Island Transit’s board of directors picked as its new executive director an Everett native who dedicated much of his life to transit management and charity.
The board made the selection during a special meeting Friday. The board instructed legal counsel to begin immediate negotiations with him.
“It was a very difficult selection and all four candidates were extremely well qualified,” the board said in a statement.
Todd Morrow is a project management analyst for Intercity Transit in the Olympia area. He was previously with Community Transit in Snohomish County. He served as chief of external affairs for two years, the chief of strategic communications for more than 10 years and manager of intergovernmental relations for three years before that.
Eleven years ago, The Herald in Everett published a short feature story about Morrow, describing his work with Housing Hope, a Snohomish County affordable housing agency that helps low-income and homeless people.
Morrow helped start the grassroots group and remained active over more than 30 years, serving as the chairman twice.
Morrow has degrees in linguistics, law and public affairs from Stanford University and the University of Washington, The Herald story said.
The transit board started the process of finding a new executive director after Mike Nortier announced he was leaving the position earlier this year.
Nortier’s last day on the job was Oct. 26.
Nortier is credited with helping to return Island Transit to financial solvency after a period of controversy and money-related woes. This summer, the board recently considered changing the agency’s unique fare-free model, but a majority of the members voted it down because of concerns over a loss of ridership and other issues.
The candidates for the position were narrowed to four.
In addition to Morrow, they included Melinda Adams of Everett Transit, Wes Frysztacki from the Honolulu Department of Transportation and Carla Meyer from the Mendocino Transit Authority.
The public got a chance to meet with the candidates and give feedback Nov. 8.
