After interviewing the three finalists for MARTA’s top job, the agency’s board announced the contenders:

• Jonathan Hunt, MARTA’s chief legal officer, who has been serving as interim since last August.
• Cleveland Ferguson III, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA).
• Leroy Jones, chief operations officer of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

The move represents a major step forward in the search to name a new CEO, a process that has been underway (with a couple of starts and stops) for about a year.

The three finalists were interviewed in a closed meeting on Monday at the Midtown law firm of Smith, Gambrell & Russell.

The agency has said it intends to decide on a new CEO when it holds its monthly board meeting on Aug. 13, only four days after revealing the names of the three finalists.

A question exists about whether MARTA is following the Georgia Open Records Act, which states a public entity must release the names of up to three finalists at least 14 calendar days before taking a final vote.

MARTA Spokeswoman Stephany Fisher checked with the legal department about the rule.

“Legal says the finalist information should be made available if requested 14 days prior to announcement but does not need to be publicly announced,” Fisher wrote in a text.

The MARTA search has taken nearly a year, including a start, stop and restart with questions of who was doing the search. According to people familiar with the process, some top potential candidates got other jobs, were confused by the process or lost interest in the position.

“It took longer than most of us had hoped,” said Keith Parker, a former MARTA CEO who has been serving on a group advising the MARTA board and team. “But if you end up with three credible candidates, you’ve had a good process.”

In a text exchange a couple of days before the Monday meeting, MARTA Board Chair Jennifer Ide said it has been “a very, very thorough search led by Vernica Biggins and Kevin Kelly of Diversified Search Group (DSG).”

Ide described the search as “robust.” She continued: “Veronica and Kevin have been the ultimate professionals and have conducted a fantastic search.”

Biggins did not respond to a question sent via text.

The MARTA search fielded about 250 candidates spanning public transit agencies, airports and airlines, freight and passenger railroads, port authorities and logistics organizations, according to Fisher.

The post MARTA board announces three finalists for CEO position appeared first on SaportaReport.