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Port authority approves contract paying executive director $110,000 annually
By Ed Runyan
VIENNA
The Western Reserve Port Authority has approved a three-year contract that pays Executive Director John Moliterno $110,000 per year.
The contract was approved 7-0 Wednesday at the board’s regular monthly meeting at Squaw Creek Country Club. Board member Dave Detec, an attorney, abstained from voting on the grounds that Moliterno is a client of Detec’s law firm.
Moliterno was selected last month after the port authority interviewed seven candidates who learned of the job through several national advertisements.
The port authority and Moliterno can get out of the contract with 30 days’ notice. Moliterno will get 12 vacation days per year and will be allowed to carry over the 10 vacation days he has earned since he became interim executive director last September.
The contract does not contain salary enhancements based on performance like those of his predecessor, Rose Ann DeLeon, who earned a base salary of $155,000 per year.
She was executive director from November 2009 until March 2014 when the board relieved her of her title and duties after she missed several months of work due to illness. She died several months later.
Ron Klingle, chairman of the port authority, said the board is likely to continue to use contracts of this type throughout the organization, with opt-out provisions being available “if things don’t work out.”
“We’ve been impressed with what John has done so far and look forward to a long-term relationship with him,” Klingle said.
Moliterno’s performance will be assessed on a fairly regular basis, Klingle said. “When good things happen, I’m sure the board will take that into consideration,” he said of bonuses. “It will be based on excellent results.”
DeLeon came to the port authority as its first executive director after serving as vice president of strategic development and government affairs at the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority. She had worked there 16 years.
She was paid $155,000 per year under a three-year contract, but when it expired, the pay rate dropped to $95,000 annually with incentives for performance.