Greater Cleveland RTA board appoints new GM Floun'say Caver, who is Black, and Zack Reed comments, Reed a former Cleveland councilman who lost a bid for mayor last year against Mayor Frank Jackson in spite of an endorsement from the RTA bus drivers union of SEIU....Caver is interim for now and replaces longtime RTA GM and CEO Joe Calabrese, whom RTA board members Valerie McCall, a Mayor Jackson board appointee, and Newburgh Heights Mayor Trever Elkins, wanted gone....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com
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| Former Cleveland Ward 2 councilman Zack Reed (left) also an unsuccessful candidate for mayor in 2017, and newly appointed interim Greater Cleveland RTA general manager Floun'say "Doc" Caver |
By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief
By CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio- Led by RTA board members Valerie McCall, a Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson board appointee, and Newburgh Heights Mayor Trever Elkins, an appointee of the regional mayors association, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Association (RTA) Board of Trustees has ousted longtime GM and CEO Joe Calabrese and this week appointed Floun'say "Doc" Caver as interim general manager of RTA as the board searches for a permanent replacement.
Currently the deputy general manager of operations, Caver, who is Black, joined RTA, greater Cleveland's public transit agency, first in 2000, and again in 2006.
Calabrese will officially step down Sep. 1 and thereafter will serve as a full-time organizational adviser until February of next year and then will continue on for another year as a part time advisor, a a compromise, said sources, to avoid his firing and to appease Calabrese, who is White, and his lawyer.
RTA bus drivers, with a union of some 2,800 members, endorsed former Cleveland Ward 2 councilman Zack Reed in his unsuccessful bid last year to oust Mayor Frank Jackson as in a runoff election.
Reed, who gave up his council seat to run for mayor and has said he intends to seek public office again, and the union, SEIU, are also angry over RTA working conditions, substandard bus drivers' pay, fare hikes, and a cadre of other issues.
Reed, who gave up his council seat to run for mayor and has said he intends to seek public office again, and the union, SEIU, are also angry over RTA working conditions, substandard bus drivers' pay, fare hikes, and a cadre of other issues.
Another source of friction with Reed and SEIU, which have both pushed for a $15-an-hour minimum wage along with others, was the city's seven-months closing until March of 2017 of an RTA bus route segment along Superior Avenue at Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Jackson ultimately bowing to pressure, and just in time to save the local transit authority from a $12 million fine that would have been imposed by the federal government.
Asked his views on Caver's new appointment as RTA general manager Reed said he likes Caver, 42, and whether RTA will improve under Caver's leadership remains to be seen.
"My working relationship in the past with him has been positive but the proof is any the 'puddin' on whether or not he can turn the system around where transportation becomes a higher priority than what it is now," Reed told Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog
Caver holds a doctorate in public affairs from the University of Texas at Dallas, an undergraduate degree from Hiram College, and a masters from CSU's Levin School of Urban Affairs.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
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