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trumbull county transit levy Official: There was no effort to mislead public
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Ralph Infante, chairman of the campaign to promote passage of the 0.5-mill countywide transit levy on the ballot Tuesday, says there was no effort to mislead the public about who was funding most of the campaign’s work, even though the levy committee’s campaign finance report didn’t specifically mention the countywide transit levy.
The campaign finance report the committee turned in last week to the Trumbull County Board of Elections said The Friends of Niles Trumbull Transit had received $14,001 in contributions.
Of that, all but $65 were services provided by a busing company that stands to benefit from levy dollars and a Liberty public relations firm promoting the levy.
The other $65 came in the form of cash contributions from three individuals.
Infante and Terry Thomas, president of Community Bus Service of Youngstown, confirmed this week that the campaign finance report was for in-kind services that were given to support passage of the countywide transit levy.
Infante, Niles mayor and longtime advocate for Trumbull County public transportation, says the levy committee was named Friends of Niles Trumbull Transit instead of Friends of Trumbull Transit because “It’s still in Niles yet.”
Niles-Trumbull Transit is the name of the busing service Infante and the city of Niles started in 2003. Community Bus Service has been providing the rides for the service since its inception.
Earlier this year, Infante told county commissioners Niles would get out of the transportation business at the end of this year.
County commissioners voted 3-0 Aug. 3 to place a 0.5-mill levy on the Nov. 8 ballot to fund a new countywide transportation service to replace Niles Trumbull Transit. A month later, commissioners appointed seven people to serve on the Trumbull County Transit Board, which will run the new service.
Thomas said by telephone Tuesday that the $11,591 worth of in-kind contributions his company has made to promote the levy have come in the form of labor and expenses Community Bus Service has incurred to put up signs, make phone calls and sponsor a breakfast to promote the levy.
Thomas said it’s natural that Community Bus Service would promote the levy because if it passes, the company will likely bid on the contract to provide the transportation.
In addition to the $11,591 in services Community Bus Service has provided to the levy campaign, the campaign committee also received $2,500 worth of in-kind services from V.L. Rubenstein Associates of Youngstown, a public-relations and marketing firm from Liberty Township that is promoting the levy.
The levy committee also owes V.L. Rubenstein Associates an outstanding debt of $5,195, the campaign finance report says.
When asked whether it’s out of balance that 99 percent of the resources used to promote the levy are coming from private sources, Thomas said that is because the individuals who will benefit from the rides the levy will provide “don’t have the money to contribute to it.”
Infante says the campaign committee has worked hard promoting the levy, giving presentations at trustee meetings, village council and city council meetings throughout the county to explain why voters should approve the levy.
One reason is the levy would give the transit board a firm funding source over the next five years so that it can provide matching money to keep federal transportation money flowing into the county — about $600,000 this year — Infante said.
The levy would raise $1.7 million a year and cost the owner of a $100,000 home $17.50 per year.
Trumbull County Commissioner Paul Heltzel said Tuesday that if the levy doesn’t pass, there will be “pretty substantial cuts in transportation,” which would negatively affect people using the rides provided by Niles Trumbull Transit to get to work, doctor appointments and the like.
The rides, known as “on-demand” (by appointment, not a fixed route) are “somewhat of a luxury,” Heltzel said. The cost is around $30 to $40 per ride, but he added, “no [public] transportation system makes money.” The price a rider pays is as little as $1.50.