Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART)

[jvance75]

I notice most PSTA buses have stickers on the sides mentioning it as a TBARTA service.

[HARTride 2012]

Huh? That's news to me.

As much as I want it to happen eventually, I don't think any mergers, especially anything involving TBARTA will happen for at least another 5 to 10 years given the current economic and political climate.

[yapp1850]

Ed Turanchik for HART CEO? The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit board of directors still has a lot of work to do sorting out allegations that CEO David Armijo retaliated against employees who raised questions about his handling of the bus agency.

Armijo rejects the charges, which so far have remained fairly vague because of state whistle-blower protection for the employees.

But a familiar name is already surfacing as a potential replacement for Armijo: former mayoral candidate and transit activist Ed Turanchik.

“I think HART needs to deal with (the Armijo) issue first,” Turanchik told the Tampa Bay Business Journal. “They have a CEO and he’s under contract.”

Armijo’s contract runs though fall 2012. He was placed on paid administrative leave two weeks ago, and on Monday the HART board extended his paid suspension another two weeks.

Turanchik said “people from various sectors” have approached him about running HART, even before trouble surfaced for Armijo. Turanchik would not rule out taking the top job if it were offered.

“Obviously, I have a passionate interest in transit,” he said.

Turanchik said he is currently looking for work, talking with law firms and other businesses about potential roles. “It’s primarily private sector stuff,” he said.

Meanwhile, as the HART board sorts out the allegations against Armijo, it also needs to update its own membership.

The terms of board chairwoman Alison A. Hewitt and member John Byzcek expired on Oct. 31, 2009.

Members are allowed to stay in the volunteer positions until replacements are named, a HART spokeswoman said.

Armijo sent a letter to Gov. Rick Scott on March 3 requesting their reappointment. Former board chairman Ron Govin sent a similar letter to former Gov. Charlie Crist on July 23, 2010.

The Tampa City Council also will be appointing a new representative to the board in the



Tampa Bay Business Journal

[HARTride 2012]

If Armijo does get the boot, then Turanchik definitely should be his replacement. He has what it takes to move transit forward.

[HARTride 2012]

http://www.tampabay.com/news/transpo...agency/1162429

Suspended HART chief rented condo from lawyer hired by transit agency
By Justin George, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Apr 07, 2011 07:46 PM

TAMPA — The chief executive of HART rented a Harbour Island condominium for a year from a lawyer under contract with the transit agency — an arrangement that is among several allegations against David Armijo under investigation.

Armijo was suspended with pay in March after at least three employees accused him of numerous workplace violations, including conflicts of interest, favoritism in hiring and vendor selection, unauthorized trips and retaliation against employees who voiced concerns.

The claims allege that Armijo created a hostile workplace. But the specific complaints — as well as those who made them — remain shielded behind state whistleblower protection laws.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner, who is on the HART board of directors, confirmed board members are looking into the rental agreement as part of the complaints.

Armijo said he took proper steps to make sure the rental wasn't a conflict of interest and asked HART's then-attorney, Clark Jordan-Holmes, about the arrangement before he signed a lease. Jordan Holmes saw no problem, Armijo said.

Jordan-Holmes didn't return several messages from the St. Petersburg Times over two days.

Armijo oversees an annual $62 million budget and earned $185,000 a year to run Hillsborough's transit system including buses and streetcars. His five-year contract runs through 2012.

In September 2007, Armijo arrived in Tampa and hired Traci Burns, a broker specializing in waterfront luxury homes and condominiums. She found him three rentals on Harbour Island that he liked, Armijo said.

One at 760 Coral Reef Drive belonged to Mark Levitt, a labor lawyer with Allen Norton & Blue P.A., which has offices in Tampa and Winter Park.

Since May 2006, Levitt has been HART's contracted labor attorney. He works under a five-year contract the HART board approved that pays his firm $185 an hour, with a one-time 5 percent raise written into the contract. The contract existed before Armijo joined HART.

Levitt, who had been based in Tampa for years, moved to his firm's Winter Park office and said he needed a tenant for his two-story, three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,521-square-foot condo that a deed shows he bought in 2005 for $375,000.

"He was coming into town looking for a place and didn't want to buy at the time," Levitt said. "I know he was looking around, and I don't recall if somebody at HART might have mentioned it to him or whether I did."

Armijo said his real estate agent showed him Levitt's home through Levitt's rental agent. Levitt said he wasn't present.

Nor was he there, Levitt said, when Armijo signed a lease, which was written by Levitt's rental agent.

Rent was $2,100 a month for one year, Armijo said.

(Similar-sized Harbour Island rentals are currently priced between $1,695 and $2,500 a month, said Alicia McLendon of Turnbridge Properties of Tampa.)

"It was marketplace rent and people who came in after him paid the same thing," Levitt said. "It was an arms-length transaction. It was market conditions. Nothing unusual about it."

"I was not working with Mark at that time," Armijo added. "I had no direct relationship with him as part of the job."

Armijo said HART's use of Levitt as a labor lawyer has been declining over the past three years, something the billing figures bear out.

In 2006, Levitt's firm was paid $105,286. In 2007 — the year Armijo moved into Levitt's home — HART paid the firm $100,974. The next year, when Armijo would have still been in Levitt's home, the law firm received $56,996.

In subsequent years, Levitt's firm was paid $14,122 and $26,848 respectively. Levitt's contract is up this year, and his firm has put in a bid to be retained.

HART's employee handbook has a section that includes a broad conflict of interest clause.

Employees aren't allowed to have any outside financial or personal interest, direct or indirect, that is "incompatible" with their duties, impairs their judgment on the job or interferes with their performance. If HART employees are involved financially on the other side of business dealings with HART, they are required to complete HART's disclosure questionnaire and statement.

Relationships that could be considered a potential conflict of interest — including "rental properties" — are supposed to be disclosed, the handbook said.

It's not clear if the disclosure Armijo said he made to HART's attorney constitutes a proper disclosure required by the policy, or if he was even required to do one.

The Florida Commission of Ethics declined to comment on the arrangement but provided a June 2008 opinion where a Bay County School Board member, who rented a home from an architect whose firm did business with the school district, was not a conflict of interest because the arrangement was at "fair market value" and the transaction wasn't intended to influence the board member.

Times staff writer Richard Danielson and researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Justin George can be reached at (813) 226-3368 or jgeorge@sptimes.com.


[Last modified: Apr 07, 2011 07:46 PM]

[yapp1850]

it looks like the union are trying to get hart ceo fired so they can bring in someone that agrees with them 100% of the the time.

[HARTride 2012]

That may be the case, but if Scott has his way the next few months, HART drivers won't have a union anymore.

[HARTride 2012]

This is a few days old, but it highlights a few other issues brought to light.

http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/artic...ansit-director

Allegations of conflicts of interest are surfacing regarding suspended transit director David Armijo
6:49 PM, Apr 7, 2011

Tampa, Florida -- More questions are arising surrounding suspended transit director, David Armijo.

The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Board (HART) suspended the C.E.O. two and half weeks ago, after allegations that he ran a hostile work environment, didn't follow agency rules, and retaliated against anyone who told him he couldn't do certain things.

Now 10 News has learned there are more allegations; these involve conflicts of interest and Armijo's commitment to the agency.

Armijo says the allegations will be cleared up, that HART is the number one transit system in the country and he says they have a successful team. But the question is, will David Armijo stay with the team.

10 News has learned when Armijo first came to HART, he rented a Harbour Island apartment from an attorney who had a contract with the agency. State law says no public officer should have a relationship with anyone doing business with the agency.

When Armijo bought his South Tampa townhouse, he used a realtor named Joe Gonzalez. The next year, he hired Gonzalez's wife Olga at $65,000. Then within weeks, Armijo upped her salary to $85,000, which appears to conflict with HART policy.

Armijo says all the allegations will go away and he will be able to explain that he did nothing wrong, but when we told board Chair Allison Hewitt what we found, she said "What you are telling me, concerns me."

Some are questioning Armijo's commitment to HART. At the same time he was trying to put together a light rail system for the area, he was applying for a job in Austin, Texas, even though his contract runs through September 2012. Some board members didn't know about that until we told them today.

Hillsborough Commissioner Mark Sharpe, who sits on the HART board, was very surprised to learn Armijo was looking at another job.

Hewitt says she knew Armijo was applying for the Austin job, and was upset by the timing. When Hewitt confronted Armijo, he told her he removed his name from consideration.

When we talked to Armijo today, he said what he has said all along: he's done nothing wrong and isn't going anywhere.

Armijo says the rental of property was approved by the attorney who was the landlord and the agency counsel. As for the job in Austin, once the light rail was put on the ballot, he decided not pursue it. However, Austin says if the light rail had not been put on the ballot, he would have tried to get the job in Texas.

Mike Deeson

[jonknee]

https://twitter.com/#!/GoHART/status/58215492137136129

Ridership in March has set an ALL-TIME HART record with 1,217,848 trips taken during the month. That's a 14% increase over March 2010!

[Jasonhouse]

^Too bad our "leaders" could give two shits less, and will surely figure that increased transit ridership means that there must be more freeloaders in the area who need to be punished for not being born rich.

[HARTride 2012]

All these ridership records will come to an abrupt end come 2012 when HART will be forced to slash routes and jack up fares.

[TampaMike]

Originally Posted by Jasonhouse

^Too bad our "leaders" could give two shits less, and will surely figure that increased transit ridership means that there must be more freeloaders in the area who need to be punished for not being born rich.

Many do give two shits about transit, they just fear that the Tea Party folks will put a bullseye on them come next election round.

[HARTride 2012]

The Tea Party wants public transit to be privatized. I guarantee that Scott will make a move in that direction.

[Jasonhouse]

^The corporatists want money losing transit eliminated, and money making transit put in their control. The teabaggers simply want to enjoy the benefits of living in a civilized society without being obligated to constructively contribute to that society. (you know, pay their fair share of taxes, like the other 300 million of us do without expecting the world to revolve around our whims)

One group wants to abuse the power of govt to mandate profits on the backs of the people... The other group wants to abuse the power of govt to make it work for them, and nobody else. The relationship is both convenient and highly assymmetrical. Once the teabaggers figure out that they are as much a target of the corporatists as the rest of us are, there will be political hell to pay... And once again, the rest of us will suffer, while the least among us pull their heads out of their asses and catch up tot he reality the rest of us figured out long ago.

[gstolze]

All these Tea Party people who also claim to be soooo religous have apparently forgotten, what sharing with the less fortunate and solidarity mean. Not to mention understanding and tolerance.

[yapp1850]

HART board fires embattled CEO
TAMPA — After meeting for more than four hours and taking several votes, directors of Hillsborough County's mass transit system decided Monday night to fire embattled chief executive David Armijo.

The board appointed Philip Hale, who was the chief of HART maintenance, to serve as interim CEO.

The specific complaints against Armijo, as well as those who made them, were shielded behind state whistle-blower protection laws.

But the St. Petersburg Times has spoken to at least two of the complainants, as well as former employees who have raised concerns about Armijo.

Three employees filed written complaints against Armijo in February, which prompted his suspension, while about 12 have brought complaints directly to Armijo since 2008, according to the law firm hired to investigate the complaints.

They say he created a hostile workplace by demoting or shuffling subordinates who questioned his decisions, including hiring for positions not in the budget.

Their allegations also include cashing out unused vacation time without following HART procedures.

He's also been accused of conflicts of interest, renting a Harbour Island condominium from a labor lawyer who does contract work for HART, and hiring a woman whose husband had been Armijo's real estate agent.

[HARTride 2012]

This is only a sign of more grim things to come. I sure do hope that someone like Turanchik will replace him. But either way, I think reality will strike HART very hard and they will have no choice but to make severe cuts and jack up fares in 2012.

[koopalicious]

The fares are not so bad now, and raising them would not be terrible. Really, it should have been done some time ago.

But, the service still lags behind in may other areas, which is disappointing, given the simplicity of both the problems and solutions.

[HARTride 2012]

Yes, but the really bad thing is the more service will have to be cut in the comming years unless new revenue sources come about. Most of us know that another tax increase will not fly given the political and economical climate. Even if it ends up being a city vote, that will not happen til at least 2013 or 2014 (realistically).

[jonknee]

I asked HART today about running the streetcar earlier to go after commuters.

https://twitter.com/#!/GoHART/status/60434130256670720

We wish we could! Budget tells us otherwise, it's a vicious cycle! We want to grow ridership, but need funds. Ridership = funds.