Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field will solicit the services of a search firm to help select a successor to its outgoing executive director.
Ron Mathieu informed the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission last week that he was taking the top post at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Alabama.
Mathieu's resignation is effective May 31 and he assumes the position as chief executive officer in Birmingham on June 17. He has been at Clinton National, the state's largest airport, since 2006 and has headed it since 2008.
Carolyn Witherspoon, outside counsel for the commission, told commission members at their monthly meeting Tuesday that she would work with Mark Williams, the airport's human-resources and administration director, and the commission's personnel committee to develop a request for qualifications.
Witherspoon also suggested that the commission go into executive session to discuss naming an interim executive director because the commission isn't scheduled to meet before Mathieu's last day. Tuesday's commission meeting was Mathieu's last as executive director.
But commission Chairman Jesse Mason said he would prefer to call a special meeting so all seven members could be present. Two members, Stacy Hurst and Gus Vrastinas, participated in Tuesday's meeting by telephone. After the meeting, Mason said he was unsure whether all commission members would be available for a special meeting.
A likely candidate for acting executive director is Brian Malinowski, who has been the airport's deputy executive director since shortly after Mathieu was named to the top post in 2008.
Malinowski declined to say after the meeting whether he would apply to succeed Mathieu, saying it wasn't the proper time to discuss the matter.
The airport is a city agency, but it receives no city general revenue and its policies are set by the commission, which also is responsible for hiring the airport executive director. Commission members are appointed to five-year terms, subject to approval by the Little Rock Board of Directors. Commission members can serve one additional five-year term.
Clinton National, the state's largest airport, saw 2.1 million passengers go through its gates in 2018, a 5.5% rise over the previous year. The airport has a $34.9 million annual operating budget and employs more than 150 people.
Metro on 05/22/2019