ORLANDO, Fla. — Lynx's Board of Directors met Thursday to hear concerns from the public and look into budget concerns.

• Lynx taps into reserve funds to balance budget
• President of bus drivers' union wants CEO to resign

On Thursday, board members listened to concerns from the public. 

"We have to address the crime," a concerned resident said.  

Board members also heard from current Lynx employees, including a bus driver expressing public safety issues with passengers.

"I had a guy threaten me, threaten to kill me," the bus driver said. 

That bus driver is not the only person expressing grievances. Other bus drivers like Ismael Rivera came to Thursday’s meeting with hopes of seeing Lynx CEO Edward Johnson fired from his job.

"We need a lot of things to change, we need to build the morale," Rivera said. 

Rivera is the President of local Amalgamated Transit Union 1596, which represents Lynx bus operators. He’s also been a driver with Lynx for 15 years and says things need to change starting at the top.

"Everybody is making these decisions, upper management, but let's get out of this building, let's get behind a bus," Rivera said. 

"I know that I’ve done a really good job, we have made a lot of improvements and made a lot of head, had a lot of accomplishments," Johnson said. 

Johnson says while there are financial grievances management and the board are working to fix, things like the $6.5 million that had to be pulled from a reserve fund to balance the 2019 budget.

Board members agreed for a possible comprehensive independent assessment of Lynx overall taking a deep look at finances and ways to break away from relying reserve funds.

While the bulk of operating costs is attributed to buying new buses, part of it comes from Lynx management salaries including the CEO’s annual salary of more than $195,000. 

Johnson’s current contract expires in September. When asked about Johnson’s future, and the current financial situation, board chair Lee Constantine said: "I think that everybody is concerned and wants to see some direction and some leadership and that is why we are going to get more involved."

Involved like Ismael Rivera, who says he wants to see more action and less talking.

At this point the board is suggesting that each respective counties that use Lynx will help fund this assessment study. This will be one of the main topics discussed once a cost for that assessment is presented at the next meeting.