DECATUR - The city council is poised to appoint Ryan McCrady as city manager tonight.

McCrady replaces Steve Garman, who stepped down in May. John A. Smith has been interim city manager during the council's search for a replacement. McCrady left his position as Sangamon County administrator to become the new city manager.

McCrady is scheduled to begin Oct. 20.

In other business, city staff has recommended the council adopt a resolution to give free rides on buses to those on Illinois Department of Aging's Circuit Breaker program.

In following the mass transit deal approved by the General Assembly, disabled people who are a part of the program would be furnished with a postcard from the state that will act as an ID card for all fixed-route, regularly scheduled buses and trains.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich made waves with his amendatory veto of a Chicago mass transit funding bill, adding the free rides provision, which only applies to senior citizens or disabled people on the Circuit Breaker program riding in their home area.

A Sept. 30 memo from Mass Transit Administrator Paul McChancy estimates the loss of revenue at $30,000 or $40,000 a year. State law mandates the program begin no later than Oct. 24.

The city council again will hear about a police space study from architectural firm PSA Dewberry. The city hired the firm to research options for meeting the needs of the Decatur Police Department, which Chief James A. Anderson has said needs a bigger facility to accommodate the increasing number of special operations units the department employs.

The firm will present its report to the council, including an assessment of the city's current facility and the viability of a number of options for fulfilling the police department's needs.

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