Administration and Finance (A&F) Committee Meeting Summary

Draft Memorandum for the Record

Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization

March 2, 2023, Meeting

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

Brian Kane, Chair, representing the MBTA Advisory Board

Decisions

The A&F Committee agreed to the following:

Meeting Agenda

1.    Introductions

See attendance on page 4.

2.    Public Comments  

There were none.

3.     Action Item: Approval of February 2, 2023, A&F Meeting Summary

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

1.    February 2, 2023, Meeting Summary (pdf)

2.    February 2, 2023, Meeting Summary (html)

Vote

A motion to approve the summary of the meeting of February 2, 2023, was made by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) (Eric Bourassa) and seconded by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) (Derek Krevat). The motion carried through a roll call vote.

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

Documents posted to the MPO meeting calendar

3.    Executive Director Hiring Process (pdf)

4.    Executive Director Hiring Process (html)

B. Kane introduced the discussion to clarify the process for approval of the executive director’s evaluation and compensation.

Discussion

E. Bourassa reviewed previous evaluation and compensation processes. In the past, the executive director would prepare their written evaluation and send it to MassDOT, MAPC, and the Chair of the A&F Committee. These bodies would then meet to discuss the evaluation with the executive director.

Tegin Teich, Executive Director, stated that recent evaluations have involved MassDOT and MAPC.

E. Bourassa stated that the executive director’s salary range should be posted with the job information.

B. Kane stated that discussions during the February 16, 2023, committee meeting indicated that the Single Search Committee will determine the salary range for the executive director job posting.

Brad Rawson, City of Somerville, asked if benchmarks will be included in the Operations Plan for the executive director and similar positions. B. Rawson noted that benchmarking aids in recruitment and retention and indicates to stakeholders the need for competitive compensation. B. Kane suggested comparing staff compensation to similar positions within other Massachusetts MPOs and organizations within the Boston region.

T. Teich stated that the agency has recently completed a compensation review and updated pay scales for a variety of positions. B. Kane suggested adding a statement in the employee section of the Operations Plan that the agency should go through a compensation review and set salary ranges every three to four years.

E. Bourassa suggested including the A&F Chair in the executive director’s evaluations because of the expected compensation increase that accompanies evaluations.

B. Kane suggested allowing the search committee to offer the executive director an employment agreement as a tool to attract additional applicants.

T. Teich discussed the current performance evaluation process at the Central Transportation Planning Staff.

T. Teich stated that she completes a self-evaluation that is sent to Marc Draisen with MAPC and David Mohler with MassDOT, which is followed by a discussion about the evaluation.

B. Kane suggested noting that the MPO Board is the appointing authority of the executive director and that the board delegates the responsibility of conducting the executive director’s evaluation to a relevant committee. The committee will then report to the full MPO Board about the conducted evaluation.

B. Kane suggested establishing a set of goals for the executive director at the start of the fiscal year and outlining check-in points throughout the year.

Lenard Diggins, Regional Transportation Advisory Council, asked how feedback from supervisors working under the executive director is incorporated into the evaluation. T. Teich responded that two different strategies have been implemented in recent years: an anonymous survey about the effectiveness of a supervisor and a survey where employees are asked to identify themselves. Leadership reviews these surveys and will summarize the feedback and share it with the relevant supervisor.

T. Teich stated that the next step of the Operations Plan is to develop a timeline for evaluations.

5.    Members’ Items

There were none.

6.     Adjourn

A motion to adjourn was made by the MAPC (E. Bourassa). The motion carried.


 

Attendance

Members

Representatives

and Alternates

Inner Core Committee, City of Somerville

Brad Rawson

MassDOT Office of Transportation Planning

Derek Krevat

MBTA Advisory Board

Brian Kane

Metropolitan Area Planning Council

Eric Bourassa

Regional Transportation Advisory Council

Lenard Diggins

 

Other Attendees

Affiliation

Jesse Riedle

Town of Bellingham Department of Public Works

Jon Seward

MoveMass

 

MPO Staff/Central Transportation Planning Staff

Tegin Teich, Executive Director

Silva Ayvazyan

Logan Casey

Jonathan Church

Hiral Gandhi

Erin Maguire

 


 

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