At the time the Grand Rapids Press vaguely reported the following: “Now Rapid staffers are exploring the possibility of stops near Wealthy Street and Division near Logan, and considering whether the current plan to use Lafayette Avenue through Heritage Hill is the best way to access Michigan Street NE.”

The question though, was why after years of planning did the Silver Line’s route change right before voters were expected to go to the polls?

The answer is one of back room deals, powerful political forces within the city of Grand Rapids, and a total commitment by the mayor of Grand Rapids, a county commissioner, and the leadership at the Rapid to push forth their agenda of implementing the Silver Line, even if democratic processes had to be circumvented.

The Kent County Families for Fiscal Responsibility (KCFFR) received documents from a curious citizen who issued a Freedom of Information Act request for communications from Mayor Heartwell, Rapid CEO Peter Varga, County Commissioner Jim Talen, and others that explain the extraordinary lengths taken to placate a powerful Grand Rapids neighborhood association that had taken the Silver Line millage hostage.

The Heritage Hill Association (HHA) is an influential neighborhood in the city of Grand Rapids because of its residents and its unique status as an historical neighborhood. That designation gives it unique ‘veto’ privileges for projects that are planned either in or through the neighborhood. According to emails obtained, the HHA was supportive of the transit system so long as it did not traverse their neighborhood. The HHA cited safety, vibration, congestion, and noise as reasons for their opposition. Due to those concerns, the HHA said that, if unchanged, it would oppose the millage and that it had to be altered before the election. City commissioner Rosalyn Bliss accurately noted that the HHA had the power to veto the entire project even if it passed at the polls.

Mayor Heartwell, Peter Varga, and commissioner Talen quickly went to work in an attempt to mollify the association. They did this even though, according to Grand Rapids city commissioner Rosalyn Bliss, GVSU was “honked off” that their facility would be bypassed by the new bus route. They then passed a resolution written by the Heritage Hill Association that simply mentioned that the planning board should look at more considerations with the routing of the Silver Line and make a decision right away.

Of course, the only input was from one neighborhood association that dictated a completely revised route of a major millage proposal before six cities. The reasons for the change were not made public to anyone outside of this small group of insiders and certainly not to anyone outside of the city of Grand Rapids. Afterwards, Mayor Heartwell stated in an email that the process was “a very healthy exercise in democracy.”

KCFFR spokesman Eric Larson had this to say about the recent revelations, “The very purpose of our county-wide organization is to promote government transparency and the efficient use of taxpayer dollars. This episode with how one Grand Rapids neighborhood behind the scenes held the mayor, a county commissioner, GVSU, and the Rapid staff at hostage without allowing any input or explanation for anyone in the outlying cities is outrageous.”

“One of the major complaints we hear from people in the cities of Walker, Grandville, Wyoming, Kentwood, and East Grand Rapids is that the Rapid system is one which serves primarily the city of Grand Rapids and that Grand Rapids dictates the terms. Many citizens feel that the outlying cities are simply viewed as a tax base by Grand Rapids and that the real political power of the unelected Rapid board lies downtown.”

“During the Friends of Transit kick-off campaign, Mayor Heartwell described those who opposed the millage and expansion of the Rapid as ‘anti-community.’ Yet, he felt that the back-room deals he helped orchestrate are an exercise in democracy. We cannot help but think that the Mayor and his cohorts view the majority of voters who opposed the Silver Line in 2009 in disdain while they work behind the scenes to circumvent a transparent and democratic government.”

For a more complete time line and copies of all the relevant emails, please visit this link.

One very common argument the Friends of Transit makes is questioning why KCFFR spokesman Dr. Eric Larson is weighing in on the conversation at all since he is a resident of Cascade Township and will not have the opportunity to vote on the millage question. They also point to the benefits of an expansive public transit system that encourages people to stay downtown and shun urban sprawl. They argue that Grand Rapids must have a large public transportation system to be a vibrant town.

This value, however, runs counter to the actions of Rapid CEO Peter Varga. Mr. Varga has been heading the Rapid for 13 years and moved to Belmont in March of 2010. Mr. Varga, who points to the many benefits of the bus system, now lives nearly five miles from the nearest bus stop according to the Rapid’s own trip planner.

“We do not begrudge Mr. Varga’s decision to move to the country nor do we particularly care that he lives so far from the nearest bus stop,” said KCFFR spokesman Larson. “However, we find the attacks on me from the Friends of Transit to be hypocritical when their chief executive officer lives more than twice as far away from a stop as me. He contributes financially to the campaign and often points out the advantages of the bus system when he is not in the voting district either.”

“I speak for our organization which covers the entire county with the bulk of its citizens and our volunteers living in the taxing authority. Our volunteer coordinator lives in Kentwood in Bailey’s Grove but is still nearly two miles from the nearest bus stop. Our project manager lives in downtown Grand Rapids and is about ten feet from the nearest stop. Our mission is simply to provide voters with transparency of the Rapid’s operations and the details on their proposals, like the Silver Line, so that voters can make informed decisions on election day.”

The Rapid's web site says that Peter Varga can't use The Rapid to get to work

• The Silver Line was rejected by voters in 2009, yet The Rapid is once again putting the issue on the ballot. It has now doubled the tax increase request from that year in hopes that voters won’t notice that the Silver Line is part of the tax increase. The Silver Line will cause massive congestion because it will turn Division, Monroe, and Michigan into one lane roads during rush hour.
• The Rapid released false information on the effectiveness of hybrid buses and then proceeded to spend millions on them – and it plans to buy at least ten more for the Silver Line route. Grand Rapids’ Mayor Heartwell, who is a member of the Rapid’s board, admitted himself that the buses are largely symbolic. Unfortunately, $200,000 extra per bus for “perception” is not a very good way to spend the public’s money.
• The Rapid says that it’s environmentally friendly, yet we have demonstrated that The Rapid is actually a massive polluter – adding 40% more carbon dioxide to the environment than if all of The Rapid’s passengers had been transported in cars.
• The Rapid is the least transparent major government in Kent County. The Rapid refuses to post its full budgets, audits, and detailed ridership information so we are forced to do it ourselves on our web site. When we requested more detailed financial information, The Rapid’s staff was vindictive and violated the Freedom of Information Act. The Rapid is telling voters that we’d better not ask how public money is being spent or expect a big fine.
• Despite the hype from The Rapid, its non-student ridership is not going up. In fact, the entire increase in ridership between 2008 and 2010 was in students. Non-student ridership actually declined.
• Companies that make money off The Rapid helped fund the 2009 “Yes” campaign. Nearly 70% of the Rapid “yes” campaign in 2009 was funded by one single donation. We are a grass roots organization which doesn’t take any special interest money at all.
• When comparing The Rapid to other transit agencies, The Rapid doesn’t do so well. For instance, The Lansing transit system (CATA) transported 23% more passengers on 17% fewer buses than The Rapid. CATA recovers 24% of its costs through fares while The Rapid only recovers 10% of costs through fares. CATA pollutes 26% less than The Rapid too.
• The Rapid spent $250,000 on a piece of art for its headquarters and $32 million on a new bus garage so that it doesn’t have to store buses outdoors.

We believe the Rapid must first improve its efficiency and transparency before it can come before the taxpayers and ask for more funding. We are urging a “no” vote on May 3 to send a message to The Rapid to take the taxpayers’ concerns seriously.

For detailed explanations of each point above, along with documentation and links to source materials, please view the full document here.

In fact, the analysis shows that the buses produce even more carbon dioxide than people who use SUVs. The production of carbon dioxide with vehicles is entirely dependent with the amount of fuel consumed. The comparison is made by determining the average amount of fuel used to transport one passenger one mile and then comparing the different modes of transportation.

A senior fellow specializing in transportation policy at the Cato Institute, Randal O’Toole independently verified the calculations made by the Kent County Families for Fiscal Responsibility (KCFFR). KCFFR has been the lead opposition group to the upcoming May 3rd 31% bus tax increase. The group has gotten several prominent elected officials to oppose the millage including a Kentwood city commissioner, three county commissioners, and two local state legislators.

KCFFR spokesman Eric Larson had this to say about the new findings, “One of the signature missions of a public transit system is to conserve resources and move people around town efficiently and quickly, while reducing pollution. The analysis today simply points out what we have been saying for months now: the buses are not full enough. Not only is it costly but it contributes to pollution and wastes fuel. Clearly, The Rapid fails to deliver these which is why we have been advocating a ‘no’ vote until they begin running the bus system sensibly.”

“Our analysis shows that their van service delivers on that promise to protect the environment,” continued Larson. “It consumes less fuel and moves people around town inexpensively. Unfortunately, the van service is a miniscule portion of The Rapid system. Instead, The Rapid touts its hybrid buses which are still worse than SUVs because their average fuel mileage is only 0.68 mpg better than the conventional buses. As stewards of tax dollars, we can only hope The Rapid takes an inward look at its operations and rethinks the way it operates.”

The Rapid’s buses produced 25,079,872 pounds of carbon dioxide annually which was 40% more than if the people had been transported using passenger cars. Had all of those riders instead used passenger cars or SUVs, they would have produced 17,754,939 and 18,360,146 pounds of carbon dioxide respectively. Part of the explanation for the large discrepancy is the fact that automobiles’ fuel efficiency has improved dramatically over the last forty years while bus efficiency has actually diminished.

To view the full report along with supporting calculations and links to source data, please see the posting at the ITP Watch web site.

The original FOIA request from Steinport asked for information on the Rapid’s ridership on a per-route basis, the amount the Rapid spends with several companies, and more detail on the proposed Silver Line bus route, which is again before voters in the May 3rd election. The Rapid is requesting a 31% property tax increase on May 3 with much of the new tax increase going to fund the Silver Line bus route which voters rejected in 2009 in four of the six cities.

Steinport made a request for a fee waiver because he believed the information he sought was in the public’s interest especially in light of the upcoming millage request. The Rapid denied the fee waiver request and proceeded to send him nearly 1,700 pages of printouts and a bill for $450.

“All government agencies have a procedure where they notify the FOIA requester that the cost will be over $50, yet the Rapid did not do this, contrary to their own practices,” said Jeff Steinport. “In fact, The Rapid is sending a message to taxpayers that they’d better not ask how The Rapid spends their money, and if they do, The Rapid will slap them with a bill for hundreds of dollars just for asking.”

Steinport believes that he was specifically singled out by the Rapid because it was graded the least transparent government entity in Kent County after a survey by KCFFR showed how little information it made available online. The Rapid received a transparency score of “D-”, a result of virtually no financial or operational data being available to the public.

Said Steinport, “The appeal filed today demonstrates how The Rapid violates both the spirit and letter of state law and how The Rapid fears public disclosure of its spending and operations. Taxpayers in Grand Rapids, East Grand Rapids, Kentwood, Walker, Wyoming, and Grandville need to ask themselves if a government agency which consistently misleads the public and shows contempt for taxpayers deserves more money.”

The entire Freedom of Information Act appeal and more detail on The Rapid’s operations are available on our ITP Watch web site at www.ITPWatch.org.