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TARTA Supporters Urge a Vote for Issue 18
Sojourner’s Truth Staff
Last week, supporters of
Issue 18, the levy ballot request by the Toledo Area
Regional Transit Authority, gathered at the TARTA Park
Station in downtown Toledo at the intersection of Erie and
Madison, to voice their support for the levy and to urge
area voters to vote yes.
Issue 18 is a renewal of
an existing 1.5 mil levy – not a new tax, as the speakers
emphasized.
Ray Wood, president of UAW
Local 14 and president of the Toledo Branch NAACP, spoke
first. “Today, we want you to concentrate on TARTA and the
lifeline provided to those in this community.”
He asked his audience to
think about three things with respect to the TARTA levy
request. “First, a healthy TARTA is an absolute necessity,”
said Wood. “Second, for our community to remain healthy,
your vote for Issue 18 is an imperative and, third, Issue 18
is a renewal, not a new tax.” |
James, Gee, TARTA general manager
Shelley Papenfuse, an Ability Center retiree
and TARTA trustee |
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Shelley Papenfuse, an Ability Center retiree and TARTA
trustee, noted that “our buses do a lot for our community –
they provide economic opportunity and drive community
revitalization and they provide access to job
opportunities.”
Cheryl J. Conley, program
director for the Alzheimer’s Association, Northwest Ohio
Chapter, told the assembled that “many, “many seniors who
cannot drive depend on TARTA.”
Carly Allen, who
represents TARTA/TARPS drivers and mechanics as the business
agent for Amelgamated Transit Union Local 697, spoke of the
common interest that various parts of the Toledo population
have in making sure that TARTA is well funded.
James, Gee, TARTA general
manager, said that that the levy, last passed in 2007,
provides 25 percent of TARTA’s operating budget. “Why
support TARTA?” he asked. “Because of the economic
development and the quality of life.
“Being able to drive is a
privilege but not everyone in our community has that
privilege,” said Gee. For so many others who do not have
that privilege, he said, the access to transportation should
be a right.
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