Dayton-area lawmakers in political spat over violence, crime at downtown RTA hub

Yahoo

31-03-2025

Mar. 31—As Ohio's governor prepares to sign a new transportation budget, an argument is playing out locally over a provision that specifically requires the Greater Dayton RTA to contract law enforcement to provide security at its downtown transportation hub.
The provision at question singles out the Greater Dayton RTA in all but name. It specifies that any centralized transportation hub in Ohio with six or more service lines, within counties with populations between 535,000 and 540,000 people, must "enter into and maintain a contract with one or more local law enforcement entities to enforce laws and ensure safety at or in the vicinity of the hub."
The provision, backed by former Montgomery County sheriff and current state Rep. Phil Plummer, R-Butler Twp., is meant to clamp down on violence and illegal activities that he said have long occurred at the Greater Dayton RTA hub downtown.
The problem, Dayton Democratic lawmakers argue, is that the Greater Dayton RTA already contracts security with the Dayton Police Department, thus making the provision "duplicative."
That's the central point of a letter Dayton Democratic lawmakers Sen. Willis Blackshear, Jr., and Rep. Desiree Tims wrote to Gov. Mike DeWine, urging the Republican to line-item veto the provision.
"The Montgomery County RTA has indicated to me that it currently contracts with the Dayton Police Department to provide safety services at its transportation transfer hubs. Because the Montgomery County RTA already has a contract with local law enforcement, it is unclear what the inclusion of this language would actually address," the letter reads.
In an interview with this outlet, Blackshear said he sees police at the RTA hub frequently.
For Plummer, whatever solution the Greater Dayton RTA has worked out with police is not done enough to quell the frustrations he hears from downtown businesses. He said there are about 25 entrepreneurs who have come to him for help.
"(Democrats) say they have contracts. Well, I don't see the cops," Plummer said in an interview with the Dayton Daily News. "I was just down there the other day, and the business community is complaining."
"The business community is very frustrated," Plummer said. "Caveat is, RTA does contract with Dayton, but every time I go down there, I don't see a cop."
Neither Blackshear nor Plummer have the actual contract that the RTA supposedly has with Dayton Police Department. This news outlet reached out to both the RTA and police department for details but did not hear back before publication.
It's unclear what immediate impact the provision would have if it became law. Both Plummer and Blackshear noted that it seems as though the Greater Dayton RTA is already engaging in a contract that would meet the specifications of the provision.
But Plummer framed the provision as a tool to up the pressure after being rebuffed by city leaders.
"They're going to say, 'We do it.' Well, I'm gonna say, 'You don't do it enough,'" Plummer told this outlet. "So I'm getting their attention. If I have to amend it into this (forthcoming operating) budget for specific amounts, we can, because it's just not working."
Plummer said the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office used to have a contract with the RTA "years ago" when he was sheriff. He said he'd place the same officers in the vicinity of the hub so that they could build rapport and familiarity with the situation.
"We had the same officers there every day who knew the troublemakers," Plummer said. "...(Without that), they just don't know who belongs there and who doesn't; who's selling dope down there every day to our kids."
Blackshear questioned the purpose of the provision and called it unhelpful.
"I've heard from businesses, of course, who are frustrated about some of the things that are happening at the hub," Blackshear said. "I just feel like, if the issue is that what's currently going on right now isn't working, let's put together a plan besides essentially having RTA's back against the wall."
Both Plummer and Blackshear said they intend to argue their case to DeWine, who has 10 business days to make his veto decisions. The bill was sent to the governor on March 25.
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