The final candidates for the airport director position at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield are scheduled to be introduced May 2 at a public forum from 5:15 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The event will take place in person only based on the candidates’ request and will be hosted in the Mt. Evans Room of the RMMA Terminal, 11755 Airport Way.
The airport director candidates will each have 30 minutes to introduce themselves and respond to pre-submitted questions about a range of airport issues, according to a Jefferson County news release. Jefferson County will collect input from attendees that will be valuable in the selection process,” the news release states.
The recruiting team is not releasing the names or number of finalists for the airport job until the public forum, Jeffco spokeswoman Cassie Pearce said via email.
RMMA critic and Westminster resident Charlene Willey said the consultants hired to conduct the director search have seemingly dismissed nearby residents from the selection process.
“In general, we are very frustrated by the lack of transparency in the whole process of candidate selection for the new Airport Director,” Willey said via email.
“After very limited interviews with members of the community by the recruiting consultant, the county conducted the entire process without any public input or oversight,” Willey said. “Now we have short notice of this meet-the-candidate meeting along with inadequate notice of a CNR (Community Noise Roundtable) that has been anxiously awaited by the community where a vote to dissolve the body will take place,” she said.
“It is all very frustrating and frankly, it is clear they do not value community input in making this important decision,” Willey said.
The Community Noise Roundtable is a gathering of representatives of local governments to address noise concerns generated by operations at the airport. Bromfield representatives have said they are dropping out of the CNA over concerns about its effectiveness.
The CNA is scheduled to convene at 4 p.m. May 2, two hours earlier than normal to accommodate the airport director public forum.
The airport director position opened up in November when former RMMA director Paul Anslow left the job after slamming neighbors of the airport in comments that were later disclosed to county officials.
Anslow termed people critical of airport operations “nut jobs” and dismissed their worries about airport noise, according to a 2021 transcript of a private conversation given to KUNC News as part of a public records request.
Three weeks after Anslow left, four of the six members of the airport advisory board resigned in protest of Anslow’s reported firing.
Jefferson County hired executive recruiters ADK Consulting to lead the search for a new director, according to a county news release. Anslow was paid $154,000 a year as director of the airport, which is owned by Jefferson County.