Kevin Roden – 11.18.10

Upon greeting two of the four Denton City Council members in attendance at Thursday’s much-anticipated DCTA Board meeting, I was struck by an unusually upbeat vibe.  For only a day earlier at the joint DCTA and UNT meeting held in the UNT Student Union, both sets of officials seemed to continue a line of transportation apologetics for why the initial level of A-Train service will not meet expectations.  Only two weeks earlier, Denton leaders found themselves standing alone with their rail vision, seemingly abandoned by the other two partner cities of Lewisville and Highland Village.  But much has changed since then…

Following the meeting with member cities two weeks ago, thinkdenton.com obtained and publicized the emails of all the DCTA Board members.  Many of you got involved by emailing the Board with your comments, questions, and concerns.  Several Board members at Thursday’s meeting referred to the amount of feedback they have received in the last couple of weeks (prior to this, their emails were not made available to the public).  Board Chair Charles Emery (Lewisville) even stated that his email system was clogged with feedback – something he appreciated.  In addition to the emails, Denton City Leaders worked tirelessly behind the scenes to gain additional support and convince other cities and Board members of the need for more robust rail service.  The City Council of Highland Village voted unanimously last week to support the plan.  UNT jumped into the debate with a strongly worded email from President Rawlins about the need for greater service in order to service the needs of UNT students, who currently make up over 80% of the ridership on DCTA buses.  Mayor Burroughs made a special visit to the Senate body of the UNT Student Government Association on the same day as Rawlins’ email and convinced them to draft a letter of support to the DCTA Board.  Mayor Pro Tem Pete Kamp remarked that she had nearly worn out her Blackberry with phone calls and emails trying to find support this past week.  And present at Thursday’s meeting was quite the Denton contingent – Mayor Burroughs and three council members, City Manager George Campbell, various city staff, UNT Interim Transportation Director Joe Richmond, and the President of the Denton Chamber of Commerce.

Before the relevant agenda item was finished being introduced, Denton Board member Guy McElroy had his hand raised and indicated he was ready to make a statement and a motion.  Below is a copy of what he distributed and read to the Board:

It is important to realize just how radical this motion was.  The DCTA staff’s own recommendation included only Saturday service in addition to peak commuter times – and even that had been met with Board skepticism during the last few Board meetings.  Denton’s suggestion of adding late Friday service in addition to the Saturday options was not met favorably by the other member cities only two weeks ago.  But the tone had obviously changed…

Immediately, several Board members raised their hands to second the motion – Highland Village Board member Michael Leavitt was given the honor because he was another member city.  Now it was time for discussion and our good friend Tom Spencer reliably spoke up in opposition (you might remember him as the guy who referred to concerned citizens as “Johnny Come Latelies” during an earlier meeting).  Referring both to your emails and this website, Spencer had this to say in reference to the public concern over reduced levels after the announcement was made in June:

“Folks were not happy with that, particularly the Cafe Society in Denton – folks that were wanting the evening train… There’s been a lot of talk about what we intended and promised.  As far as I’m concerned, there’s been some misrepresentation… In the blog that Denton says to refer to – I appreciate those peoples’ activity – they’re showing an interest and that’s a good thing…”

After making his case against the motion, most of the other Board members took advantage of the chance to make a public statement.  One by one, they announced their support of Denton’s motion.  A vote was called and the motion was passed 10-2, with Tom Spencer (Shady Shores, Small Cities) and Doug Peach (Little Elm) as the only detractors.  Many of the non-member city Board members took care to respond to the criticism, made by this website and many citizens, that the Board is comprised of many members representing cities who have thus far refused to “buy in.”  Their votes of support provided an encouraging argument for their inclusion in the process.

No doubt at the heart of the Board members’ comfort level were signs of regional economic recovery.  The Board approved a baseline operating cost of $8,241,048 in June of this year, meaning that this is what they projected they could afford when the A-Train starts running in June 2011.  Adding Saturday service meant an additional $121,657 and adding Saturday and late Friday evening service would cost an additional $231,657 to that baseline estimate.  During Mayor Burroughs presentation two weeks ago, he made the case that sales tax revenue appeared to be exceeding estimates upon which the June baseline costs were based – it turns out he was right.  The current sales tax (which accounts for 70% of DCTA’s revenue) is approximately 8.8% beyond what was previously estimated.  That means that the additional $231,657 to run Friday night and Saturday service could be set aside out of the revenue surplus the agency is currently experiencing.  As Board member Dave Kovatch put it, “this is only a conservative risk.”

Though the DCTA staff still needs to tweak specific running times, the following is what they are estimating according to the Board back-up material on Thursday:

This is a far cry from where we were back in June when DCTA announced that service levels beyond peak commuter times were not feasible.  You, the citizens, deserve the credit – you came to meetings, you emailed the city council, the DCTA staff, and most recently, the DCTA Board.  You spread the word and you practiced your citizenship by getting involved in something important to you.  Denton’s most valuable, yet often under-utilized asset, is her citizens.  The DCTA staff deserves credit – they have taken the brunt of the criticism since June, yet they have been working tirelessly to find some way to increase service after they heard your concerns (particularly, Dee Leggett, VP of Communication and Planning; Jim Witt, CEO; and Jarod Varner, VP of Bus Operations).  The Denton City Council and city leaders, especially Mayor Burroughs, Mayor Pro Tem Pete Kamp, and City Manager George Campbell, deserve credit.  They’ve been fighting for you all along and are responsible for putting the ball behind the goal line.  Finally, the DCTA Board defied all expectation with their vote on Thursday and deserves credit for listening to your concerns and choosing to get behind an A-Train vision that is beneficial to the entire county.  You have been active up to this point – will you please take a minute to contact these people and thank them for their service, their willingness to listen, and their dedication to alternative transportation in our region?

Finally, it is important to note that the ball is now in our court.  We’ve said we wanted this – and in many cases we have said that we needed this.  It’s now time for us to translate our enthusiasm into creativity and figure out a way to turn these Texas car lovers into alternative transportation enthusiasts.  THINKDENTON will be fostering this discussion as we move forward, so stay tuned…