On December 30, Perth woman Kerry Smith felt a scratchy throat coming on and decided to take ArmaForce, a complementary medicine that promotes boosted immunity and relief from cold and flu symptoms, which she had taken before with no ill effects.
The inclusion of no-mow areas in landscaping was mentioned by a board member. If this type of landscaping can save money and labor, why was this not taken into consideration earlier in the landscaping award process?
This meeting involved significant discussion about rail operations but very little about bus operations. Is this reflective of a shift of priorities and/or funds away from bus route operations?
Notes
This was a series of committee meetings for the Board of Trustees of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA). Three committees met during this meeting with separate roll calls and discussions. Committees participating during this meeting were the Organizational, Services & Performance Monitoring Committee, the Operational Planning & Infrastructure Committee Meeting, and the Ad-Hoc Compensation Committee.
The attached committee package includes the meeting notice, agendas for each committee, minutes of past meetings, and additional relevant material such as summaries of proposed awards.
Public comment is not taken during committee meetings, but public comments can generally be made in-person or by phone during designated portions of regular board meetings or via web form in advance of those meetings.
Scene setting: This was an in-person meeting open to the public with the option to view live online. A recording of this meeting is available. Past meeting recordings can be found here. While the meeting was separated into individual committees and only those on the committee took roll call and voted on items, other board members not part of the committees were active participants in discussion and question periods.
Meeting start: The meeting started at 9:02 a.m. with a roll call for the Organizational, Services & Performance Monitoring Committee.
Board members present, those on the committee in bold:
Leadership present seated with board members:
India Birdsong Terry (General Manager and CEO)
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Landscape Maintenance and Parking Lot Snow Removal (Shaker Heights Maintenance Agreement)
James Reed, RTA property manager for Programming and Planning, presented. Since 1982, RTA has entered into a series of three-year agreements with the City of Shaker Heights for landscaping and snow removal along approximately seven miles of property lining the Blue and Green Lines within the City of Shaker Heights.
Last year, the board approved a one-year agreement due to Shaker’s pending labor agreement with service personnel. This proposed two-year agreement will allow the return to a three-year agreement.
The benefits to RTA include Shaker having the staff, equipment and management in place for the work, comparable rates to other landscaping contractors, complaint calls going to the Shaker Public Works department — saving RTA time and expense to respond to calls — and Shaker bearing the risk of any contingencies that may increase the cost during the contract.
The cost is about $595,000 total for 2026 and 2027. The committee voted to advance the proposal to the full board for future consideration.
Non-Rail and HealthLine Landscaping
Dawn Svancara, a contract administrator with RTA, said a recommendation was made to award the Non-Rail and HealthLine landscaping services agreement to ESK Landscaping, LLC, based on their experience with municipal, government and other organizations, their use of digital work orders and GPS-verified tracking. They have the staff, fleet and equipment to support multi-state operations.
There was discussion to clarify the scope of this work, and staff confirmed that this is for landscaping services and does not include snow removal. Snow removal for these areas is handled in-house by RTA.
Whigham expressed appreciation for the efforts negotiating this contract. A board member asked if low or no-mow zones or pollinator habitats had been taken under consideration from a cost savings and environmental standpoint. Jason Rosenlieb, RTA manager of rail facilities, said that they have green roofs for cost savings and have looked at putting in natural grass but haven’t gotten too far into that yet.
Title VI – 2026 Program Update to the Federal Transit Administration
Title VI, Civil Rights Act of 1964, states that “No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
Robert Jefferson, RTA’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Americans with Disabilities Act Program Administrator, explained that RTA is required to prepare a Title VI program update every three years and submit it to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) following board approval. RTA aims to serve all customers regardless of protected class, equitably distribute benefits and services and provide sufficient services for equal access. Customers have the ability to participate in RTA planning, and remedial action is taken to prevent discriminatory treatment, Jefferson said.
The main requirements are that RTA maintain a Title VI program, provides Title VI notices to the public, has complaint procedures, has a Public Participation Plan and has a Language Assistance Plan.
More information about one element of the Public Participation Plan — the Community Advisory Committee — can be found in past Documenters coverage.
RTA translates vital documents into Spanish as part of the Language Assistance Plan. Spanish speakers are the highest portion of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) individuals in the service area, according to Maribeth Feke, director of programming and planning.
Elder asked if the FTA implemented changes to prompt this update. Jefferson said this is a regular three-year update unrelated to FTA changes. Pacetti asked about feedback from this report. Joel Freilich, director of service management, said there is no formal approval of this report on the federal end.
The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.
Update from India Birdsong Terry:Terry said that due to the upcoming Browns stadium changes, lots of public meetings will be happening that may not appear to be headed by or include the RTA. That does not mean that they aren’t in the room and part of those meetings. Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) will be having a meeting on Jan. 14 at Brook Park Elementary that is open to the public to discuss traffic impact and connection to the Brook Park station.
Operational Planning & Infrastructure Committee Meeting (Committee Members Sleasman, Pacetti and Love were present)
RFP Procurement – a presentation of a competitive procurement process for a consultant to update our Strategic Plan.
Feke said an outside consultant will offer a broader, global view and insight into what others in the industry are doing.
Feke said revision of the plan would include updates on implementation of activities, establish goals for 2026 and beyond, prioritize Transit Oriented Development (TOD) efforts and reflect on market-driven dynamics, address paratransit funding strategies, consider employee retention and create external engagement.
AECOM Technical Services, Inc. is the recommended firm, at a cost of $465,000. The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.
IFB Procurement – a presentation of a competitive procurement for the reconstruction of the transfer table at Track 3 at Central Rail Maintenance Facility (CRMF).
Derek Meinke, RTA engineer project manager, presented. The transfer table brings rail cars from different tracks for various maintenance needs. Currently, the transfer table cannot provide service to Track 3, where internal cleaning occurs, because it becomes stuck at the intersection of the transfer table and Track 3. This project would replace the intersections. Staff recommended Delta Railroad Construction, Inc., for the work, at a cost of about $1 million. The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.
Proposed Change Order – a presentation of a negotiated change order to authorize additional construction services under Contract No. 2025-007 with RL Hill/Platform Joint Venture and to reinstate the General Manager’s change order signing authority.
This work will result in boarding ADA customers at the first train car instead of the last at the E. 79th St. Blue and Green Line Station, according to Brian Temming, manager of quality assurance. In the past, a conductor in a rear car would assist the customers. This change, which involves moving ramp platforms, will allow ADA customers to board the front car with the train operator. The additional work bumps the total cost by $67,550 for a total of about $10.5 million. The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.
FB Procurement – a presentation of a competitive procurement to make the necessary modifications to the Red Line platforms to support the new railcars.
Don Tereba, project manager for facilities, presented. This contract will involve modification of 22 platforms on the Red Line. The new railcars are a different size than the current railcars. This will increase the gap between the cars and the platform. This project will build extensions onto existing platforms to close this gap. It will also replace damaged tactile warning surfaces and replace guardrails. During the installation of the platform extensions, there will be a planned two-week downtime. RTA plans to do dry runs to test the timeline of the installation to ensure this plan works and will then have a better idea of how long the shutdowns will need to be.
A staff member reminded those present that the first new railcar is still being built. The conversion on the Red Line is targeted to start in August 2027 and on the light rail in August 2028. Terry asked for a schedule update to be prepared.
Schirmer Construction LLC is the recommended vendor, at a cost of about $11 million. The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.
IFB Procurement – a presentation of a competitive procurement to make the necessary modifications to CRMF to support the new railcars.
Tereba presented. The existing railcars receive maintenance from underneath. The new railcars will require maintenance from above. RTA needs to build infrastructure to access the top of the railcars. This project will build four new service balconies with fall protection and safety gates.
Standard Contracting & Engineering, Inc., received the staff’s recommendation at a cost of about $9.5 million. The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.
Ad-Hoc Compensation Committee:
This committee called the roll and then moved into executive session at 11:01 a.m.
Members returned from executive session. The meeting was adjourned at 11:56 a.m.
Coming Up: Future board meeting dates can be found here.
These notes are by Documenter Jamie Harman.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalcleveland.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The writer is chair of Rockefeller International. His latest book is ‘What Went Wrong With Capitalism’
India is still reporting world-beating economic growth but no longer getting any love for it. Flows of foreign money into the country have dried up, suggesting outsiders believe that the reported GDP growth rate of over 8 per cent masks underlying weaknesses.
Most strikingly, corporate revenue normally grows (or shrinks) with the economy — in any country. But last year corporate revenue growth for listed companies in India decelerated to barely half the GDP growth rate. Rather than taking comfort in the headline real GDP figures, which are likely to be boosted by technical factors related to adjustments for inflation, policymakers would be wise to address some key faultlines.
Among the leading signs of weakness: India is losing more people and attracting a lot less money than it used to. This decade, a net total of 675,000 people emigrated each year, up from 325,000 in the 2010s. Only Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ukraine have seen a larger exodus while China is haemorrhaging people at the same pace as it did in the last decade, 300,000 a year. A chunk of this outflow from India is “brain drain” — a loss of exactly the skilled workers it needs to compete in advanced fields. As a result, one-third of Silicon Valley’s tech workforce is now Indian.
Employment growth continues to be weak; even at the famed Indian Institutes of Technology, 38 per cent graduated without a single job offer from a campus recruiter in 2024. Many Indians are leaving to find work in the few countries still friendly to immigrants, such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, drawn in by the region’s construction boom.
A sense of limits is reshaping capital flows as well. India has long attracted only modest capital from abroad, thanks in large measure to the lingering “Licence Raj”, which can make it prohibitively expensive to acquire land or hire and fire workers. Asian economies that have sustained rapid growth — such as China and Vietnam more recently — saw net foreign direct investment surge above 4 per cent of GDP during their boom phases.
That figure never surpassed 1.5 per cent in India, and it is now just 0.1 per cent. Over the past decade, India dropped in the rankings for net FDI/GDP, from 12th to 19th among the 25 largest emerging countries. While the net numbers have been depressed recently by foreigners repatriating past profits, gross flows are low too, with India ranking below most emerging markets last year.
In addition to India’s long-standing reputation as a difficult place to do business, new risks have been holding back foreign investors including New Delhi’s deteriorating relations with its neighbours, the tariff battle with Washington and doubts about its tech potential. China and South Korea spend more than 2.5 per cent of GDP on research and development; India’s outlays last year were just 0.65 per cent of GDP. It is no surprise then that it has no serious players in AI.
These shortcomings are souring financial markets. After a long drought, stock markets in the emerging world finally saw net inflows last year. India, however, experienced record net outflows of $19bn. The intense foreign selling was countered by domestic buyers, with households keen to increase their historically low exposure to equities. Nonetheless, the Indian stock market significantly lagged behind its peers last year.
India needs much more foreign capital to grow rapidly because its domestic savings pool is not enough. Unlike the east Asian economic miracles, India has a weak manufacturing sector, so it never became an export powerhouse and has almost always run a current-account deficit. Among other beneficial side effects of foreign capital — particularly of direct investment — is that it brings greater access to new technology.
India’s basic weaknesses point the way forward. Over the past year, New Delhi took significant steps to streamline the labour code, simplify bankruptcy rules and launched an agency devoted to further cuts in red tape. The hope is that these reforms will finally spur new investment.
It is no coincidence that domestic private investment in India has also been anaemic over the past decade, held back by the same regulatory maze and overzealous bureaucracy that foreigners complain about. And boosting investment, both domestic and foreign, is the key to creating jobs and stemming the exodus.
India’s real growth rate will be revealed over time, as the technical factors distorting the economic data wash out. Regardless of what that number is, the tell-tale sign that India is on the miracle path will appear when it starts to import more capital and export fewer workers.
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the Zycubo (copper histidinate) injection as the first treatment for Menkes disease in pediatric patients.
“With today’s action, children with this devastating, degenerative disease will have an FDA-approved treatment option and the potential to live longer,” said Christine Nguyen, M.D., Deputy Director of the Office of Rare Diseases, Pediatrics, Urologic and Reproductive Medicine in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “The FDA will continue to work with the rare disease community to advance drug development for patients with Menkes disease and other rare conditions.”
Menkes disease is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by a genetic defect that impairs a child’s ability to absorb copper. The disease is characterized by seizures, failure to gain weight and grow, developmental delays, and intellectual disability. It leads to abnormalities of the vascular system, bladder, bowel, bones, muscles, and nervous system. Children with classical Menkes (90% of those with the disease) begin to develop symptoms in infancy and typically do not live past three years. It affects approximately one in every 100,000-250,000 live births worldwide and is more common in boys.
Zycubo is a copper replacement therapy given by subcutaneous injection. It delivers copper in a form that bypasses the genetic defect in intestinal absorption, allowing the body to better use the mineral.
The FDA evaluated Zycubo in two open-label, single-arm clinical trials in pediatric patients treated for up to three years. Overall survival was assessed by comparing treated patients to untreated patients from contemporaneous external control groups. The analysis included 66 treated patients and 17 untreated patients, most of whom were from the United States.
Children who began treatment within four weeks of birth had a 78% reduction in the risk of death compared with untreated patients. Nearly half of early-treated patients survived beyond six years, and some survived more than 12 years. No patients in the untreated control group survived beyond six years. Children who started treatment later than four weeks after birth also experienced a substantial survival benefit.
The most common side effects reported with Zycubo included infections, respiratory problems, seizures, vomiting, fever, anemia and injection site reactions. Because copper can accumulate in the body, patients receiving Zycubo should be closely monitored for potential toxicity.
“This approval marks an unprecedented advance for children with Menkes disease,” said Tracy Beth Hoeg, M.D., Ph.D., Acting Director of CDER. “The company demonstrated a large improvement in overall survival compared with untreated patients, using an innovative trial design that addressed the challenges of studying an ultra-rare disease.”
This application received Priority Review, Fast Track Designation, Breakthrough Therapy Designation, and Orphan Drug Designation. The FDA approved Zycubo for Sentynl Therapeutics.
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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority did not block any deals last year after the agency came under government pressure to be more business-friendly.
The CMA reviewed and cleared 36 mergers in 2025, blocking no deals for the first time since 2017, according to data compiled by US law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and shared with the FT.
The antitrust agency stopped one deal in 2024 and has previously prevented as many as four deals in a year, according to the report.
The lack of prohibitions comes after the UK government decided to oust former chair, Marcus Bokkerink, in January 2025, over concerns the regulator was hampering its pro-growth agenda. Bokkerink was replaced on an interim basis by former Amazon UK boss Doug Gurr, who is still in post.
In February, shortly after Bokkerink’s departure, the CMA cleared the $570mn purchase by American Express Global Business Travel of rival CWT in an unusual reversal of an earlier decision.
The CMA, which investigates where there is a risk a transaction could reduce competition, has sought to appease the government over the past year by simplifying its merger review process and stepping back from looking at global deals where the UK is less relevant.
The number of interventions — when the CMA demands changes for a deal to proceed — was also lower last year. Six deals were cleared subject to conditions, compared with 7 in 2024, when 33 mergers were concluded, and 12 in 2023, when 36 were reviewed.
“The UK government’s shift towards a pro‑growth agenda had an immediate and unmistakable influence on the CMA’s merger control work in 2025,” said Antonio Bavasso, head of European antitrust at Simpson Thacher and the lead author of the report.
Bavasso added: “We now have a full year of data to show how the government’s pressure on the CMA has played out and the data really confirms what we knew was going to happen — that a correction has taken place.”
In a statement, the CMA said: “This data depends on the number of strategic M&A deals taking place which meet our threshold and whether those deals raise competition concerns.
“Every deal that is capable of being cleared, either unconditionally or with effective remedies, should be. But we will block anti-competitive deals where no effective remedy can be found.”
The government is looking at further overhauling how the CMA reviews mergers in 2026, moving away from the use of independent panels of experts and instead using a committee of the CMA board. A consultation on the change is expected to start in the coming weeks.
A lighter touch UK competition approach comes amid a wider politicisation of antitrust enforcement globally following changes in government and agency leadership.
The Simpson Thacher report also found that the number of merger settlements — deals agreed with conditions rather than litigated — in the US increased significantly last year for the first time since 2021.
Under the current administration of US President Donald Trump, merger interference from antitrust authorities has slowed significantly, with 14 enforcement decisions in 2025 compared with more than 20 annually in recent years, the report found.
