Enquirer sues SORTA over streetcar information

The Enquirer filed a Wednesday lawsuit asking the Ohio Supreme Court to force the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority to provide the public with access to documents regarding the operation of Cincinnati's streetcar.

The suit accuses SORTA, a transportation entity in charge of deciding which company will operate the controversial streetcar project, of violating Ohio's Open Records laws by refusing to provide Enquirer reporter Jason Williams with the documents when asked in a March 30 letter.

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) is following its established Procurement Policies and Procedures Manual which it believes to be in compliance with state and federal law regarding Requests for Proposals.

SORTA sought guidance from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) regarding its process, and, in a March 23 letter, the FTA confirmed that SORTA should follow its established procedures," a Wednesday SORTA release noted.

SORTA hadn't seen the suit and wouldn't comment further.

Williams filed his request asking to review documents submitted by companies responding to a SORTA request to bid on the estimated $4 million per year contract to maintain and operate the 3.6-mile, $148 million streetcar. Bidding is done in an attempt to encourage competition to control costs.

The deadline for the submission of those bids was March 30. Williams asked to see the documents the same day.

In an April 13 letter, SORTA denied Williams' request, saying Ohio's Open Records laws don't apply to it. Jack Greiner, The Enquirer's attorney, wrote SORTA an April 16 letter, telling them their legal arguments for denying Williams the documents weren't valid, again asked for the documents and suggested legal action could be taken if SORTA denied the request.

"The Enquirer has a clear legal right to inspect and copy the Records and (SORTA has) a clear legal duty to promptly make the Records available to the Enquirer for inspection and copying," Greiner wrote.

Wednesday's lawsuit is a response to SORTA's second denial of the documents in its April 24 letter.

"(T)here is no way that (SORTA) could have believed that their conduct did not violate Ohio's Public Record Acts or supporting case law," the suit alleges.

SORTA won't say how many bid on the project. In July, SORTA's board plans to hire the company to do the day-to-day streetcar operations and maintenance. Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley and some council members have been asking SORTA to release the documents so they can see what it will cost to operate the streetcar because the true costs won't be known until the documents are provided or a contractor hired.

The documents should be released, they've argued, because public money will pay to run the streetcar. Revenue projections have always shown the streetcar will run with a deficit, but how much is uncertain.

The Enquirer believes the bid documents will give a better indication of that cost and overall annual operating expenses.

The streetcar is expected to be open to the public in September 2016.

SORTA, the region's largest transit authority, also operates the Metro buses and routes in Cincinnati. SORTA's 13-member volunteer board of trustees are appointed by Hamilton County and the city of Cincinnati.

The suit also was filed against Dwight Ferrell, SORTA's general manager and chief operating officer.

In addition to access to the documents, The Enquirer seeks to have SORTA pay court costs for filing the suit and The Enquirer's attorney fees.