WA: Public to soon be asked to weigh in on their favorite STA CEO candidate -- except there's only one, and it's still a secret who

Three people appear to have effectively decided earlier this month who will be the next Spokane regional public transit CEO — one of the highest-paid government jobs in the county — with essentially no public input or vetting process.

The three who made that decision — county Commissioner Al French, Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley and Liberty LakeCouncilman Dan Dunne — argue the process remains transparent because the public will be allowed to weigh in on their preferred candidates, even if they only have one option, and they were technically allowed to advance only a single candidate.

"The process was voted on and approved unanimously by this board," French said Thursday. "And I just think that, you know, to come in at the 11th hour and change the process because you didn't get your way — it's just totally inappropriate."

Several board members who voted for that resolution argued they had not realized they had allowed for a single candidate to be advanced and that it was a clear violation of an agreement they believed had been reached to allow the public to have meaningful feedback in the hiring process.

But a narrow majority of the Spokane Transit Authority board rubberstamped the selection committee's decision Thursday in a 5-4 vote. They still won't publicly say who is about to be promoted, nor seemingly release any information about the 32 candidates.

Chief of Planning and Development Officer Karl Otterstrom is widely rumored to have advanced as the sole finalist, though no one on the four-person selection committee would acknowledge the selection. Spokane City Councilman Zack Zappone voted against it. And though board members appear to have finally been explicitly told of a selection during a closed-door meeting Thursday, none would publicly admit as much to The Spokesman-Review.

It remains to be seen when the public will finally learn who has been all-but-hired for the $250,000-$300,000-salary job overseeing the region's public transit agency. The agency must still hold an as-yet unscheduled public meet-and-greet with the finalist before formally hiring them.

Transit advocates and labor representatives, who had believed last summer they fought a hard-won battle for multiple candidates to be vetted by the public and transit employees, expressed disappointment and outrage Thursday.

"When we were advocating for a fair and public process, I remember hearing the phrase 'one to three candidates,' and I thought that's a pretty big loophole, but surely the board wouldn't disrespect the public and its employees like that, while wasting everyone's time and money," said Sarah Rose, transit and transportation safety advocate.

"But alas, I am a young optimist," she added. "Sometimes I forget that some people on this board have been disrespecting Spokanites and wasting our time and money for longer than I have been alive."

According to a statement from the board's lawyer at the meeting that seemed prepped ahead of it, 32 candidates applied for the position, of whom 16 were "not qualified," nine had "insufficient experience," two had career histories with "concerning events," and only five were advanced to interviews. When Zappone requested to publicly disclose the candidate qualifications, French argued this would be inappropriate, as it may jeopardize the candidate's current employment.

Two additional candidates reportedly withdrew from the hiring process, leaving three finalists. Only one advanced.

Spokane City Councilman Michael Cathcart, a relatively new addition to the STA board who has advocated for greater transparency and public input for council appointments, argued that requiring additional candidates may have been good as a matter of course, but he did not now feel it necessary to add any for the final, public leg of the process.

Rhonda Bowers, who represents transit laborers as a non-voting member of the board, expressed disappointment.

"It's not what we told the public we would do," she said. "We dropped the ball."

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