Tuesday evening’s (April 14th) Danville City Council Public Works Committee meeting included the introduction of two new leaders from Danville Mass Transit. Ruey Sandusky, who began April 6th, is now directing the rural side of DMT’s service. Shelly Weir, who started April 13th, is now directing the urban side of DMT’s service.
When Danville Mass Transit first took over the CRIS Rural Mass Transit District at the start of this year, there was plenty of news about their immediate efforts to get riders to important medical appointments. And DMT Director Steve White says that since then, progress has steadily continued; and new software is on its way.
AUDIO: We’ve transported roughly 2,500 hundred people just between Worksource and Crosspoint last month. The number continues to grow every day; we’re getting calls every day. We’re working everything off of spreadsheets. So, we’re kind of limited until we get the software; so that we can take more appointments.
(L to R) Danville Mass Transit Director Steve White, Rural Transportation Director Ruey Sandusky, and Urban Transportation Director Shelly Weir.
Meanwhile talk about what to set Danville elected official salaries at for the winners of next spring’s election continued; and will then come up at the next Public Services Committee meeting, before going back before the full City Council in May.
Many Council members in attendance, both part and not part of the Public Works Committee, were adamant in stating that the hoopla after the last City Council meeting about Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr trying to give himself a raise was extremely inaccurate. One person quite firm about that was Public Works Committee member James Poshard.
AUDIO: There’s a lot of talk going on about stuff. That’s just politics in general, you know. But the mayor’s been very transparent about everything, from his salary to which direction the city’s going. Those of us that are really in his corner right now, because we just need to realize that our wages, comparable to other cities that are comparable in size, are under the charts.
Committee member Mike O’Kane took it a step further. He says, sure, in the short term, the mayor’s salary should be raised to ensure a solid pool of candidates. But in the long term, O’Kane says, Danville really should consider doing what a lot of other cities its size do: establish a hired City Manager position. But he knows that would be a challenge.
AUDIO: It’s going to be a difficult situation. We’ve already tried to vote one in several years ago. It didn’t do well. So it’s going to take another group of people to look at it; to entice the public to look at that.
O’Kane says it does not matter that Danville’s population has gone down. He believes that someone with a city manager’s education, expertise, and experience will certainly be needed in the future.
