The new leader for central Arkansas' long-range transportation planning agency will be chosen from five applicants, including Conway Mayor Tab Townsell, a committee decided Monday.
The search committee for the Metroplan board of directors culled Townsell and the other four applicants from a list of nine that search consultant Jim Mercer of Santa Fe, N.M., submitted and said best fit the criteria the board established for the applicants it wanted.
Advertisements for the position said the board is seeking a "progressive, innovative and professional executive to lead the organization as it grows and develops for the future."
A total of 53 people applied to be the agency's next executive director. Jim McKenzie, who has held the post for 26 years, announced he is retiring at year's end.
McKenzie draws an annual base salary of $152,600. The salary range for his successor is $90,000 to $165,800.
The other candidates to replace McKenzie include:
• Donald Galligan, a planning consultant from Marsing, Idaho;
• Kenneth Hall, executive director of the Central Arizona Governments, in Apache Junction, Ariz.;
• Andrew Gast-Bray, a planning consultant from Mooresville, Ind.;
• Kim Sungman, development services director for the city of South Padre Island, Texas.
Unlike Townsell, the other four applicants have extensive formal education or experience in planning.
All four are members of the American Institute of Certified Planners and hold at least a master's degree in a planning field. Sungman has a doctorate in landscape architecture. They also each have more than 25 years of experience in planning.
Townsell is a member of the Metroplan board through his position as Conway mayor since 1999. He is leaving office at the end of the year upon completion of his fifth term as leader of one of the state's largest cities, which he said has led the state with "the application of innovative ideas and cutting-edge standards" in planning.
Conway has an annual budget of $59 million with 450 full-time employees. Metroplan, by contrast, has an annual budget of $2.6 million and 16 employees.
He also cited his experience as an inaugural member of the State Aid to City Streets Committee and as a member of the state's Blue Ribbon Commission on Highway Funding, which gave him exposure to statewide transportation funding issues "afforded to few," according to Townsell's application letter.
Townsell was one of only two local applicants. The other was Jonathan Lupton, a research planner for Metroplan for the past 22 years who has a total of 26 years of experience in the planning field. He is author of the agency's Metrotrends newsletter and serves as its "'go-to' background person with the press, developers, citizens and board members."
The search committee, led by Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher, will interview all five candidates in person on Aug. 30 in Little Rock and select two or three to recommend to the board. The board will convene on Aug. 31 to interview the recommended applicants. The board wants the new executive director in place by October or November to provide the new agency head with some time to transition into the job while McKenzie is still with the agency.
Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, a member of the nine-member search committee, asked Mercer why no younger candidates applied, or as he put it, "young up-and-comers."
Mercer said he spoke with many younger potential candidates, who told him "either the timing wasn't right or they didn't want to change. They might have had kids in school."
"There's nothing negative about the job," Mercer said. "But it seemed like was a harder sell than I thought it was going to be."
The agency serves many purposes and might need a more seasoned professional, Mercer said.
It serves as a forum for regional issues, is the area's designated metropolitan planning organization under federal transportation law, addresses environmental issues that cross jurisdictions, is a source for the region's demographic and economic data and provides staff to local governments for planning and development issues.
Metroplan now is hosting the debate over the Interstate 30 corridor project, which is a Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department proposal to widen the 6.7-mile corridor through downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock as well as replace the I-30 bridge over the Arkansas River. The department has identified more than $600 million in state and federal money to spend on the project.
The proposal has attracted support from the Arkansas Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Little Rock Downtown Partnership and other downtown organizations, but also has drawn opposition from downtown neighborhood associations and activists concerned the project will hurt efforts to revitalize downtown.
"You have a lot of issues you're dealing with here that require experience," Mercer said.
Metro on 08/09/2016