Jackson Free Press

Mayor Frank Melton's administration confirmed to council members Monday that the city will soon be in the business of running a bus route, whether or not council members like it.

The city's contract negotiations with Professional Transit Management, of Ohio, fell through on Friday. The collapse means the city will have to commandeer the bus line when contract holder McDonald Transit Associates pulls its temporary service in mid-December. McDonald Transit Associates' contract has already expired, but it offered its service on a month-by-month basis until the city located a replacement. The city never did.

Council President Leslie McLemore was furious. "We could have cast a wider net," McLemore told the Jackson Free Press. "The city has been dragging its feet on this issue for about a year. I'm not really sure how seriously they took it during all that time. I just don't think the city needs to try to learn how to run a transit service."

JATRAN will temporarily fall under the purview of Chief Administrative Officer Robert Walker until the city either locates a contractor or creates a new department to run the bus line.

McLemore said he was "not sure why (Walker) would even want the job. Mr. Walker has enough to do already," he said.

The city has allocated about $4 million to JATRAN in 2009, though that figure took into account $120,000 to McDonald Transit Associates, in addition to paying 100 city bus workers.

Ward 6 Councilman Marshand Crisler said the city had chosen to contract operations out long before he came on as councilman and doubted his municipal government had the resources or personnel to adopt McDonald Transit Associates' duties.

"I have no way of knowing exactly what McDonald Transit did, so I can't tell you if the city can smoothly take over this enterprise, especially since the our transit system is in the middle of litigation regarding its handicap features," Crisler said.

Advocates for the disabled are suing the city in U.S. District Court over its alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The coalition wants the city to make more buses handicap accessible, and a court decision could cost the city thousands of dollars in remodeling costs, even without penalty fees.

Council members also complained about the administration's unwillingness to discuss issues with the council as they developed. Council members learned of the contract falling through this week, though the collapse actually happened last week.

"There is a culture of evasiveness developing within the administration," said Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon. "Communication between the city and the council is worsening by the day. We were asking Mr. Walker reasonable questions last night about the money and liability issues of taking over the bus system and he said he would not answer any of that unless it was in writing. I remember (Ward 1 Councilman Jeff) Weill asked him, 'do you want my signet ring dipped in wax?' It was all very insulting.