Remove Joe Calabrese as general manager of RTA

To:  RTA Board of Directors

We the undersigned hereby demand the removal of Joe Calabrese as general manager of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA). His tenure has been marked by regular, unreasonable cuts in services and increases in fares. His latest offenses include:

- Pushing through a multi-million dollar project to create a useless, expensive, and ultimately futile transit line cutting through downtown Cleveland, Ohio, thus depriving RTA of badly needed funds to operate buses and other services.

- Continuing cuts in services by proposing to eliminate two dozen bus lines in October 2008 — including all community circulators, and cutting services on twenty-seven other bus lines.

- Proposing an outrageous fare increase far exceeding the national fare average for public transportation.

- Placing almost sole responsibility upon the ridership for pressuring the Ohio state legislature to increase funding for public transportation.

- Presenting false information to riders regarding ridership numbers, national fare averages, and other topics pertaining to the justification of the proposed service cuts and fare increase.

We the undersigned cannot, must not, and will not abide such behavior from those whose salaries are paid for with our fares and tax dollars. To this end, we hereby petition the RTA board of directors to remove Joe Calabrese from his position as general manager.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Remove Joe Calabrese as general manager of RTA Petition to RTA Board of Directors was created by RTA Riders and Supporters and written by Michael K. Kwiatkowski (boycott_o_reilly@yahoo.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.