Cranley: Release streetcar documents

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley is demanding the regional transit authority be transparent and release streetcar bid documents.

SORTA, however, is refusing to release the information – potentially setting the stage for yet another battle over the controversial streetcar project.

Cranley and transit authority CEO Dwight Ferrell exchanged memos on Monday, which was the deadline for companies to submit applications to SORTA to run and maintain the city-owned streetcar.

The Enquirer has filed a public records request with SORTA seeking the release of the proposals.

"The basic pricing of each bid should be made public," Cranley wrote to Ferrell. "Cincinnati taxpayers ultimately will be responsible for funding the operations of the streetcar system."

Ferrell responded by saying SORTA isn't going to publicly release the bid information.

"Disclosing the information ... could invalidate the procurement process and would undermine SORTA's ability to negotiate the most financially advantageous contract on behalf of the city," Ferrell wrote to Cranley. "The ability to negotiate aggressively with potential contractors will assure that costs will be kept within the budget that the city has established for the streetcar."

Ferrell added: "The information ... will be made available at the time of award of contract in July, after proposers are given the opportunity to redact information that is proprietary to their business."

SORTA asked companies to provide two bid proposals – one that calls for the operations to privatized and the other for the union to run the streetcar. Cranley and City Council's five Democrats want the local transit union to get the contract. SORTA isn't necessarily against that idea, but the agency says its contract procurement process requires it to conduct an open bidding process.

This is not the first time there have been attempts to withhold streetcar bids from the public. In 2012, some companies that bid on the streetcar project, including the firm selected to build the five rail vehicles, sought to legally block public release of bid documents detailing their proposals.

The companies went to court to try to keep the documents private, but The Enquirer challenged it on behalf of taxpayers – and the newspaper won when a judge ordered the documents to be released.