Western Reserve Port Authority narrows search to two for executive director

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

VIENNA

The Western Reserve Port Authority has narrowed its search from eight candidates to two for its executive-director position, and will interview them both Wednesday in hopes of making a final selection.

David Mosure, chairman of the committee that has headed the search, declined to identify the two remaining candidates, saying all the candidates should be notified in person before reading it in the newspaper.

Mosure said the interviewing process has led to some “exciting” ideas that could lead to the “reorganization of the staff,” saying the “two left will fit that need well.”

“It’s been exciting,” Mosure said of the selection of a permanent executive director and a meeting last week with the Toledo Lucas County Port Authority, which has been carrying out economic-development projects for 30 years.

One goal of the reorganization is to have personnel who can handle the majority of the port authority’s work so that board members are not required to do so much of it, Mosure said.

He would not say whether the interim executive director, John Moliterno, is one of the two finalists and would not further explain what type of reorganization is being considered. Moliterno has been interim executive director since September.

Mosure said it’s necessary to talk to both candidates about the reorganization to determine whether they are open to it before either finalist is offered the job.

The full port authority will meet during a special meeting at noon Wednesday at Squaw Creek Country Club. Board members will meet privately to interview the candidates, then will announce a decision, Mosure said.

Eight people applied for the job, but Derek Martin, manager of air service at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, later withdrew his name from consideration.

The port authority’s planning committee interviewed the seven candidates either in person or by videoconferencing or teleconferencing over the past two weeks, Mosure said.

The committee talked to one of the two finalists over teleconferencing, so Wednesday will be the first time they see or meet that candidate, Mosure said.

In addition to Moliterno, the other candidates are Michael Haritakis of Hudson, Ohio, co-founder of startup medical-device manufacturer Thermedx; Anthony T. Trevena of Ormond Beach, Fla., chief of staff from 2008 to 2010 for former U.S. Rep. John Boccieri; Jeffrey Miller of Mishawaka, Ind., senior airport operations specialist at San Jose International Airport in San Jose, Calif.; John Sernulka of Richmond, Ky., recently retired from Sherwin-Williams Co.; Albert R. LeRoy of Vienna, general manager of B2B Sales and Service, Things Remembered Fulfillment Center; and Daniel R. DeSantis of Somersworth, N.H., economic-development director for the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corp.