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Tampa Region Transit Agency's Director Search Down To 3

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By RICH SHOPES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 14, 2008

Updated: 10/14/2008 01:09 pm

TAMPA - The region's transportation authority is a step closer to picking a permanent executive director.

A special committee held interviews Monday and narrowed the list of applicants to three.

Among the names for the job going into next week's final round of interviews is Bob Clifford, planning director for the Department of Transportation's District 7 in Tampa.

Clifford has been acting executive director since the formation of the seven-county agency, known as the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority in June 2007.

Also making the cut were John W. Powell Jr., a transportation consultant in Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Thomas Quigley, a former executive with the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority.

A committee of six TBARTA board members picked the top three applicants and held half-hour interviews with each Monday. Twenty-eight people applied for the $150,000-a-year position, which includes a $6,000 pay raise next year.

"We liked their experience and what they have done and how applicable it is to TBARTA's needs," board member and Pinellas County Commissioner Ronnie Duncan said of the committee's choices.

The applicants will meet with the full board informally Oct. 23, followed by sit-down interviews Oct. 24 during the board's regular monthly meeting. The board is scheduled to choose an executive director at that meeting.

TBARTA is responsible for coming up with a long-range transportation plan for counties in West Central Florida. It is facing a July 2009 deadline, but might finish as early as January.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633.

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