PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson Transit Authority is negotiating a contract with Mike Pollack, transit service and training supervisor, to serve as the agency’s interim general manager while the transit board seeks a permanent successor for Dave Turissini.
Turissini has resigned from the top transit position he held nearly 10 years, effective Jan. 9.
Turissini handed in his resignation to the transit board Dec. 15.
Transit board Chairman David Sullivan previously said that Carla Meyer, transit services administrator, was being considered for the job.
But, last week, Sullivan said that she would remain in her current position.
Sullivan said the board has granted him the authority to negotiate the contract with Pollack.
“I’d like to get it done by next week, but I don’t know if that is possible with the holidays here,” Sullivan said Thursday.
Pollack trains bus drivers and was the chief supervisor and organizer for special Jefferson Transit bus service during the Hood Canal Bridge construction closure in May and June, which included building a temporary pickup and drop off park-and-ride bus station at Fred Hill Materials Shine Pit to water transportation at Hood Canal’s temporary South Point passenger ferry dock.
“Mike’s performance during the bridge closure was certainly appreciated by everybody,” Sullivan said.
Pollack supervised 25 temporary bus drivers that Jefferson Transit and the state Department of Transportation budgeted and hired for the five-week Hood Canal Bridge closure to replace its east half.
Sullivan said the board still intends to recruit and hire a new general manager over at least six months to fill the post that pays $74,585 a year and oversees 45 employees and a 30-bus fleet based out of Port Townsend.
Turissini is leaving Jefferson Transit to manage Sound Transit’s bus system that contracts with transit agencies in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties that have 350 buses serving regional routes connected to the Sound Transit rail system.
The state Department of Transportation would be used at no cost to Jefferson Transit to help find the new manager because the agency has extensive resources and connections to find transportation administrators, he said. It would also save the agency the expense of going to a private recruitment agency.
Jan. 19 meeting
Sullivan said he hopes the board can consider and approve a contract with Pollack at its Jan. 19 meeting and get the recruitment wheels in motion to begin recruitment and the selection process for a new transit manager.
A community event probably will be scheduled so the public can hear finalists for the job answer their interview questions, Sullivan said.
The process will likely involve forming a committee and hearing what community members have to say about the position, he said.
The position will be advertised regionally and involve local residents, the transit advisory committee, private employers and government representatives in the job candidate evaluation process.
Turissini will remain in Port Ludlow with his wife, Danielle, and plans to make a 90-minute commute to Seattle by ferry and Sound rail.
The new position, he said, will mean he will have to resign from the Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce board.
Danielle Turissini is Jefferson County Team Jefferson coordinator for the PEAK Leadership Program and will keep that responsibility.
Turissini came to Jefferson County in February 2000, moving here from Athens, Pa., where he worked for Endless Mountains Transit.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
