Laketran board’s vice president replaced

Lake County commissioners have appointed a new member to the Laketran board, who will replace the board’s current vice president.

Willoughby resident Dennis Montrella is the newest addition to the board. His background includes time as a sales account manager for Sallie Mae, a vice president for the Student Loan Funding Corp. and vice president for KeyBank.

Commissioner Daniel P. Troy raised some questions about Montrella’s appointment, but his questions were not about Montrella personally or his qualifications. Troy said he knows Montrella and knows he’s a good man. The question he had was why vice Chairman Paul Miller was not reappointed.

“I did not participate in the interviews with people because I had interviewed them previously when Mr. Miller was appointed,” Troy said. “In inquiring what was wrong with Mr. Miller, one of the answers I heard was he was running for judge. As of Tuesday, he’s not.

Miller, an attorney and part-time magistrate judge from Mentor, was seeking the Democratic nomination for Lake County Common Pleas Court judge. Miller came up short in the three-way May 8 primary, ultimately finishing second to Dennis LoConti.

“We have an agency that seems to be doing extremely well,” Troy said. “It seems to have satisfied the citizens of Lake County, it has won all kinds of awards and all that. And I have a little problem sometimes of changing people out.”

Lake County Commissioner John Hamercheck he had nothing against Miller.

“He has an excellent record, a strong legal perspective, but (Montrella) brings a strong financial outlook,” Hamercheck said. “Sometimes it’s good to mix boards up a little bit, give people a little something to work with.”

Troy ultimately voted in favor of appointing Montrella to the board.

Montrella’s term on the Laketran board runs through May 15, 2021.

This is not the first time Troy has taken umbrage with changes on the Laketran board.

Concord Township residents Dennis M. Lafferty and Lane H. Sheets were appointed to the board in May 2017, replacing board members Jeanette Crislip and Sonja Maier (Laketran board president Brian Falkowski was reappointed at the same meeting).

“Sometimes I wonder why we’re so intent on fixing things that aren’t broke,” Troy said at the May 30, 2017, commissioners meeting.

As he did with Montrella’s appointment, Troy ultimately voted to appoint Lafferty and Sheets to the board.

In April, the commissioners voted to reappoint board members Dale Schiavoni and Charles Zibbel.

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