STA task force wants local candidate to fill CEO position

Members of a Spokane Transit Authority task force said Wednesday they prefer a local candidate take the place of STA CEO Kim Zentz.

Zentz will leave her position in two weeks to head the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute.

The task force is recommending that the STA Board of Directors advertise locally over the next few weeks. A majority of task force members said that STA should expand its search to Seattle and Portland only if the candidate pool that responds to the initial advertisements is lacking.

Several task force members said a new CEO from this area would understand STA’s history and the struggles it has endured over the past couple of years to improve its credibility and secure a locally approved sales tax increase.

If necessary, STA could hire a headhunter to search nationally, and the task force instructed STA staff to begin pursuing a contract with such an agency, just in case.

“I would hate to see us get three months into this process and not have a viable candidate,” said STA board member and Millwood City Councilwoman Cheryl Gotzian.

The task force scheduled a March 17 meeting to review the initial applications.