Suwannee Valley TA: In Disarray Since 2011, The SVTA Remains Severely Challenged
Posted August 19, 2014 11:59 pm
COLUMBIA-HAMILTON-SUWANNEE – The Suwannee Valley Transit Authority (SVTA) is supposed to ensure the availability of efficient, cost-effective and quality transportation services for transportation disadvantaged persons, who because of income, age, or disability can't transport themselves. Since the mid 80s, the SVTA has been overseen by Columbia County's Ronald Williams and since 2011 the Authority has been spinning out of control.
The SVTA's top brass (overtime exempt employees in most of the civilized world) was accumulating hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal overtime and comp time and then cashing it out, while local vendors contracted by the SVTA were on the edge of bankruptcy and being screwed out of tens of thousands of dollars. Throughout it all, the Ronald Williams controlled SVTA Board did nothing.
At the same time, in 2012-13, the Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged (CTD), the governing agency for the transportation for the disadvantaged in Florida, infused the SVTA with an additional $339,647 in additional transportation funds.
According to calculations by the state, during the same time period, in the state's words, "For those additional funds, SVTA provided 15,406 fewer trips."
Fringe Benefits up $726,149 in one year
The state also reported the following: An initial review of SVTA’s Fiscal Year 2012-13 expenses showed SVTA’s Fringe Benefits were 112% of Labor costs. This was by far the highest percent of any Community Transportation Coordinator (CTC, i.e., the SVTA) in the state. Statewide, the figure was about 20%. The cost of Fringe Benefits was $165,915 in Fiscal Year 2011-12 and $892,064 in Fiscal Year 2012-13 – an increase of $726,149.
In April of this year, the management of the SVTA was forced to resign. Then after the letters of resignation were received, the dysfunctional SVTA Board, still under the leadership of Ronald Williams, looked on as Operations Manager William "Bill" Steele withdrew his resignation and Administrator Pra apparently resigned. A letter prepared by Administrator Pra stated, "I will depart the agency on April 30, 2014, with salary compensation from April 30 to September 30." While the minutes of the April 30 meeting might have shown what happened, they were not included in the next meeting's meeting material.
Meeting Notice: What's That?
On August 12, 2014, the SVTA Board met in a scheduled meeting. The Board couldn't finish the evening's business and rather than adjourn the meeting, which would have been proper, they "recessed" until August 18, a six day recess.
When 35 year veteran Columbia County Commissioner, Ronald Williams, asked for a motion for adjournment, Attorney Hal Airth told him it wasn’t necessary. “It’s not adjourned, it’s in recess.
On Monday, August 18, 2014, the Observer questioned the lack of any meeting notice for the evening's meeting. SVTA Board Attorney, Hal Airth, wrote in an email, "The meeting did not have to be noticed, "Tonight is a continuation of the properly noticed meeting which began last Tuesday. It is my opinion that no additional notice is required."
It was only under the threat of a law suit that the SVTA cancelled the meeting. No one knew, or was not talking, about who cancelled the meeting.
Impossible To Find SVTA Website
For three years the SVTA has come up with excuse after excuse why it cannot develop a website. Recently, they had developed something that is impossible to find.
Last week the Observer found it and was greeted by the image of the resigned Administrator, Gwen Pra.
It appeared that neither the SVTA Board, nor most of the SVTA, or the general public knew about this impossible to find website, which featured on its home page, Gwendolyn Pra, the SVTA Administrator who resigned four months earlier.