WESTFIELD–The city’s airport commission is in a holding pattern as they try and decide what the next steps are for replacing the now-vacant airport manager position.
The position was vacated Sept. 1 after former manager Brian Barnes was hired by Amelia Park as its executive director. The commission has been looking for a replacement since the beginning of July, but has had a series of delays. In their meeting yesterday, they notified the public briefly that the process is moving along but that there were no new announcements since the job description was officially posted.
Commission chairperson Kim Cameron was not present for the meeting, but the commission still had the ability to vote on measures.
“We are looking for a part-time manager,” commissioner William Gonet said about the current plans. “We are seeing who we can get.”
However, they reported that no interviews had been done for the position yet.
Another part that is delaying the process is that the commission is yet to officially determine who is on the commission’s search committee for the new manager. The committee will be used to filter out candidates, giving the commission a list of interviewees for the position.
In spite of the delay, Gonet said that the committee will officially be announced soon.
The commission also said that regarding the Westfield International Air Show arriving next August, they would prefer that former airport manager Barnes not be involved in its planning.
In previous interviews, Barnes said that he would be willing to be part of the process, including attending meetings pertaining to the air show until a new airport manager was hired.
However, the commission preferred someone active in the airport’s activities.
“Brian works for the arena now,” Gonet said regarding Barnes’ new position, “I want someone here or from the commission in the air show meetings.”
