New trustees sworn in, board president reappointed

Laketran is undergoing another changing of the guard, so to speak, preceding General Manager Ray Jurkowski’s July 31 retirement.

Two new board trustees, Dennis M. Lafferty and Lane H. Sheets, were appointed by Lake County commissioners during the transit agency’s June 26 meeting. Lafferty and Sheets are Concord Township residents. Both will serve three-year terms.

Board President Brian Falkowski also was reappointed and will serve a three-year term. Falkowski has served on the Laketran board since 2011.

Lafferty is currently vice president, strategic operations and community relations at the North Olmsted-based Bernie Moreno Companies, according to a Laketran news release. He brings more than 35 years of civic engagement and business consulting experience to the Laketran Board of Trustees.

Sheets is owner and president of Mentor-based Diversified Business Systems. He has 40 years of information technology and engineering expertise. He is a 2010 graduate of Leadership Lake County and has served on many local boards, the release stated.

“I am honored the Lake County commissioners reappointed me to the Laketran Board of Trustees and am very grateful to continue to serve as president,” Falkowski said. “And the individuals appointed bring deep experience in a range of fields, including business administration, finance, community engagement, public policy and technology.

“Dennis Lafferty is bringing a tremendous amount of experience with public/private partnerships and a long record of community involvement to our board. Lane Sheets also will be an asset to Laketran as he has been a longtime Lake County business owner and is bringing a strong IT background, which will assist with the new technologies we are continually implementing at Laketran.

“I look forward to working together and engaging the professional expertise of our new trustees alongside our current board members,” he said. “Meeting the transportation demands of Lake County’s aging population will be the largest task in the immediate future. I am confident with the skill-set and professionalism exemplified by all our board members, we will effectively manage this challenge and emerge a more efficient and productive transit system.”

The Laketran Board of Trustees is responsible for the general oversight of the Lake County public transportation system, including the annual budget and fare structure.

The board’s meetings are open to the public and meet the last Monday of each month.

Falkowski also expressed gratitude to outgoing trustees Jeanette Crislip and Sonja Maier.

“All of us at Laketran would like to thank Jeanette and Sonja for their service and commitment to Laketran. Ms. Crislip was a large advocate for the senior community and Ms. Maier was a proponent for the disabled community.”