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All of the representatives from the mayor's office - save for Planning Director Freddy Collier - left before any members of the public were able to share their concerns during a public hearing about Public Square. (Photo: Ginger Christ/The Plain Dealer)
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Mayor Frank Jackson and his administration have argued that the impetus for closing Public Square to buses was public demand for a unified square.
However, RTA riders, who are impacted by how Public Square is configured, say their voices have not been heard.
Many showed up to a public hearing held Wednesday by members of city council, to tell Jackson his decision to close the square to buses is misguided. They say rerouting buses around Public Square causes delays, inconveniences and wastes money RTA doesn't have.
But by the time the riders were given a chance to speak, all of the representatives from the Mayor's office - save for Planning Director Freddy Collier - had left, a move not well accepted by members of the public in the audience waiting to share their concerns.
Daniel Williams, director of media relations for the mayor's office, said Wednesday's departure by the administration and RTA was determined before the meeting. RTA CEO Joe Calabrese, as was noted during the hearing, had a plane to catch and the administration wanted to jointly explain with RTA their rationale for closing the square to buses, even though the square's redesign had included the public transit vehicles.
"The administration's presentation to council was done jointly with RTA. The length of the hearing was pre-determined between RTA, the city and the council chairman," Williams said in a statement. "The council chairman acknowledged that yesterday's presentation had a hard stop time, and there would be more in the future."
Before city officials left, council members decried the process by which the mayor closed Public Square, saying he never looped in city council, that he retroactively altered plans for the square and that he didn't hear from the people.
Councilman Zack Reed said Mayor Jackson didn't consult the public before he "told the people of the City of Cleveland who duly elected him, "This is what we are going to do," and that is wrong. That's why we're here today."
"The people here wanted a voice, and we have given them a voice," Reed said.
During the Nov. 15 press conference at which the decision to ban buses from the square was announced, Jackson said his office had received a lot of calls from people in favor of a closed Public Square. However, he also acknowledged that there had been been no formal polling to gather public input on whether Superior Avenue should be closed to buses.
Council members discussed the dichotomy between those in favor of closing the square and those against it, and the key difference was a divide among those who rely on transit and those who don't.
Councilman Jeffrey Johnson asked Calabrese to share the demographics of the riders of RTA to illustrate who exactly is affected by detouring buses around Public Square.
"Let's talk about the others who are impacted," Johnson said, noting that the city only talks about children playing in Public Square and not the actual people riding the bus. "This is more than people playing in water."
Calabrese said that more than 65 percent of RTA riders are minorities, 60 percent are women and the majority are working class people.
"I need to put them on the table. I need them to be mentioned by the administration," Johnson demanded.
Al Porter, Jr., president of Black on Black Cleveland, said he doesn't feel like Public Square belongs to RTA riders anymore.
"I don't feel that Public Square is mine anymore. I was one of those who was not consulted. I used public transit every day and was not even thought of," Porter said during the hearing. "It's not ours; it's not equal access."
And Ronald Jackson, president of ATU Local 268, which represents RTA drivers, said rerouting buses around Public Square has been impacting riders. Buses are running late because of the traffic around the square, he said, and are being forced to make more left turns, which are more dangerous for pedestrians and riders.
"They have disregarded riders in the entire process," said Akshai Singh, a member of riders' group Clevelanders for Public Transit.