bus funding from nearly departed Regional Bus Authority
  4. No Mark, I would not have. My objection was due to the fact that Merrillville benefited financially due to the vote of Mr. Hardaway. If I had won, even though I was appointed by the Lake County Council and not the City of Hammond, I would abstain from the vote if it would have financially benefited Hammond. The contract from Merrillville was negotiated by the Town Council, which Mr. Hardaway is an elected representative of, and offered to the RBA, which Mr. Hardaway is the board president of. As board president after abstaining the first round of voting when the contract was defeated Mr. Hardaway chastised the board for not approving the contract. A second vote took place to get the desired results. Hammond offered Dan Rabin Plaza for only $1 a year and GPTC offered to cover 80% of maintenance costs. To me it was a a no brainer, $1 a year versus $500 a month, which would you choose? Another issue which seems to be getting lost is you have board members voting on tax payer money that they are a direct recipient of. I do not agree with that nor can I support someone sitting on a board and voting on money that they will receive. To me that is a conflict of interest but in Lake County that does indeed happen all of the time.
    August 10, 2012 12:47 am on MARK KIESLING: The RBA — to be or not to be?
  5. I actually suggested that, putting the records in a storage facility. The response was where the staff was going to work. If their contracts are suppose to expire August 31, an extension I voted no on, then why do we need an office space. We have a Transit/Planning director for what? They are trying their best to spend all the money they can and I am doing everything I can to object and get everything on the public record.
    August 09, 2012 2:10 pm on RBA board switch keeps group in business
  6. I tried the best I could, "Fletcher then made a motion to disband the RBA. It was not seconded or voted on." They ignored my motion and cut me off from speaking. I can only surmise that they want to spend every single cent in the bank. On another note the executive director and board member of a transit agency in South County voted on their own claim after I objected to payment for failure to submit a report for a number of months but they passed that anyways.
    August 08, 2012 10:42 pm on RBA board switch keeps group in business
  7. I raised that issue at the RBA Board meeting but everyone else voted to keep the executive director and transit director until 8/31. The board president and vice president did not attend the meeting and I did everything I could to get them not to extend their contracts.
    July 02, 2012 10:21 pm on GPTC emerges as regional leader in bus tussle
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