Former Administrator Tapped as Interim North Adams Airport Manager.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Airport Commission voted to appoint Katherine Eade as the interim airport manager.
During a special meeting Friday afternoon, the Airport Commission appointed Eade, who was the city's administrative officer from 2001 to 2008, as the airport manager.
"I love this airport. I have loved this airport for a very long time," Eade said. "I was flying out of it in the late '70s when the company I worked for had a couple of twin-engine planes…It was one of the most enjoyable times of my life, flying in and out of this airport."
Eade will hold the position until the city has a better sense of what the permanent manager position will look like.
Longtime stipended manager Willard "Bill" Greenwald left the position last year. In the interim, Administrative Officer Angie Ellison was the airport manager.
Although the commissioners did interview manager candidates, they ultimately decided to hold off on appointing a permanent manager. There was a desire among the commissioners to restructure the position and possibly bump it up to full time, among other arrangements.
Ellison made known she would prefer to pass off the position to an interim manager because it was becoming difficult to efficiently fulfill both of her roles in the city.
Chairman Dan Caplinger said after an executive session meeting earlier this week with Mayor Jennifer Macksey and Ellison, they decided to seriously look at an interim manager and scheduled Friday's meeting with Eade.
Eade said she may not have aeronautical skills but certainly has the knowledge. She said in a prior job in the private sector she managed more than $3 million in FAA contracts working with a company that developed radar systems for airports.
She said she visited many different airports and would fly in and out of the North Adams airport, often alongside the pilot. She had a logbook in hand from the 1970s with 9 hours of flight recorded.
After that, she worked for the district attorney's office and then the City of North Adams.
Commissioner Mark Morandi noted the airport's complicated past. He asked if Eade was up for a pretty big project.
"There is a lot going on that we are trying to wrestle with," he said. "…It will be challenging. We have a lot of balls in the air we are trying to juggle."
Eade said she was up for the challenge and that although she did not have the current responsibilities as Ellison when she was the administrative officer, she did manage grants for the airport.
As for dispute resolution, Eade said she has negotiated professionally in other lines of work.
"I negotiated professionally in the private sector for 20 years. You have your own position and someone else has theirs," she said. "Over time you reach a consensus. It is very rarely you just walk away…and I think at the airport everyone is invested in some way."
Ellison said she would be available to get Eade up to speed.
The commission thanked Ellison for her time as manager.
"We all appreciate all of the work that you have done to get yourself up to speed from zero aviation knowledge to really doing a great job," Caplinger said.
Eade will start Feb. 21
"I am excited about this," Commissioner Dean Bullett said. "It sounds like she has already started doing her homework which is a good sign."
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