Capital Metro, the city of Austin’s transit agency, announced the four finalists Dec. 18 during its final meeting of 2017. Current President/CEO Linda Watson announced her retirement July 31.
The board also named the four finalists in the running for the agency’s top leadership spot:
- Randy Clarke: vice president of operations and member services for the American Public Transportation Association and formerly with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Boston;
- Erika Mazza: deputy general manager of the Northern Arizona International Public Transportation Authority in Flagstaff, Arizona;
- Darrell Mobley: director of the Department of Public Works & Transportation for Prince George’s County in Maryland who has authority over the Maryland Transit Administration’s light rail Purple Line under construction; and
- Raymond Suarez, chief operating officer of Denton County Transportation Authority and formerly the chief administrative officer of the Trinity Railway Express, a commuter rail service that was a joint venture of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit and the Fort Worth Transportation Authority.
Capital Metro hired executive search firm Krauthamer & Associates Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based search firm that has been around for 45 years, to conduct the process for seeking a new leader.
Board Chairman Wade Cooper said the four finalists have experience with encountering a number of challenges that Capital Metro foresees facing in the coming years, including the implementation of Positive Train Control as well as working with different transportation modes and providing services for people with disabilities.
"Things that we're looking for collectively is the ability to provide leadership to the region, an ability to help our organization deal with the financial challenges we see in the horizon and an ability to implement innovations as we see in the coming as being really important in terms of opportunities to implement new kinds of services," Cooper said.
The public meeting is set for Jan. 8 at 6 p.m. at the Austin ISD Performing Arts Center at 1500 Barbara Jordan Blvd., Austin, in the Mueller neighborhood.
During a special-called meeting Jan. 9, board members will make their final decision for the top seat. The board would vote on the new president/CEO’s contract at its regular meeting Jan. 29. The new president/CEO likely could begin in late February or early March.
