The Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council on Tuesday hired Matt Ransom as its new executive director, ending a monthslong search.
Ransom, currently project development and policy manager at the city of Vancouver, will become just the second director in RTC’s 21-year history. Retiring director Dean Lookingbill has led the agency since its formation in 1992. Lookingbill’s last day on the job is Dec. 27.
The RTC board of directors unanimously approved Ransom’s contract. It also approved a supplemental agreement that will allow Lookingbill to help with the leadership transition into early 2014.
The decision came during Lookingbill’s last RTC meeting as executive director — but not before board members heaped praise on the man who has helped shape transportation policy in Clark County for more than 30 years.
“You are the example of leadership for an organization that I give to others,” said Clark County Commissioner and RTC board member Steve Stuart. “This community is definitely better for all the work you’ve done.”
Lookingbill, for his part, mostly deflected the attention.
“Regional issues take a lot of collaboration,” he said, “and a lot of work.”
Ransom will start in January. As director, he will earn a total salary of $10,208.34 per month, or about $122,500 per year.
Board dismisses CRC resolution
Near the beginning of Tuesday’s meeting, the RTC board opted not to consider a resolution from Clark County Commissioner David Madore related to the Columbia River Crossing. The resolution would have reaffirmed the agency’s earlier adoption of the Interstate 5 Bridge replacement plan, emphasizing language that calls for a public vote on light rail.
In 2012, voters rejected a proposed sales tax increase to help operate light rail in Vancouver. C-Tran later approved a financial plan that does not raise the local sales tax but has not gone back to voters.
Madore, who opposes the CRC, said the RTC and other agencies should follow their earlier commitments on the project. His resolution could have put CRC supporters in a tricky position — either approve it, or essentially vote against RTC’s own endorsement of the CRC.
Instead, the board voted to remove the item from the agenda minutes into the meeting without acting on it. Stuart called the resolution “unnecessary,” while Vancouver City Councilor Jack Burkman said it was “not constructive.”
