IA: New DART Governance Structure Approved by all 19 Member Governments

All 19 member governments of the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority have approved the 28E agreement that will put a new governance structure into place for the DART Commission. The cities of Alleman and Des Moines were the final two communities to approve the new governance structure Monday evening.

“I believe the decision to ensure each DART member community has a seat on the Commission will help DART provide the best possible transit to our region as a whole,” said DART Commission Chair Tom Gayman. “I want to thank each of our member communities, commissioners and the independent task force for their work and diligence on this issue. Conversations about regionalism and representation are not easy, and we’re very grateful for everyone’s dedication to serving our region well.”

The new Commission is slated to hold its first meeting on Tuesday, October 3, at noon at DART Central Station.

Under the new structure, each DART member government will have one representative on the Commission. Some communities are still finalizing their representatives. When this is complete, a full list of new Commissioners will be made available.

In addition to each member government having a representative on the Commission, a weighted vote will be allowed, if called, on matters related to funding, budget, service levels and composition of the Commission. Weighted voting would be 1 vote per 25,000 population. Three-quarters of the quorum present would be required for a weighted vote to pass.