<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><div>That response from Director Nicholson is inappropriate but lets give him ideas. </div><div dir="auto">This is what Joyann Rusca proposed </div><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">Freeze retirement contributions and initiate 5 furlough days - $40m</div><div dir="auto">2. Borrow $30m from FISA</div><div dir="auto">3. Freeze $7m/yr microtransit grants</div><div dir="auto">4. (some) FlexRide cuts - $5m</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">That should keep us intact until a ballot measure as long as no other major emergencies arise.</div><div dir="auto"><br style="font-size:12.8px;background-color:rgb(23,23,26)"></div></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature">Julie Reiskin Co Executive Director CCDC</div></div><br><br></div><br><br></div><br><br></div><br><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, May 26, 2026, 3:17\u202fPM Brenda - Personal Email via Colorado-Talk <<a href="mailto:colorado-talk@nfbnet.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">colorado-talk@nfbnet.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto">This is the response I got<div><br></div><div><div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Aptos,-apple-system,HelveticaNeue,sans-serif"><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt">Sure, I just would like to know where you want me to get the money from</div></div><div id="m_-5069898775992292104m_-8230591209117052920ms-outlook-mobile-body-separator-line" dir="auto" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Aptos,-apple-system,HelveticaNeue,sans-serif"><br></div><div id="m_-5069898775992292104m_-8230591209117052920ms-outlook-mobile-signature" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Aptos,-apple-system,HelveticaNeue,sans-serif"><div style="background-color:white;margin:0px"><div style="margin:0px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.5;margin:0px;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;color:red"><b>Chris Nicholson</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.5;margin:0px;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">Director \u2014 District</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.5;margin:0px;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:10pt"><br></span></p></div></div></div><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On May 26, 2026, at 1:42\u202fPM, Brenda - Personal Email <<a href="mailto:plcandles@juno.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">plcandles@juno.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">\ufeffthank you I will respond to his message with that information. That makes sense to me.<br id="m_-5069898775992292104m_-8230591209117052920lineBreakAtBeginningOfSignature"><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On May 26, 2026, at 10:14\u202fAM, Dan Burke via Colorado-Talk <<a href="mailto:colorado-talk@nfbnet.org" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">colorado-talk@nfbnet.org</a>> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">\ufeff<div dir="ltr"><div>Brenda - thanks for forwarding that response. We likely will have to vote on more funding for RTD, but that's a way ofof. </div><div><br></div><div>In the meantime, as Julie R points out, making cuts has a disproportionate effect on ridership. If they were to cut 20 percent of the services, RTD would lose more than 20 percent of its ridership. That becomes a death spiral at some point.</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, May 26, 2026 at 8:35\u202fAM Julie Reiskin via Colorado-Talk <<a href="mailto:colorado-talk@nfbnet.org" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">colorado-talk@nfbnet.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto"><div>I love all of the activism. Transit only works if people use it and people other than us who have a choice have already said they do not use RTD because the busses are too infrequent. If they reduce service frequency or have services start later or end earlier that could further deter usage. That is why it was so hard to get users back after the pandemic. The frequent routes are better used. If they cut poorly performing routes we should advocate to hold AAR harmless or freeze eligibility if that cut is moving passengers out of the 3/4 mile radius. </div><div><br></div><div>Julie Reiskin Co Executive Director CCDC</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, May 25, 2026, 11:15\u202fPM Brenda - Personal Email via Colorado-Talk <<a href="mailto:colorado-talk@nfbnet.org" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">colorado-talk@nfbnet.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto"><div dir="ltr" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Brenda,</div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">I appreciate your email. The truth is we don\u2019t have the money to run the services that we offer. So we don\u2019t have any other option than to make cuts. </div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">We will be asking the voters to increase taxes in the next two years and that will be the only option to prevent service cuts, so I hope you will be supportive of that tax increase when it reaches the ballot.</div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Best,</div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Chris</div><div id="m_-5069898775992292104m_-8230591209117052920m_6025347267220588236m_8150809690861086420ms-outlook-mobile-body-separator-line" dir="ltr" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><div dir="ltr" style="font-size:12pt"><br></div></div><div id="m_-5069898775992292104m_-8230591209117052920m_6025347267220588236m_8150809690861086420ms-outlook-mobile-signature" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><div style="background-color:white;margin:0px"><div style="margin:0px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.5;margin:0px;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;color:red"><b>Chris Nicholson</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.5;margin:0px;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">Director \u2014 District A</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.5;margin:0px;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">Board of Directors</span></p></div></div></div><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On May 25, 2026, at 9:17\u202fPM, Brenda - Personal Email <<a href="mailto:plcandles@juno.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">plcandles@juno.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">\ufeffThank you for providing that link Dan. I just sent my plea.<div><br></div><div>Let\u2019s do this!!! write your thoughts and have ChatGPT polish it up for you to send. It is much more professional way to get your feelings and thoughts across.</div><div><br></div><div>Brenda Harrison<br id="m_-5069898775992292104m_-8230591209117052920m_6025347267220588236m_8150809690861086420lineBreakAtBeginningOfSignature"><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On May 25, 2026, at 5:40\u202fPM, Dan Burke via Colorado-Talk <<a href="mailto:colorado-talk@nfbnet.org" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">colorado-talk@nfbnet.org</a>> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">\ufeff<div dir="ltr"><div>Hi all -</div><div><br></div><div>It's been a lovely Memorial Day weekend, hasn't it? Now back to RTD reality. As Tim said in Friday's post here, now is not the time to stay silent! We have a great opportunity to give push-back on these proposed cutbacks to RTD early, meaning the board has more opportunity to pusch back on RTD's management.</div><div><br></div><div>So, pasting the link to send public comment to the entire RTD board, just to make it easy! We put our voices out there for the rideshare bill and it worked. Let's show that spirit now! Tell them to vote no on these cuts!</div><div><br></div><div><a href="mailto:RTD.Directors@rtd-denver.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">RTD.Directors@rtd-denver.com</a></div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, May 22, 2026 at 10:03\u202fAM Tim Keenan via Colorado-Talk <<a href="mailto:colorado-talk@nfbnet.org" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">colorado-talk@nfbnet.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div><div lang="EN-US"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">Hey, RTD riders and transit advocates!<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">Quick but important update before Wednesday's Board meeting.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">I've been digging into the newly posted agenda for the May 27 meeting, and I can confirm: the proposed service cuts are not on the agenda for a vote Wednesday night. The Recommended Actions section \u2014 which is where a vote on management's proposal would appear \u2014 is completely empty. I compared it to prior agendas where actual votes were scheduled, and the difference is clear. When something is being voted on, it shows up there with a full description. Wednesday's agenda has nothing.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">There's a Board Study Session scheduled at 3:00 PM before the 5:30 PM Board meeting. As far as I know, that session is open to the public to attend or listen to, though there's no public comment during study sessions. My best guess is that management will use the study session to present whatever revised proposal they've been working on, and the Board will discuss it \u2014 but no vote will happen Wednesday.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">So what does this mean for us?<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">It does not mean we stay silent. Not even close.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">Public comment at Wednesday's meeting is still one of the most powerful things we can do right now. Here's why: the Board is clearly still deliberating. The fact that management's proposal isn't on the agenda for a vote suggests the Board hasn't given them the green light yet \u2014 which means our voices are landing. Showing up Wednesday and making noise reinforces that message before any decision gets locked in.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">It also means the fight isn't over in one night. The vote will likely come at a future meeting \u2014 possibly June 23, which is the next regular Board meeting. We'll keep watching the calendar and keep you informed.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">For Wednesday, here's what you need to know:<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">The Board Study Session starts at 3:00 PM. This should be public, but there\u2019s not a Zoom link. If it\u2019s private, Jaime Lewis of the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition is looking into why and trying to make it public. This is important because that\u2019s where we\u2019re likely to hear whatever management is currently thinking, which could be very useful when formulating your public comment for the meeting.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">The Board Meeting starts at 5:30 PM. Whether you show up in person or attend via Zoom, we still need everyone affected to make public comment. Register for the Zoom meeting at <a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_x8BY5TdBSH-kLMrJO3zOUg#/registration" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_x8BY5TdBSH-kLMrJO3zOUg#/registration</a><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">And be sure to submit written comment to <a href="mailto:RTD.Directors@rtd-denver.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">RTD.Directors@rtd-denver.com</a> beforehand.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">The fact that management's proposal isn't ready for a vote tells us something important: the pressure is working. Let's keep it up.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">See you Wednesday.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">Enjoy your long weekend, and remember why most of us have a day off Monday!<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">Cheers,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">Tim Keenan<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">State Transportation Chair<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">National Federation of the Blind of Colorado<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>
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</blockquote></div><div><br clear="all"></div><br><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">Dan Burke<br><br>National Federation of the Blind of Colorado Legislative Co-chair <br><br>"Blindness is not what holds you back. You can live the life you want!"<br><br>My Cell: 406.546.8546<br><br></div>
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