Amador County – The Amador Regional Transit System Budget Committee met with Caltrans Wednesday and learned that the new Mobility Management program is more flexible than they thought. The committee, which includes County Supervisor John Plasse and Ione Councilman David Plank, planned to have a conference call with Caltrans, but Plasse said that “morphed into a face-to-face meeting,” which went very well. He said the information they received gave himself, Plank and Supervisor Richard Forster “a greater understanding of what Caltrans views the scope of Mobility Management to be.” Plasse, Plank and ARTS Interim Transit Manager Joyce Jones met with Kimberly Gayle, office chief for the Federal Transit Grants Program with Caltrans. Plasse said Caltrans and ARTS share the same overarching goal for the Mobility Management program, in which the “net effect should be increased ridership of public transit.” Plasse said that has been a tremendous focus of the board, but ARTS has still seen a drop in ridership, so much so that the “primary demographic locations” have been losing routes. He said ARTS is required by statute to provide service that must be offset by an income of at least 10 percent from “fare box revenue.” Plasse said the committee was “able to confirm (Wednesday) that “we can change some of the staffing of the Mobility Management program.” They also “can change money allotments” to customize the program to fit ARTS goals of service in Amador County. Plasse said he was bothered by Mobility Manager Mel Welsh seeking to move the program out of ARTS and into the Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency. Welsh instituted that search, and he and the ARTS board thought it was out of her purview. Plasse said he “expressed concern over her making the autonomous decision” to look at trying to move it. He said Welsh was under the impression that if she was not the manager, then the grant would be lost. The program must follow spending as outlined in the grant application, but he found out Wednesday that Caltrans in effect got its “hand slapped” in awarding the grant to ARTS, with Welsh as the “sole source provider of Mobility Management functions,” and putting her automatically into the position, with no competitive hiring process. A federal audit discovered that Welsh was named “sole source provider” in the grant. Plasse said the grant was written by Innovative Paradigms of Sacramento, a firm that Welsh recommended as a grant writer. He said the next step for the ARTS board is deciding how to proceed with Mobility Management, and its staffing. The board last week moved toward ending Welsh’s contract, and set up Wednesday’s meeting with Caltrans. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Thursday, 06 May 2010 06:06
ARTS Committee Gets Caltrans Info On Mobility Management
Amador County – The Amador Regional Transit System Budget Committee met with Caltrans Wednesday and learned that the new Mobility Management program is more flexible than they thought. The committee, which includes County Supervisor John Plasse and Ione Councilman David Plank, planned to have a conference call with Caltrans, but Plasse said that “morphed into a face-to-face meeting,” which went very well. He said the information they received gave himself, Plank and Supervisor Richard Forster “a greater understanding of what Caltrans views the scope of Mobility Management to be.” Plasse, Plank and ARTS Interim Transit Manager Joyce Jones met with Kimberly Gayle, office chief for the Federal Transit Grants Program with Caltrans. Plasse said Caltrans and ARTS share the same overarching goal for the Mobility Management program, in which the “net effect should be increased ridership of public transit.” Plasse said that has been a tremendous focus of the board, but ARTS has still seen a drop in ridership, so much so that the “primary demographic locations” have been losing routes. He said ARTS is required by statute to provide service that must be offset by an income of at least 10 percent from “fare box revenue.” Plasse said the committee was “able to confirm (Wednesday) that “we can change some of the staffing of the Mobility Management program.” They also “can change money allotments” to customize the program to fit ARTS goals of service in Amador County. Plasse said he was bothered by Mobility Manager Mel Welsh seeking to move the program out of ARTS and into the Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency. Welsh instituted that search, and he and the ARTS board thought it was out of her purview. Plasse said he “expressed concern over her making the autonomous decision” to look at trying to move it. He said Welsh was under the impression that if she was not the manager, then the grant would be lost. The program must follow spending as outlined in the grant application, but he found out Wednesday that Caltrans in effect got its “hand slapped” in awarding the grant to ARTS, with Welsh as the “sole source provider of Mobility Management functions,” and putting her automatically into the position, with no competitive hiring process. A federal audit discovered that Welsh was named “sole source provider” in the grant. Plasse said the grant was written by Innovative Paradigms of Sacramento, a firm that Welsh recommended as a grant writer. He said the next step for the ARTS board is deciding how to proceed with Mobility Management, and its staffing. The board last week moved toward ending Welsh’s contract, and set up Wednesday’s meeting with Caltrans. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Latest from
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