Mogelnicki wins transit director job

Tom Mogelnicki has dropped "interim" from his job directing the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority. The transit authority's board of directors issued a statement late Friday announcing Mogelnicki had been hired.

"Tom has just done an excellent job for us. He has really turned our financial outlook around. We've been able to reduce overall operations costs but retain and improve service," said Doug Richards, chairman of the transit authority's board of directors. He estimated cost reductions at 18 percent.

Mogelnicki's pay and benefits are still being finalized, Richards said. The interim job paid $45,000, with no benefits.

"We haven't been in any position to give any raises for two years," Richards said. "The board is reviewing all salaries."

Mogelnicki was named interim director April 1. Since that time, he campaigned, not always successfully, for extra funding from the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson, the county and the state. He instituted a program for selling ads on buses and expanded the transit authority's bus route in Cape Girardeau. He also supervised a rate increase for taxi service in Jackson, which started Friday, to make those fees equal to the lowest paid in Cape Girardeau.

"Since I started, I've just fallen in love with the job," Mogelnicki said. "It's a very rewarding job. I'm totally enjoying it."

He said he believed morale among employees had risen over the last several months, despite funding challenges and winter storms that caused him to call in extra taxi drivers and suspend bus service in Cape Girardeau Thursday.

He said he was on the phone at 4:30 a.m. Thursday making weather-related decisions with staff members.

"I don't really expect much change in what I'm already doing," he said. "Things are very smooth right now."

Later this month, he hopes to unveil a new Web site and new bus schedule fliers. The biggest challenge will be replacing the loss of a $75,000 MoDOT grant used for vehicle purchases.

"We have a fleet of 29 vehicles, a third of which have over 100,000 miles," he said. Until money is found to replace the worn-out vehicles, "we're patching them as much as we can."

Mogelnicki said he learned more than a week ago that he had the job but was asked not to say anything until the other candidates were notified. One of the candidates, David Grimes, reached Friday evening by phone, declined to comment.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127