The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Laketran appoints new board member
Willowick resident Spence sworn in
Willowick resident Sara Spence has been sworn in to serve on the Laketran Board.
The action this past week follows the Lake County commissioners’ unanimous resolution last month appointing Spence to the board to complete an unexpired term ending May 2022.
Spence, 32, fills the seat vacated by the resignation of Alice Cable, former executive director of Alliance for Working Together Foundation. Cable recently moved out of state. Spence is the president of Willoughby-based Spence Technologies, Inc. and immediate
past-chairman of the Willoughby Western Chamber of Commerce. She also serves as the vice president of the Alliance for Working Together and was named one of Lake County’s 2019 Top 4 Under 40 award winners.
“Trans- portation access has been a part of the workforce development discussion among manufacturers for quite a while,” Spence said. “I am looking forward to learning more about the agency to see if we can create solutions to bridge the gap between manufacturing jobs in Lake County and public transit.”
Concord Township resident Brian Falkowski,
34, was unanimously re-elected to a sixth, oneyear term as board president of the transit agency. Chuck Zibbel, 68, also of Concord, will continue serving as vice president.
“We are very excited to have Sara as part of our organization,” Falkowski said. “We are working to bring more transit options to Tyler Boulevard this year and I believe Sara’s relationships and expertise within the manufacturing sector will bring a lot of value to Laketran.
“We have a lot of exciting projects to look forward to in 2020 with the construction of a new transfer center at Lakeland Community College and upgrades to the Wickliffe Park-n-Ride to the installation of charging stations needed to run electric buses that will replace our 12-yearold diesel buses.
“We promised new levy funds would support services that would improve job access, and the need for hourly public transit service along Tyler Boulevard was something we have heard from employers and agencies for a longtime,” he said. “We have designed route options and will be bringing them to the public for input very soon.”
Laketran is governed by a volunteer nine-member board appointed by the Lake County commissioners. The board provides the agency fiduciary oversight and establishes policies to ensure services that best fit the needs of the community.