Public input wanted on changes to DART Board of Commissioners

A public hearing will take place before the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority’s (DART’s) Board of Commissioners votes on a recommendation to change its structure at its June 6 meeting. The public is invited, and encouraged, to attend the meeting to give their input on the recommendation before the Commission votes. The Board of Commissioners’ monthly meeting is held:

• Tuesday, June 6, 2017 at noon
• Multimodal Room, 2nd floor of DART Central Station, 620 Cherry Street, Des Moines

The current DART Board of Commissioners is expected to vote on the proposal after all comments have been collected at the public hearing. Anyone wishing to submit comments who cannot attend the public meeting are encouraged to either email governance@ridedart.com, or email a DART Commission member and/or City Council representative directly.

Since DART was formed more than 10 years ago, the DART Commission has been based on population with seven districts throughout the DART region and two at-large seats. The new recommendation includes the following changes:

• Each DART member government will have one representative on the new Commission. The mayors of each member community will appoint one representative (who must be an elected official) and one alternate. In the case of county representation, the Board of Supervisors will choose the representative and alternate for the Commission. This would increase the number of Commissioners from 9 to 19.
• Weighted votes will be allowed, if called, in specific situations. Weighted voting would be 1 vote per 25,000 population. Weighted votes would need to have three-quarters approval of the representatives present to pass.
• If approved, the new Commission would likely be seated in October 2017.

More information on the task force’s recommendation can be found at ridedart.com/dart-governance-task-force.

The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority is the public transportation provider that serves Polk County. DART operates a family of transportation services that makes getting around the Greater Des Moines area easier and more convenient. For more information about DART services, schedules, route changes, or directions to the nearest DART stop, visit the website at ridedart.com or call 515-283-8100. The MyDART Tools, Trip Planner and RideTime App are now available at ridedart.com.