Port authority choice for new director is puzzling

A month ago, we bemoaned the fact that there were only eight applicants for the position of executive director of the Western Reserve Port Authority.

And we echoed board member Dave Mosure’s sentiments that last year’s problems that plagued the authority board had a dampening effect on the national search.

Nonetheless, we were encouraged by the caliber – on paper, at least – of some of the applicants. Two had actual aviation- related experience.

But, Wednesday’s decision by the board – after a three-hour, closed-door meeting – to name John Moliterno of Girard executive director is puzzling given his qualifications compared with what the other applicants offered.

Indeed, Moliterno’s involvement in the port authority spans just nine months, when he was appointed interim director. At the time, board Chairman Ron Klingle said he had “known John for 20 years” and described him as “incredibly smart and a class act.”

Moliterno is a small business owner and a member of Girard City Council. He is a former member and chairman of the port authority board and many years ago was president of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber.

In offering an explanation for the board’s decision Wednesday, Mosure, chairman of the committee that conducted the executive director search, said Moliterno “interviewed the best” of the candidates and “impressed us all the most.”

Mosure contended that the executive director has the relationships and connections to local business and government that are needed for the job.

DELEON HIRING STANDS IN CONTRAST

Contrast that to the comments that accompanied the hiring in 2010 of Rose DeLeon as executive director. DeLeon came from the Cuyahoga County Port Authority with a deep understanding of the job and the statutory powers that make a port authority a major player in a region’s economic development and job creation efforts.

In urging the port authority board to conduct a national search after DeLeon left due to illness – she died in March – we argued that she had set the standard for what the WRPA required in an executive director.

Against that backdrop, we are hard pressed to understand how Moliterno’s credentials, background and work experience rise to the standard set by DeLeon.

Unfortunately, comments by Mosure fail to provide the insight necessary for us – and by extension, the public – to determine if the decision was based on an objective evaluation of all candidates.

Given the tawdry history of the WRPA board, the public has a jaundiced view of what the entity is doing and whether tax dollars are being spent responsibly.

Considering that the executive director could well earn a six-figure salary, the region deserves to see how each of the applicants was rated, their strengths and weaknesses and how much importance was given to actual aviation-related experience.

And given the Mahoning Valley’s sordid political history, the public deserves to know if there was pressure brought to bear on behalf of any of the applicants.

John Moliterno is a glad-hander from way back and over the years created a network of friends in high places.

But, the question each member of the authority’s board must answer is this: Were you looking for an executive director whose strong suit is public relations, or for a technocrat steeped in the minutiae of government rules and regulations, statutory responsibilities and a clear understanding of the role played by port authorities in the furtherance of economic development initiatives?

With Moliterno, the WRPA board opted for an individual who, as Mosure said, has relations and connections to businesses and governments. Given that, who will assume the duties that DeLeon performed with such expertise?

Since the WRPA board is unlikely to reconsider its decision on the executive director, we believe the taxpayers of the Valley have a right to all details pertaining to the selection process. It’s not enough to say, as Mosure did, that the successful candidate did a great job in the interview and has a lot of local connections.

There are critics, not only of the port authority but of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, who say that believers of a bright future for the facility are blind to reality.

Moliterno’s appointment as executive director undoubtedly has the critics sharpening their tongues.