Administration & Finance Meeting Minutes

Draft Memorandum for the Record

Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization Meeting

February 16, 2023, Meeting

9:00 AM–9:50 AM, Zoom Video Conferencing Platform

Brian Kane, Chair, representing the MBTA Advisory Board

Decisions

The Administration and Finance (A&F) Committee agreed to the following:

Meeting Agenda

1.    Introductions

See attendance on page 3.

2.    Public Comments  

There were none.

3.     Action Item: Approval of January 19, 2023, A&F Meeting Summary

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

1.    January 19, 2023, Meeting Summary (pdf)

2.    January 19, 2023, Meeting Summary (html)

Vote

A motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of January 19, 2023, was made by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) (Eric Bourassa) and seconded by the Regional Transportation Advisory Council (Lenard Diggins). The motion carried.

4.    Discussion: Operations Plan, Executive Director Hiring Process—Brian Kane, Chair

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

1.    Operations Plan, Executive Director Hiring Process (pdf)

2.    Operations Plan, Executive Director Hiring Process (html)

Brian Kane, Chair, and Tegin Teich, Executive Director of Central Transportation Planning Staff (the staff to the Boston Region MPO), introduced the agenda item and encouraged attendees to participate in the continued discussion of the Executive Director hiring process. T. Teich presented two draft hiring processes for the committee to discuss. Option One consists of a Screening Committee and a Hiring Committee, while Option Two has a Single Search Committee.

Discussion

E. Bourassa asked if there should be a subset of staff selected to participate in the interview process. T. Teich stated that in the previous hiring process, a small group of staff interviewed candidates between the first and second interviews and were given the opportunity to provide feedback. Conversations following the hiring process noted that staff did not feel they had the authority to meaningfully influence the decision.

E. Bourassa asked how many seats will be on the Single Search Committee. T. Teich responded that there will be seven seats and a staff liaison, with the option to add more seats should the committee deem it necessary.

Brad Rawson, City of Somerville, asked if there is precedent in the prescriptive nature of the hiring process document. T. Teich responded that the purpose of the hiring process is to outline the general steps that should be taken immediately after the executive director position becomes available and throughout the hiring process, while leaving enough flexibility for steps and the number of committee members to be adjusted as needed.

L. Diggins advocated for the Regional Transportation Advisory Council to be explicitly involved in both proposed scenarios of the hiring process.

B. Kane stated that from the discussion, the committee is favoring Option Two’s Single Search Committee.

William Conroy, Boston Transportation Department, suggested including the option to hire an independent agency to review candidates.

Derek Krevat, Massachusetts Department of Transportation Office of Transportation Planning, advocated to add language in the initial step of the Single Search Committee related to the diversity of the committee.

5.    Members’ Items

There were none.

6.     Adjourn

A motion to adjourn was made by the Regional Transportation Advisory Council (L. Diggins) and seconded by the MAPC (E. Bourassa). The motion carried.

 

Attendance

Members

Representatives

and Alternates

Boston Transportation Department

William Conroy

Inner Core Committee, City of Somerville

Brad Rawson

Massachusetts Department of Transportation

Derek Krevat

MBTA Advisory Board (Chair)

Brian Kane

Metropolitan Area Planning Council

Eric Bourassa

MetroWest Regional Collaborative, City of Framingham

Dennis Giombetti

Regional Transportation Advisory Council

Lenard Diggins

 

Other Attendees

Affiliation

Jon Seward

MoveMass

 

 

MPO Staff/Central Transportation Planning Staff

Tegin Teich, Executive Director

Jonathan Church

Annette Demchur

Erin Maguire

 


 

The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) operates its programs, services, and activities in compliance with federal nondiscrimination laws including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, and related statutes and regulations. Title VI prohibits discrimination in federally assisted programs and requires that no person in the United States of America shall, on the grounds of race, color, or national origin (including limited English proficiency), be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity that receives federal assistance. Related federal nondiscrimination laws administered by the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, or both, prohibit discrimination on the basis of age, sex, and disability. The Boston Region MPO considers these protected populations in its Title VI Programs, consistent with federal interpretation and administration. In addition, the Boston Region MPO provides meaningful access to its programs, services, and activities to individuals with limited English proficiency, in compliance with U.S. Department of Transportation policy and guidance on federal Executive Order 13166.

The Boston Region MPO also complies with the Massachusetts Public Accommodation Law, M.G.L. c 272 sections 92a, 98, 98a, which prohibits making any distinction, discrimination, or restriction in admission to, or treatment in a place of public accommodation based on race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or ancestry. Likewise, the Boston Region MPO complies with the Governor's Executive Order 526, section 4, which requires that all programs, activities, and services provided, performed, licensed, chartered, funded, regulated, or contracted for by the state shall be conducted without unlawful discrimination based on race, color, age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, creed, ancestry, national origin, disability, veteran's status (including Vietnam-era veterans), or background.

A complaint form and additional information can be obtained by contacting the MPO or at http://www.bostonmpo.org/mpo_non_discrimination. To request this information in a different language or in an accessible format, please contact

Title VI Specialist
Boston Region MPO
10 Park Plaza, Suite 2150
Boston, MA 02116
civilrights@ctps.org

By Telephone:
857.702.3700 (voice)

For people with hearing or speaking difficulties, connect through the state MassRelay service:

·       Relay Using TTY or Hearing Carry-over: 800.439.2370

·       Relay Using Voice Carry-over: 866.887.6619

·       Relay Using Text to Speech: 866.645.9870

For more information, including numbers for Spanish speakers, visit https://www.mass.gov/massrelay.