Search For New Roosevelt Island Operating Corp President To Begin, RIOC Governance Committee Meeting Tomorrow To Discuss Procedures For Executive Job Search - Battery Park City Looking For New President Too

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As reported last week:

... the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Board of Directors selected current General Counsel Donald Lewis to be the Interim Acting RIOC President succeeding Leslie Torres who resigned for still unknown reasons....

and:

RIOC Board announced that the Governance Committee will meet next week to develop procedures to conduct an executive search for a new President.

According to RIOC, the Governance Committee will meet tomorrow to discuss conducting an executive search for a new President:

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a meeting of the Governance Committee of the RIOC Board of Directors will be held on Thursday, October 11, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. at the RIOC administrative office, 591 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, New York.

AGENDA

1. Discussion of RFP for Executive Search Firm;
2. Any Other Committee Business That May be Brought Before the Committee.

The RIOC Board has the independent statutory authority to hire and fire the RIOC President. In the past, the NY State Governor made it known to the RIOC Board who should be appointed as RIOC President and the RIOC Board acquiesced. With the decision to use an executive search firm to seek out job candidates for the current position, it appears as though the RIOC Board is seeking to exercise its proper authority over the Corporation. We shall see how this plays out going forward. (An audio web cast of the meeting will be available within a few days.)

At the same time that RIOC is seeking a new President, so is the Battery Park City Authority, which is a NY State Public Benefit Corporation similar to RIOC and whose President also recently resigned. The Broadsheet Daily reports on the search for a new Battery Park City Authority President:

For the first time in almost 20 years, the presidency of the Battery Park City Authority is vacant, without a clear successor waiting to take the helm at the agency that manages neighborhood. This may represent both a challenge and an opportunity: The Authority's new chairman, Dennis Mehiel, will have to function as a de facto CEO until the new president is appointed. But the community also may be able, for the first time, to influence the selection process that will determine who exercises day-to-day management over the neighborhood in years to come....

and asks Battery Park City residents to describe the ideal candidate for the position. Among the responses from community leaders are:

... I think the Battery Park City Authority president should be someone familiar with the downtown community, ideally a resident or a former resident. Such a person would understand what a terrific neighborhood this is, but would also understand the challenges that face us...

and:

... the new CEO should obviously have proven experience in running an organization, and a background in real estate would be helpful. But this person should not be a caretaker or just manage a finance group that collects rent. The right candidate must have the vision, skills and leadership to run a 'green,' sustainable living neighborhood that is made up of homes, small businesses and large corporations....

and:

... somebody with a strong operations background -- this is absolutely necessary -- but also strong administrative and financial experience. The bottom line is that we need somebody who is open and transparent and committed to community, because the Authority works closely with the community on whole panoply of issues....

The Broadsheet Daily also reports that there have been only 3 Presidents of the Battery Park City Authority since the mid 1990's. RIOC has now had 3 Presidents since 2010.

Click here for the entire Broadsheet Daily article.

Any thoughts on the ideal candidate for RIOC President?

UPDATE 10/12 - RIOC Governance Committee decided to issue a RFP seeking an Executive Search firm to find candidates for a new President. Here's a web cast of the meeting.