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Port authority removes Rose Ann DeLeon as executive director
By Ed Runyan
VIENNA
The Western Reserve Port Authority has removed Rose Ann DeLeon as executive director.
The board approved a resolution Wednesday saying she had been “relieved of her title and responsibilities” and thanked her for “her years of service and contribution to the [port authority] for the great progress she was instrumental in providing.”
The port authority announced Feb. 20 that DeLeon had been off work on medical leave since Jan. 16 and might not be returning.
She was off work for several months in 2012 while battling cancer but said last November she had regained her health.
The resolution said DeLeon will have exhausted her sick time and vacation time April 11 but will continue to receive her pay through April 15.
Her medical insurance will continue through April 30, but she can voluntarily participate in the port authority’s insurance at her own cost for 12 additional months, the resolution says.
The port authority also approved a $3,000 performance bonus for Sarah Lown, senior economic-development manager, for her performance in 2013 and a $3,500 pay increase effective Jan. 1 that brings her annual salary to $68,500. Her job title has not changed.
In other business, Toby Rittner, president and CEO of the Council of Development Finance Agencies of Columbus, outlined the process by which the agency will write a strategic plan for the port authority. The cost is $39,450. Five consultants will come to the Mahoning Valley in two weeks to begin interviewing members of the port authority, its staff and the community.
The strategic-planning team will be Rittner; his colleague, Jason Rittenberg; Paul Toth, Lucas County Port Authority executive; Darnell Moses, former port authority director for Allegheny County in Pennsylvania; and John Doherty, former U.S. Bank financial executive. The group will interview 30 to 40 people, collect opinions on the port authority’s strengths, weaknesses and opportunities, then come back to share what they learned and discuss it with the public.
At the end, they will write a “very specific” 10-year plan with a time line that “becomes a discussion point at every meeting” of the port authority, he said. It will take eight to 10 months.