In 2015, Barb Barna of the League of Women Voters; former PSI Lorain County Community College; former Commissioner Betty Blair; Commissioner Matt Lundy; and Sharon Pearson, formerly of the Oberlin Project, organized February 4, 2015, Lorain County Public Transit Forum at Lorain County Community College. This pinnacle event inspired a small group of thought leaders to meet monthly to discuss this issue.

 

 

This group eventually decided to name itself Mobility and Opportunity for a Vibrant Economy (MOVE) Lorain County. In 2016, MOVE became a formal organization and obtained the 501c4 non-profit status.  One of the first projects was to expand public transit. So, with funds donated from local businesses and organizations, MOVE hired a Public Opinion Researcher to determine whether voters would support a quarter of a percent sales tax.

 

 

MOVE received the polling results that showed that if funds were dedicated to public transit, a majority of people would support a sales tax dedicated to public transit.  This information was shared the with the Lorain County Commissioners. Unfortunately, after much debate MOVE Lorain County was unable to come to an agreement with the Lorain County Commissioners for a dedicated sales tax for November 2016 public transit and decided not to endorse the sales tax increase. This November 2016 sales tax initiative failed.

 

 

Given the direction of the November 2016 ballot initiative, the board members held a Retreat in which MOVE Board members realized the importance of broadening the mission statement beyond public transit to include biking, walking, ridesharing, car sharing and other modes of transportation.  The Board concluded that to achieve this mission they would need the organizational capacity to do so.  In the fall of 2017, the Board appointed former Board Secretary Sharon Pearson as the Consultant for MOVE Lorain County to assist with moving forward the strategic action areas. The three main areas that MOVE Lorain County is focused on is advocacy, mobility solutions, and outreach.