Commissioners approve application for mobility manager position to coordinate county transit

The St. Mary’s County Board of County Commissioners on Nov. 13 approved submitting a Maryland Transportation Administration grant application to fund a mobility manager position to coordinate human-services and public transportation.

County transportation officials told commissioners the position would be paid largely with federal funds under the JARC/New Freedom programs and would focus on matching rides to available vehicles, reducing duplicate trips, negotiating liability agreements among agencies and pursuing additional funding. Jackie Fournier, the county’s transportation manager, said the job would “coordinate all these human services programs” and work to “get agreements, hopefully get all this started and actually have real trips for customers.”

The commissioners’ approval authorizes staff to apply for a 15-month grant that would cover about 80% of the total $120,000 first-year cost; the county’s proposed share is roughly $24,000. The motion, made by Commissioner Lawrence Jarbo and seconded by Commissioner Thomas A. Mattingly, directs staff to pursue the application and—if the award is made—hire one grade-7 FTE with full benefits to serve as mobility manager. Commissioner Jarbo said the position is intended as a start-up role to create coordination and seek long-term sustainability through other federal, state or private funding.

Cathy Zumbrunn, assistant director of the Department of Social Services and chair of the county human services transportation committee, said the county’s human-services providers operate 70–80 vehicles and that better coordination could reduce costly out‑of‑county trips for dialysis and specialty medical appointments.

Commissioners emphasized the uncertainty of future funding and that any county employment would depend on continued grant support. County Administrator John Savage told the board the application must be submitted by Nov. 16 and that award decisions would come later; he said commissioners would review proposed expenditures before any county funds are spent.

The vote was unanimous in favor. Commissioners asked staff to provide a hiring and reporting timeline and to look for in‑kind or other match sources to reduce the county’s long‑term fiscal exposure.

Looking ahead, transportation committee members said the mobility manager would also negotiate memoranda of understanding to allow agencies to share trips and vehicles while tracking trip statistics and liability exposure.