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Commissioners hire administrator and grants manager for Trumbull Transit
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The Trumbull County commissioners have hired Mark Hess for the new position of administrator and grants manager for Trumbull Transit, the county’s public transportation service.
He will earn $65,000 annually starting Nov. 1.
Hess will leave his job as Niles engineering, grant and development coordinator at the end of October. In that position, he oversaw the transportation service from 2003 until the end of 2011 when it was run by the city and called Niles-Trumbull Transit. Hess has worked for the city 35 years, he said.
Hess helped create Trumbull Transit under the authority of the county commissioners in late 2011 to take over the service. He continued to assist the service the first couple of years under a contract with the commissioners.
John Moliterno took over some of Hess’ responsibilities as Trumbull Transit mobility manager from spring 2014 through September 2014, when he was hired as interim executive director of the Western Reserve Port Authority. Former state representative Michael Verich is now mobility manager.
Robert Faulkner, chairman of the board of Trumbull Transit, said he expects Hess to be able to acquire grants to help meet the county’s growing transportation needs. He also expects the county to branch out with new partnerships with Mahoning and Ashtabula counties and the Trumbull County Department of Job and Family Services, he said.
Trumbull Transit provides rides costing $1.50 to $2 each way for senior citizens. The countywide senior-citizen levy subsidizes the service to keep the price low, Faulkner said. Trumbull Transit also provides rides for children who have disabilities through the county’s educational service center.
In addition to user fees, senior services tax dollars and funding from the educational service center, Trumbull Transit also receives funds from various county subdivisions that subsidize the service to keep their senior citizens’ rides at $1.50 each way, Faulkner said.
The transit board also receives about $1.1 million annually from state and federal sources, including the Federal Transportation Administration, Hess said.