Colorado lawmakers will drop plans to remake RTD’s board — for now

Colorado lawmakers are abandoning plans to overhaul the Regional Transportation District’s governing board and change how its members are selected after transit officials blasted the plan.

Reps. William Lindstedt and Meg Froelich said Wednesday that they are still set to pursue other RTD reforms through House Bill 1447. But they said they plan to drop the bill’s most contentious provision: a plan to eventually cut the board’s size down from 15 elected, voting members to seven voting members — with five elected and two appointed by the governor.

Froelich and Lindstedt told fellow legislators they wanted to further discuss board reform over the coming months.

“We ultimately feel that those sections of the bill should come out, and we will want a longer process,” said Froelich, an Englewood Democrat. “… We understand that emotions have run hot on that, and if there is any apologies to be made, we certainly are making them.”

Lawmakers on the House’s Transportation, Local Government and Housing Committee were set to give a first vote on the bill Wednesday, but Froelich and Lindstedt, a Broomfield Democrat, asked that the committee hear testimony but delay the vote on the bill. The amendment to strip the board provisions also will come later.

The lawmakers defended the need to reform RTD, given its ridership challenges and personnel shortages. The bill still seeks to increase coordination between RTD and the Denver Regional Council of Governments, incentivize specific routes for special events like concerts, improve financial transparency, and address the shortages of drivers, operators and other key staff.

But it was the proposed board overhaul that drew the most criticism from current, former and aspiring board members, some of whom are running for election this year. Director Paul Rosenthal called the reform a “hostile takeover” in a recent Denver Post story, and some critics accused lawmakers of disenfranchising voters and communities of color.

Initially, legislators planned to propose that most of the board be appointed, with only one member elected to represent RTD’s multi-county service area. They later scaled that back to a mix of elected and appointed members before deciding to drop it entirely.

Lindstedt said he wanted to discuss board reform further this summer and fall, possibly through an interim legislative committee, and to potentially return with a revised plan next year.

“Most stakeholders wanted reform, and no one could agree on what that looks like,” he said. “We thought we put forward a proposal that was reasonable. After hearing from stakeholders, to make such a big change, we wanted it to be more baked.”

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