CINCINNATI — A group is proposing a Cincinnati ballot amendment designed to pull the city out of the regional transit planning organization OKI if it does not adopt proportional representation.
The Ohio Kentucky Indiana Regional Council of Government allocates federal transit dollars for transportation in the Tri-State — everything from bike lanes and roadways to buses and bridges.
“If you're in your car or if you're walking or if you're biking, as long as you're not flying, you've been affected by OKI,” said OKI CEO Mark Policinski.
It has been in operation for 60 years and is governed by a 118-member board that includes elected officials from all parts of the Tri-State and various transit and commerce leaders.
The board operates by consensus, and each board member gets one vote.
Fair Share for Cincy campaign manager Brent Edwards said that structure puts Cincinnati at a disadvantage during the allocation process.
“We were sort of lumped in with those smaller cities, and we don’t get as much vote as we should for the amount of people that we have,” Edwards said.
The group will this month start gathering the required 8,000+ signatures to get an amendment to the city’s charter. Unless OKI adopted a proportional representation voting structure, it would require the city to withdraw its membership.
Article XVII - Membership In a Metropolitan Planning Organization
(1) The City may commence or maintain memberships in a Metropolitan Planning Organization ("MPO")
only when both the of the following conditions are met: (a) the voting power of the governing board of the MPO
is apportioned proportionally based on population, not including those statutorily-required voting members;
and (b) members that represent local governments have at least 90% of the total votes on the governing board.
(2) In the event that an MPO does not comply with section (1) of this Article, the City shall withdraw its membership
from the body if the voting system is not corrected within 60 days of the effective date of this Article.
If that were to happen, the consequences would be unclear. Policinski said “absolutely nothing” would change for his organization, while Edwards with the campaign said it would be forced to dissolve.
A staff member for council member Mark Jeffreys, who represents Cincinnati on OKI’s board, said in a statement that he has asked the city’s law department to review the matter.
Despite the imbalance in representation, Policinski said it has not been unfavorable to Cincinnati. He said OKI has allocated 32% of its Ohio dollars to projects within the city of Cincinnati, even though it only makes up 18.5% of OKI’s Ohio population.
- Ohio OKI Dollars Obligated 2010-2018: $737,301,000
- Dollars Spent in City of Cincinnati: $236,873,000
- CITY DIRECT GRANTS: $143,315,000
- GRANTS IN CITY: $9,335,000 (BANKS+WESTERN HILLS VIADUCT + ETC. PROJECTS)
- OKI SIB LOAN MLK: $12,000,000
- SORTA IN CITY: $72,200,000 (~62% OF SORTA ROUTES AND RIDERSHIP WITHIN CITY)
“People trust the process, they trust OKI,” Policinski said. “Of course [Cincinnati] is getting its fair share.”
“I would argue from the success of our work and the commendations we've received, the fact that we can operate by consensus. It shows that we're on the mark, we're hitting people's needs. Absolutely,” he said.
For Edwards and the campaign, this is not just about the federal dollars. It’s about a larger conversation about who allocates those dollars, and to what type of project. He argues proportional representation would better reflect the priorities of the city’s communities.
Policinski reiterated that OKI has been commended by the federal government several times for using best operating practices.
