A large part of my choice was staying STL based with my family. I've talked to a lot of commuters, and while it works for many, the ones who have established families hate it. That's worth a slightly lower pay, IMO.
Not sure who Ornstein is, but I don't recognize the name from the intro stuff on interview day, so I'm leaning towards answering that question in the negative. My AME flew GOJ for years, and he admitted it was rough a few back, but said it has gotten much better. Active pilots who I've talked to seemed to confirm.
I don't wanna spread rumors, but what I hear is that Mesa is the bottom-feeder now. Someone I know, who was the only person in company history to fail an FO checkride in the Caravan, is there now, as that's the only place she got an offer from after failing out of Trans...