The search for a full-time airport manager officially began
Monday night when the City Council approved job requirements for
the position.
The search for a full-time airport manager officially began Monday night when the City Council approved job requirements for the position.
The most important qualification for the post – which oversees Hollister Municipal Airport operations – will be the candidates’ experience with property management, according to Lawrence Jackson, deputy director of the city’s Public Works Department.
“The airport has no other income than leasing property,” Jackson said. “It’s very important for the person in that job to have expertise in property management.”
Jackson took over as interim manager when Allen Ritter retired in December after eight years on the job. Jackson said hiring a new manager would take a “very big load” off him. He has performed the airport manager duties as an aside to his work on capital improvements, traffic and wastewater issues.
“It took a lot of my resources…” Jackson said.
Other than the emphasis on property management expertise, Jackson said the person’s ability to obtain grants – both from federal and state agencies – is also high on his list of important attributes.
Councilman Robert Scattini – who spent 19 years on the Airport Advisory Commission before stepping down in January – said grant writing is “the big thing.”
“The city’s looking at trying to get a property manager. That should be one part of the selection process, but we need more than a property manager,” Scattini said.
“This airport’s growing,” he said. “We need somebody with knowledge about airports.”
After immediately beginning the process of advertising the position’s opening, the city will accept and review applications before setting up interviews. Jackson said he hopes the entire hiring process will take somewhere between 45 and 90 days.
The city has never employed a full-time airport manager, according to Scattini. But that job status will change with the new person, which Scattini said is a long time coming.
“I think it’s hurt he airport (having no full-time manager),” Scattini said.
Some of the airport manager’s other basic duties include safety inspections, preparation of the annual budget, investigations of tenant complaints, capital improvement recommendations and drafting of the Airport Master Plan.
That Airport Master Plan, according to Jackson, is a 20-year projection into the future and will include plans for building and the types of flights allowed.
Jackson said the timing of a new airport manager has nothing to do with the city’s negotiations with the California Department of Forest and Fire Protection. The CDF recently “backed off” from negotiations for a long-term lease with the city because of state budget problems, Jackson said.
The CDF has talked in recent months of expanding its base from the current two-acre plot to 10 acres. For now, the city and the CDF have signed a five-year short-term lease for the current base.
“They (the CDF) don’t want to talk about getting more space because of budget problems,” Jackson said. “The money isn’t there right now.”
The money is there for the city, however, for a full-time airport manager. The new manager will earn between $52,538 and $63,860. With the amount of work involved, Jackson said, the new hire will earn his or her keep.
“They’ll be a very, very busy person,” he said.
