One candidate for CEO of Spokane Transit Authority advances, but committee won’t say who

A candidate has been recommended to be hired as Spokane Transit Authority’s new CEO, but the four-person committee that made the recommendation won’t officially tell anyone – even other board members – who it is for the next few weeks.

The recommendation of only a single finalist has also raised eyebrows, given the debate last summer over a transparent, competitive hiring process that appeared to end with an agreement to involve the public in vetting the final candidates.

Chief of Planning and Development Officer Karl Otterstrom is widely rumored, including within the STA board, to have advanced Friday as the sole finalist to permanently replace longtime CEO Susan Meyer, who announced her retirement in June. Otterstrom and Chief Operations Officer Brandon Rapez-Betty, who also applied for the job, have served as interim co-CEOs since Jan. 1 during a nationwide search conducted by North Carolina-based public transit executive recruiting firm KL2 Connects.

The four board members who made the decision – county Commissioner Al French, Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley, Liberty Lake Councilman Dan Dunne, and Spokane City Councilman Zack Zappone – won’t say who they’ve recommended until a board meeting later this month.

Zappone was the sole vote against advancing “Candidate 2,” arguing multiple finalists should be presented to the public. He still declined to identify the sole finalist, arguing that all discussion about the candidates, including their names, happened in a closed-door executive session, barring him from disclosing any further information.

“I don’t know what the point of it being private is, but that was the vote,” Zappone said.

French, when asked about the board’s rumored advancement of Otterstrom, said the decision was not public and he would “neither confirm or deny” their choice. Otterstrom himself declined an interview, communicating through an agency spokesperson that he would “let the process play out.”

Transit advocates and STA union leadership, who had fought last summer for a competitive hiring process that brought multiple candidates forward so that staff and the public could weigh in, argued that had been undermined by selecting only a single finalist.

“I’m a big fan of Karl personally,” said Erik Lowe, creator of transit advocacy group Spokane Reimagined. “I think he’s done an excellent job, but I’m really concerned, and Spokane Reimagined is concerned, about the process.”

Lowe believes that the selection committee’s decision effectively allowed three people to choose the CEO of a major public government agency that services nearly 500,000 people.

“From our perspective, it’s not a choice when you only have a single option, and that’s not to rain on Karl, it’s more a reflection on the lack of process and transparency,” he added.

Chad Camandona, transit union president, said he’s disappointed by the agency’s use of taxpayer funds on an external hiring firm and to conduct a nationwide search only to advance one candidate to the public.

Asked about the decision, French said simply that the committee was allowed to do so.

“The resolution approved by the board unanimously said the selection committee will bring back one to three recommendations, so it’s clearly within the confines of the original motion that passed unanimously,” French said.

Zappone and Councilwoman Kitty Klitzke, who serve on the STA Board currently and when the resolution was approved last summer, argued that allowing only one finalist had been an oversight and not their understanding of a resolution that had been drafted on the spot after a long debate.

Camandona also declined to say which candidate had been selected.

But if the single candidate was an internal hire, Camandona believed much needed shake-ups wouldn’t happen.

“I know some of management were worried about losing their jobs if an outside candidate came in,” he said. “(STA) is very top heavy; they’re hiring more managers as we speak.”

Klitzke argued the process should be put on hold until the full board could request additional finalists.

“I feel like with any candidate, it would be much better for everyone if that candidate had a chance to compete openly with another choice,” she said. “I don’t think this is helpful to anybody, no matter who the one person advancing is.”