PX: SORTA leader pushes sales tax in Hamilton County – even though he votes in Texas

Troy Miller has been sleuthing Greater Cincinnati's main public transportation agency for years, certainly long before SORTA recently found $8 million just sitting around in its bank account.

His job as head of the Metro bus driver's union calls for him to stay informed on the agency. But it's past time the rest of us start asking the same tough questions of this $100 million-a-year public agency.

"What the hell is going on?" Miller told Politics Extra. "I’ve been saying for a while: Something ain’t right. One minute they’re talking about cutting routes – which causes jobs to be cut – and the next minute they have $8 million."

Folks, SORTA is a mess. That point was reiterated this week, when it was revealed that an internal review of SORTA's books turned up an extra $7.9 million. Seriously, how do you lose track of that much money? Where do we even begin with all the problems of oversight, credibility and public relations?

Let's start at the top.

CEO Dwight Ferrell has been going around for the past several months telling everyone the agency is cash-strapped. The SORTA board has proposed a bus fare increase for the first time in nearly a decade. Nearly one-third of Metro buses are unreliable because they're too old. It's known as one of the worst transit systems in America for connecting people to jobs. And don't forget all the streetcar's troubles.

Ferrell and his agency have been pushing a countywide sales-tax increase as the solution to the bus problems. He's been the face of a possible ballot initiative this year – yet Ferrell can't even vote on it.

That's right, Ferrell isn't a registered voter in Hamilton County. He's registered to vote in Texas, according to Dallas County records. That's where he also owns a house, in the Dallas suburb of Richardson, according to public records.

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Miller and others have quietly grumbled about the fact Ferrell commutes between Texas and Cincinnati. It's not uncommon for a top executive to fly home to a different city on weekends, but typically that's in the private sector.

“I’ve been going back and forth to take care of my aging mother," Ferrell told PX. "She’s not in good health."

Ferrell, who makes an annual base salary of $189,544, came to Cincinnati in January 2015. He said he's been making the trips throughout his time here because his mother has not been healthy for five years. Asked how often he makes the trips to Texas, Ferrell said: "I’m not going to get into my personal life or what I do on my personal time.”

"It doesn’t have any bearing on my ability to do this job," Ferrell added.

Perhaps the bigger issue is Ferrell's voter registration. PX also checked Hamilton County voter registration and property records. No Dwight Ferrell is listed. The fact he doesn't vote here seems to undermine SORTA's credibility in pushing for a transit tax. But Ferrell said he would register to vote in Hamilton County if a transit tax gets on the ballot.

SORTA Chairman Kreg Keesee declined to comment specifically about Ferrell.

In addition to the $8 million that turned up, there are plenty of other recent examples of questionable money management at SORTA. Last month, WCPO reported the agency had thrown away $800,000 worth of bus parts that union president Miller said were like new and could've been used to help repair aging buses.

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SORTA also has handed out some fat raises this year, according to records, including pay increases of 17.5 percent and 20 percent to the agency's top two streetcar employees – Paul Grether and T.J. Thorn. Both have recently been promoted to vice president positions, Ferrell said.

Justifiable? Well, the streetcar has had ongoing ridership, mechanical and other issues ever since it opened 1½ years ago. SORTA is in charge of running the city-owned streetcar.

With this plethora of problems, how are Hamilton County voters supposed to approve a potential transit tax? Heck, how are they even supposed to take it seriously?

"Elected officials need to be taking a close look at this organization," said Miller, the local transit union leader. "Some re-evaluation needs to be done on how the organization is run."

Politics Extra is a column looking inside Greater Cincinnati and Ohio politics. Follow Enquirer political columnist Jason Williams on Twitter @jwilliamscincy.