"OIA won't replace top security and ops official"

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Aviation agency won't replace OIA security exec
The agency that runs the airport will shift oversight duties to another
staffer.
By Jason Garcia
The Orlando (FL) Sentinel


The agency that runs Orlando International Airport will not replace a
recently departed executive who was brought in last year to oversee airport
security and other operations.

The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority is eliminating the position and
shifting most of its responsibilities to another staffer.

Authority Executive Director Steve Gardner restructured the agency after
former Deputy Executive Director Kevin Dillon quit in January, just nine
months after he was hired to manage security, public safety and other
airport operations. Dillon left to take the top job at T.F. Green Airport in
Warwick, R.I.

Dillon's April 2007 hiring came with airport security under increasing
scrutiny. He arrived shortly after a gun-and-drug smuggling ring was exposed
at OIA and after a sensitive security document was found in an airport
dumpster.

Gardner said Monday that it wasn't vital that the position be filled. He
left open the possibility that someone could eventually be hired for it,
though he is not actively seeking candidates.

"I think it would take the right person," Gardner said.

With Dillon's departure, responsibility for security and airport operations
falls to Chris Schmidt, another deputy executive director who has been with
the aviation authority since 2003. Schmidt, who was Orange County Mayor Rich
Crotty's chief of staff before joining the airport, also oversees commercial
properties and economic development.

The aviation authority's other remaining deputy executive director, Robert
Gilbert, is responsible for construction, planning and maintenance.

Some other responsibilities will be shifted as part of the overhaul.
Information technology, for instance, will now report to Gilbert. Gardner
will personally oversee public affairs and human resources.

Gardner said the new organizational layout is similar to a temporary
structure the aviation authority used for about 15 months before Dillon was
hired.

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