After we broke the news earlier this week that the Spokane Transit Authority’s (STA) proposed hiring process for a new CEO would not include input from community members or employees, STA has switched tack.
Following a contentious board meeting and a cavalcade of testimony and letters from community members and interested groups — like STA’s own Citizens Advisory Committee, Spokane Human Rights Commission and the Amalgamated Transit Workers Union — campaigning for a more transparent and involved process, the full board ultimately voted to pursue a process guided by an outside recruiting firm that would include multiple opportunities for the public and employees to be involved.
County Commissioner Al French opened the CEO discussion by acknowledging that things have changed since outgoing CEO Susan Meyer was hired 19 years ago. He said his proposal to keep hiring decisions confined to the small task force was done out of a desire to avoid reaching a quorum, not to “control things.” He remained firm on the position that ultimately, the hiring decision was the job of the board but proposed adding a CEO advisory committee with community members, employees, nonprofits and other transportation groups like the Washington Department of Transportation and the Spokane Regional Transportation Council.
After about an hour of discussion and motions (which you can read about it in detail here), the STA board unanimously voted to approve a hiring process that would ensure whatever recruiting consultant they end up hiring will create a draft job description, a CEO advisory committee and a process that will include community input at multiple points.
Spokane City Council Member Zack Zappone had been the lone, outvoted voice proposing this level of input during last week’s Board Operations committee. He told RANGE after the meeting, “I appreciate that the full board listened to community members and employees and committed to a transparent and inclusive process for hiring the next CEO. I’m hopeful that this process will be able to build a consensus and broad community support for our next transit leader.”
Community advocates Erik Lowe and Sarah Rose, who rallied passionate transit advocates to send a press release, testimony letters and testify personally at the meeting, were both happy about the STA’s decision.
“Yesterday was a huge win for transparency and public participation in selecting such a regionally important position,” Lowe said. “We’re excited to see the process and outreach efforts the consulting firm will put together, and we look forward to commenting at every available opportunity.”
Rose was more reserved. She said she was optimistic that the STA board “genuinely heard public testimonies and were trying to find ways to resolve concerns around the search” but feared the tenor of the discussion at points showed a lack of support for continuing to create a strong public transit in our region.
“The cattiness and petty comments board members directed at each other makes me wonder what some board members’ intentions are for our regional transit system,” Rose said. “I worry the intentions of some board members do not align with creating a stronger regional public transit network. There’s a lot of work to be done to get board members on the same page, and I hope the amount of public engagement encourages those who are not passionate in this mission to reconsider their place on the board of such an organization.”
This approval by the full board was just the first step in the process. STA will now have to hire a recruiting firm to design the search process and conduct the national search for a candidate. They plan to hold a special board meeting in August to discuss a draft of the job description.
Spokane City Council Member Kitty Klitzke said this special meeting will give them “another bite at the apple if things go off the rails,” as will the vote to approve whatever process recommendations come from the recruiting firm that ultimately gets hired.
“We have a lot of other opportunities now in this process instead of trying to do this incredibly quick, incredibly internal process that maybe they thought was okay 20 years ago, but definitely is not in today’s environment,” Klitzke said. “It’ll be really good to have a CEO that is maybe pro transit and maybe more unifying.”
