PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The board of the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority last week ranked the top candidates for the administrator post using an anonymous system.

 

The 16 applicants were narrowed down to four, who will be asked to interview.

 

Earlier this month, the board was sent the candidates' resumes with their names disguised by unique identifiers and were told to rank them by whom they believe is most fit for the position.

 

The successful candidate would replace Administrator Robert Malnati, who is retiring after 23 years with the BRTA.

 

A job posting describes the administrator as being the "face of the agency," with strong leadership, integrity and responsibility, communication, and resiliency. The incoming administrator would earn between $140,000 and $160,000 annually. 

 

The list was narrowed down based on qualification. 

 

Thirteen board members responded to the ranking and one other didn't, stating they were too new to comfortably rank.

 

In Thursday's meeting, the board looked at the rankings and discussed the top four applicants. Chair Douglas McNally contacted the top two of the top four applicants and offered to share what their references stated.

 

Applicant F was the top candidate and Applicant H was second.

 

"[They are] passionate about transportation, data driven, very good software and updates on that for scheduling was very good in capacity as assistance in handling grants and doing project management," McNally read about Applicant F.

 

The rest of applicant F's references spoke about their involvement in microtransit and how good of an employee they are.

 

Candidate H was also spoken highly about in their references.

 

"[They] also was passionate about it. [They have] been an operator when [they were] in college, [they] understand micro transit, and developed a micro pilot for them. [They] started working in all capacities, in operations, as well as in management. Very good with finance, very good experience management," McNally read.

 

Board member Mindi Morin spoke about the third candidate, Candidate 7. She said she spoke to several of their co-workers and past supervisors who said they were qualified. The only worry was how long they have been in their position.

 

"I think that this person has not been in their position for a long period of time, but the census of being almost overqualified having been in the position that they're currently in, I would say it was a 50/50. consensus of some people were like, 'Oh my gosh, they can't leave this is really great in the current role.' Whereas others were, 'this person's really great, but also needs more time,'" Morin said.

 

Board member Ray Killeen has a working relationship with the individual and spoke up for them.

 

"I have a greater connection with Candidate 7 and, being involved in the industry for 47 years, there's a quality that [they] possesses that I think would be very beneficial, not only just for the authority, but for Berkshire County in itself, the way [they] recognizes the importance of transportation and area businesses, what the two can work together," he said. "We've had multiple discussions in regards to micro transit, and [they're] spot on in regards to trying to establish hilltowns."

 

Candidate 3 was the fourth candidate. McNally said he didn't check references for Candidate 3 because he was worried about how much the candidate had bounced around, and said it might be interesting to figure out why. Some of the other board members expressed that concern as well.

 

The board voted to moved on to interviews with the top four candidates. They voted to hold the interviews, which are open to the public, so that board members could participate if they wanted. The interviews are scheduled to be held Sept. 8th and 9, two each day in the late afternoon, if they are able to make it.

 

Board members were also asked to submit questions they would like considered in the interview.