ABOVE: Alyssa Sweeten is sworn in by Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr as Danville’s new Comptroller.
Southern Illinois University graduate Alyssa Sweeten has been a resident of Danville since 2006. And after years of putting her Finance, Management and now Accounting degrees to work for Walgreens, she will now be taking over for the departing Ashlyn Massey as the City of Danville’s new comptroller. After being sworn in by Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr at the start of Tuesday evening’s (July 2nd) City Council meeting, Sweeten said working for the city seemed like a logical step to take.
AUDIO: I just recently got my third degree. So, I think at that point I wanted to focus more on accounting. And the community’s always been important to me. I like to volunteer when I can, donate when I can; so the community of Danville’s always been important. So the opportunity to be a part of that, and put my education and my skills to the purpose that would help the city, was really important to me.
Sweeten will come aboard on July 15th, while Massey will stay with the city in her position through August 6th. Massey says she and Sweeten will definitely use their time together wisely.
AUDIO: Top priority’s going to be, obviously, training on processes, policies; familiarizing Ms. Sweeten with the budget, the capital improvement plan, the levee, transitioning certain functions back to the treasurer’s office; and all around setting her up for success.
In other items that came up during Tuesday’s City Council meeting, attendance at the new Garfield Park Pool is reported to be strong; so much so that capacity has been an issue at times. Director of Public Works Dave Ruwe says his staff is working on specific number policies, as the first year of the new pool continues. Mayor Williams echoed that this is a year of learning for everyone involved with the new pool.
Mayor Williams also mentioned that he is indeed happy with the party that purchased the four anchor stores and the remainder of the Village Mall structure. He says a press release explaining the party’s identity will be coming soon; and that the buyers of the mall have been looking at some of the new businesses coming to Danville, and consider that a very positive sign.
The mayor also mentioned that it is not known who purchased the third portion in the recent Village Mall online auction, which was the parking lot area southwest of the mall structure.
