Five candidates to be the new leader for central Arkansas' long-range transportation planning agency have been whittled to two.
A search committee on Tuesday recommended that the Metroplan board of directors interview Conway Mayor Tab Townsell and Andrew Gast-Bray, a planning consultant from Mooresville, Ind. The board is scheduled to interview them this afternoon.
They were among four candidates the search committee interviewed Tuesday. The others were Donald Galligan, a planning consultant from Marsing, Idaho, and Sungman Kim, development services director for the city of South Padre Island, Texas.
A fifth candidate, Kenneth Hall, executive director of the Central Arizona Governments in Apache Junction, Ariz., withdrew his name from consideration after he was named one of the five finalists to replace Jim McKenzie, who has said he is retiring at the end of the year after leading the agency for 26 years.
A total of 53 people applied to be the agency's next executive director. The search committee picked Townsell and the other four applicants from a list of nine that search consultant Jim Mercer of Santa Fe, N.M., submitted and who said best fit the criteria the board established for the applicants it wanted.
Advertisements for the position said the board was seeking a "progressive, innovative and professional executive to lead the organization as it grows and develops for the future."
Gast-Bray is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, holds a master's degree in a planning field and has at least 25 years of planning experience.
Townsell has been 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.
McKenzie draws an annual base salary of $152,600. The salary range for his successor is $90,000 to $165,800.
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.
Metro on 08/31/2016