New Metra board pick confirmed

The latest Metra board director said it’s important the agency continue its reform efforts in the wake of a financial scandal.

DuPage County Board members Tuesday confirmed Chairman Dan Cronin’s pick of Elmhurst executive Paul Darley. The president of W.S. Darley and Co., a firefighting equipment and apparatus supplier, fills the seat of outgoing Metra Chairman Carole Doris of Downers Grove.

“I’d like to lend my business experience to this board,” Darley said.

The commuter rail agency was rocked a year ago by a misconduct investigation involving former Executive Director Phil Pagano that showed he received thousands in unauthorized vacation pay along with other financial irregularities.

“I personally want to make sure the board is ensuring all of the changes made over the last 12 months to right the ship are being implemented and executed,” Darley said.

Cronin called Darley “smart and tough. He is experienced in running a major corporation and is a man of high character.”

Darley drives to work in Itasca but takes Metra occasionally.

Metra directors are paid a stipend of $15,000 a year. Darley contributed $500 to Cronin’s election campaign in 2010.

“Dan and I are close friends and I admire his civic service,” Darley said.