He retired for a righteous reason. And now he has returned,
honorably, to once again run the Hollister Municipal Airport.
Allen Ritter recently took over as airport manager after
retiring from the same position in October 2002 to spend more time
with his ailing wife, Kathy, who subsequently died of cancer in
July.
City officials, after an extensive search to find a qualified
successor, recently offered Ritter the opportunity to return on a
part-time basis.
He retired for a righteous reason. And now he has returned, honorably, to once again run the Hollister Municipal Airport.
Allen Ritter recently took over as airport manager after retiring from the same position in October 2002 to spend more time with his ailing wife, Kathy, who subsequently died of cancer in July.
City officials, after an extensive search to find a qualified successor, recently offered Ritter the opportunity to return on a part-time basis.
He accepted the job and will oversee the airport’s day-to-day operations, including developing a budget, collecting rents and governing monthly Airport Advisory Commission meetings. Ritter will work about 20 hours a week.
Ritter, 69, said the job gives him the opportunity to involve himself in the community again. The city doesn’t expect to hire a full-time airport manager for 1-1/2 to two years, according to officials.
“Everybody’s really friendly and glad to have me,” he said. “It makes me feel good.”
One official pleased to see Ritter back is City Councilman Robert Scattini. He spent 19 years on the Airport Advisory Commission, and the two have maintained a healthy professional and personal relationship. Scattini originally suggested the notion of hiring Ritter back to City Manager Dale Shaddox.
Moreover, the city decided to hire Ritter part-time – officially as a temporary employee – because Hollister will save money during the current period of economic stagnation. Ritter will be paid an hourly wage, as opposed to a full-time salary, and he won’t receive additional benefits.
“For the time being, it’s just a Band-Aid approach,” Scattini said. “We just don’t have the funds to go out there.”
Others, including workers with the Public Works Department and Shaddox, will handle the remainder of the airport duties, including planning and management of capital projects.
“I thought (it would be a good idea) bringing back a person who knows the airport and could work on a part-time basis,” Shaddox said. “And that would give me the opportunity to work directly with him out of the City Manager’s office.”
Since Ritter’s retirement last year, Hollister officials scrambled through two phases of an unsuccessful search. The city halted its pursuit in early April, when some officials pushed for a salary range increase to attract a wider pool of candidates. The salary range would have been bumped from a maximum salary of $64,000 to one of $78,000.
That idea was rejected by the Council, sending the search back for its most recent tailspin. Overall, nearly 30 candidates applied for the position.
The city reportedly offered the job to its top candidate sometime in June. But he declined the position, citing low pay as a reason, according to Shaddox.
“We weren’t able to find a good replacement,” according to city engineer Steve Wittry, who most recently acted as interim airport manager.
Before Wittry, Deputy Director of Public Works Lawrence Jackson performed airport manager duties.
Ritter, who has lived in the Hollister area for three decades, spent 15 years as manager of the Hollister Airport before retiring.
It was his only previous experience managing an airport. Though he has “always been interested in aviation” and he started flying airplanes at the age of 14.
“I kind of jokingly refer to it as ‘my airport,'” Ritter said. “It’s very important to me.”
And it seems crucial to the economic future of Hollister as well. The airport area is the hotbed for Hollister industry, as many of the city’s business parks are located near the airfield. Meanwhile, corporate and city officials have projected further expansion in the future.
“We’ve got a real jewel,” Ritter said. “We’re lucky. We’ve got a good airport here and we’d like to keep it that way.”
