Winburn tells SORTA: No streetcar docs, no money

The head of Cincinnati City Council's budget committee is threatening to delay awarding city money to the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority if the agency doesn't release documents that include key details on the cost to run the streetcar.

"We'll just hold their budget request until they tell us what's in these documents," Councilman Charlie Winburn told The Enquirer on Thursday. "I don't think they want me to hold up their money. I'm turning up the heat on them."

SORTA receives nearly $50 million a year from city taxpayers to help run Metro buses. The region's largest transit agency also is in charge of hiring a contractor to run the daily operations of the city-owned streetcar.

SORTA has refused to release the proposals submitted by companies seeking the streetcar operations contract. The documents will give city taxpayers their first realistic look at how much it will cost each year to run the Downtown and Over-the-Rhine streetcar.

All proposals were due by March 30, but releasing the documents now could compromise the competitive nature of the negotiation process leading up to selecting a contractor in July, SORTA officials say.

"We are in a tough position and understand the frustration communicated by some in the community," SORTA Chairman Jason Dunn said. "On one side, we have one of our key stakeholders (the city) requesting information. On the other side, we have the Federal Transit Administration – which has the ability to help our region beyond the streetcar funding – directing us to continue the procurement process or start the procurement process completely over."

Releasing the documents now or starting the bidding process all over could lead to costly delays and damage SORTA's relationship with the federal government, Dunn added. "We have to keep looking at the big picture and ask for the community's patience as we exhaust every option to ensure we are in compliance," he said.

Winburn joins Mayor John Cranley and Vice Mayor David Mann as the latest city leader to call for SORTA to release the bid documents. The Enquirer this week filed a lawsuit against SORTA seeking the documents.

"What are they hiding?" Winburn said. "This is a taxpayer-funded operation, and there are no secrets."

Winburn chairs the Budget & Finance committee, which includes all nine council members and vets all spending. The Republican has the ability to hold spending legislation.

Winburn didn't say whether he will push to cut SORTA's funding. But he said he might try to delay the city giving its money to SORTA in the upcoming budget process. Dunn declined to comment on the possibility of city funding being withheld from the transit authority.

SORTA receives $48 million of its $94 million annual operating money from the city. Transit authority officials have been looking to expand SORTA's budget to add more routes and improve service to better connect people to jobs.

Winburn sent a memo late Thursday afternoon asking that SORTA's Dunn, CEO Dwight Ferrell and Chief Financial Officer Michael Restle show up at Monday's scheduled committee meeting with copies of the streetcar bid documents and ready to answer questions.

SORTA officials have no plans to release the documents Monday.

"We will be respectful of Mr. Winburn's request to attend the meeting if appropriate," Dunn said. "However, we have been consistent in our belief that we are following SORTA's established procurement policies ... which we believe to be in compliance with state and federal law regarding requests for proposals."