Palm Springs Airport Director Finalists Whittled to 11

Airport Director Finalists Whittled to 11 
Current chief Al Smoot plans to retire at end of December

The Desert Sun, CA
December 4th, 2003 


PALM SPRINGS -- Eleven finalists have been selected to replace the outgoing 
director of the Palm Springs International Airport and a final choice is 
expected to be made before Christmas.

An executive search firm winnowed the finalists from a list of 52 applicants 
from airports across the country, including Palm Springs. 

A panel of city officials will interview finalists in a marathon session Dec. 
15 -- 15 days before current airport director Al Smoot retires. 

"This is the main transportation hub serving the Coachella Valley.… It’s 
extremely important that we have a competent person in that position," said 
Assistant City Manager Troy Butzlaff. 

Butzlaff wouldn’t reveal the identities of the finalists, describing them 
simply as "highly qualified" directors or deputy directors of airports of the 
same size or larger than Palm Springs.

He did confirm that the list of finalists does include internal candidates but 
declined to say how many. Smoot said three of the 52 applicants came from the 
Palm Springs airport. 

Two of Smoot’s deputies -- Barry Griffith, assistant director of aviation, 
and Richard Strickland, deputy director of aviation -- are known to be 
interested in the job. 

Smoot will join Butzlaff, City Manager David Ready, Airport Commission Chairman 
Chuck Cheeld and a representative from the Palm Springs Desert Resorts 
Convention and Visitors Authority in interviewing the candidates. 

"I’m going to be looking for someone who has well-rounded experience as an 
airport director," Smoot said. 

The airport director oversees 55 employees and a current fiscal year budget of 
$10.1 million. The director has a laundry list of vital, and at times 
unrelated, duties, such as obtaining federal grants for security improvements, 
negotiating with airlines to expand service, developing marketing strategies 
and even coordinating advertising in the airport lobby. 

"You have to be almost a jack of all trades for a position like this," Butzlaff 
said.

Ready, the city manager, will make the final decision on who will be hired. 
Butzlaff said the city hopes to have a new airport director at work sometime in 
mid to late January. 

This, however, is not the end of Smoot’s involvement in city government. The 
longtime city employee, well-respected for his experience in capital projects, 
has been leading the Palm Springs Convention Center expansion and will continue 
working on the project on a part-time basis until it’s completed in 2005. 

Smoot said he’ll likely work only about 960 hours in the coming year, at $76 
a hour. He’ll have a temporary office at the convention center. 
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