Fair report… made it via CTA slightly faster than estimated trip time. However arriving to a packed out board room. Staff originally told me I could not come in. This is still subcommittee meeting scheduled prior to full board meeting.

Finance committee meeting just adjourned at 9:59a. Anticipate the full board meeting to begin after a short break.

The Chicago Transit Board has 7 members, governing the @cta. The agenda today is here: transitchicago.com/assets/1/21/Au…

@cta Board meeting called to order at 10:05a. Jessica Pipersburgh Chair of Ethics committee, begins her report, which is the first item on the agenda after approving previous minutes

@cta Ethic committee recommends substantive updates to the Ethic program. General counsel begins presentation “We would like to make the ethics program here at CTA quite robust.”

@cta Anonymous complaints and complaints via email will now be allowed. Changes to due process will include a hearing officer to hear facts. This committee is meant to supplement the office of the Exec Inspector General and law enforcement.

@cta Now the ADA Advisory Committee Report from chair Laura Saltzman. Ms Saltzman is also a senior policy advisor with Access Living.

@cta Committee had reports on better wayfinding signage for those with accessibility needs. They discussed that 3rd party transit apps show all bus stops as fully accessible when this isn’t always the case.

@cta Saltzman singles out the controversial “Redesign the Drive” proposal for N Dusable Lake Shore Dr. Busses are the most accessible option we have. “CTA can be overruled by CDOT which doesn’t consider accessibility in the same way.” (The new proposal for DLSD rejected a bus option)

@cta President Dorval Carter listens during report from ADA committee

@cta Dir. Roberto Requejo asks “What would it look like to have a more functional connected relationship between agencies?  This seems to be a recurring theme”

@cta Requejo is the newest member of the CTA board chicago.gov/city/en/depts/…

@cta Pres Carter, the CTA chief, makes comments saying there are “competing interests.” Dir Bernard Jakes asks if ADA issues are addressed proactively or just in response to complaints. Carter says they have ongoing active work, but also need the ADA committee to point out issues

@cta Carter: “The timeline [around ADA improvements] is not what I want to do, but it’s what I’m forced to do because I can’t find the money faster”

@cta Director Michele Lee, who sits on the board as a member of the disability community, says “why can’t we invite CDOT here?” for better collaboration. “Accessibility affects everybody, so it shouldn’t be a competing interest”

@cta Ald Ronnie Mosley (21st Ward) is first public comment. He speaks on Red Line Extension. CTA Red line team has “gone beyond the mandate of [just] community meetings” “This is a transformation project”

@cta Public Commenter #2: Rev Albert Shears riffs on quote from Dr King - this Red Line extension project is a “check issued as a down payment” against the segregated history of Chicago

@cta Gallery of about 80 people erupts in applause after Rev Shears who has adopted the tone of a pastoral, inspirational political speech, ends with loud “yes we can, yes we can”

@cta Next public comments also in celebration of Red Line Extension. First notes that today’s CTA map graphic only shows to 95th street, not extending to the real south border of the city. Abraham Lacy of Far South CDC praises Pres. Carter—“you stuck with it” farsouthcdc.org/staff

@cta Now the President’s report by Pres Dorval Carter Regarding the DNC: ”we are ready to put the best face on public transit in the country”

@cta Carter: “the special skills that I have. They are not fixing a broken bus. Driving a train… they special skill that I have is ‘in getting money’ ”

@cta Carter: “When i was a kid, I rode CTA just like everybody else–I didn’t have a car”

@cta Carter talks about hearing about potential L extension years ago when he was young. When he became CTA chief it was a top priority. “You deserved this decades ago” “This is truly a legacy project… why I do this work”

@cta Carter: “At the end of the day, what we do is more than just move people from point A to point B. We transform communities.”

@cta Pres Dorval Carter holds up CTA signage showing “130th St to Howard” representing the Red Line Extension

@cta Rev Michael Eddy—also new to the CTA board—congratulates Dorval Carter “diligent and persevering and have a gift”

@cta Now the formal presentation for the Red Line Extension. Originally promised in 1969.

@cta The extension is 5.6 miles along Chicago’s South Side. It includes four new fully accessible stations: 104rd, 111th, “Michigan,” “130th.”

@cta Timeline predicts launch of service in 2030.

@cta “The construction industry completely changed post-covid” Presentation discussing difficult large cost increases, and demonstrating similar cost issues in peer projects in NYC.

@cta Total price tag: $2.9 billion. Recommended vendor: Walsh-Vinci Transit Community Partners. wvtcp-rle.com

@cta Discussing the “mega-procurement” process. CTA hired an expert. 15 firms responded to initial “industry comment” phase. Next phase evaluates “Qualified” vendors. Then RFP (request for proposal) phase, negotiations, and the “Best and Final Offer” phase.

@cta Job creation is estimated to be 12,512 jobs, and 60k indirect jobs. Presentation team covering significant details about subcontractors, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) initiatives.

@cta Board Chairman Lester Barclay makes a statement including lighthearted joke about when he was 16 years old and “in love,” but she lived on the far South Side and he couldn’t take the train.

@cta Comments from other board members “historic moment.” Now the official motions for the Fiscal Year and Award of Contract. Both motions pass. The gallery applauds. The Red Line Extension officially approved at this juncture.

@cta Now executive session where the board meets privately. Agenda lists items they will cover. Many CTA staff and others from gallery hanging about and chatting—the mood is celebratory. Handshakes and congratulations.

@cta Ok the board is emerging from the back room and I expect we’ll be on to final business shortly.

@cta Board takes votes to approve items from Exec session, including two collective bargaining agreements. The gallery has largely cleared out after the conclusion of the Red Line Extension earlier.

@cta The board APPROVES amendments to the Ethics committee rules and regs (details in the early minutes of the meeting). And APPROVE Thomas J McKone as the Treasurer of the CTA.

@cta Now approving property motions from the Finance committee.

@cta Board defers the Construction Report and then votes to adjourn at 12:49p

@cta Of note, the meeting was sharply run by Georgette Greenlee, the board secretary. Not sure I’ve seen a public meeting feel so organized and on pace.

@cta This concludes my live coverage of the @cta board meeting for Aug 14, 2024 including the formal approval of the Red Line Extension. Follow @CHIdocumenters #chidocumenters for more important civic news affecting Chicago.