RTA board discusses process for how to hire consultants

Who is responsible to whom?

By Mark Reaman 

How to evaluate and determine the process for choosing managing consultants with the Gunnison Valley Rural Transportation Authority (RTA) was a big topic of discussion at the last board meeting. How those consultants should fit into the RTA personnel structure was also a point of discussion.

The contract with Alpine Express, which runs the operations of the valley’s bus system, is coming to an end in November of 2025. RTA executive director Scott Truex said he was in the process of crafting a Request for Proposals (RFP) to open up the process to determine if there is other interest in running the system. On the air side of the RTA, Airplanners LLC has been advising the RTA as its primary air consultant for more than 20 years. Kent Myers used to be the primary contact, but for the last seven years his partner Bill Tomcich has been part of the Airplanners team and advising the RTA. The Airplanners contract is reviewed every two years and has always been renewed.

Truex said when it comes to the bus service, he expects to get more than one proposal given the current scale of the operation. Alpine Express is paid about $2.5 million a year operating the buses. “Given our current size, I wouldn’t be surprised to see bids received from outside the area,” he told the board. 

“One of my evaluation criteria would be the ability of a bidder to bring in bus drivers when necessary,” said board member Ian Billick. “So, I’ll be looking for that type of information in the RFP.”

Board member Laura Puckett Daniels said, as a fairly new member of the RTA board, she was curious how the board defines success with both the bus and air elements of the RTA. “Should there be success measures in the RFP? It may be a way to evaluate ultimate success of the contracts. What does long-term success look like,” she asked saying that as a former school teacher she was used to dealing with metrics that could be evaluated and graded.

Board member Diego Plata asked if the RFP was “the right moment to set the organization’s goals or should that be in the contract that comes from it?”

“Those kinds of numbers and success measures need to be contextualized. How do we compare to peer communities, for example,” said Billick. 

“My goal is not punitive but to get clear expectations,” said Puckett Daniels.

As far as the 2025-26 air consulting contract, RTA board chair Janet Farmer said in her opinion, Tomcich and Airplanners have been thorough and detailed. “Bill does a good job responding to what we have asked for in his reports. I’m not sure how we could get anyone better with his history,” she said.

“I brought this up a year ago,” said board member Liz Smith. “I just think as a matter of best practices we should issue an RFQ (Request for Qualifications) with the air contract. The RTA has been with Airplanners over 20 years and the relationship has been wonderful. This isn’t something against Bill but it is good for us to go through the RFP process. It fulfills our responsibility to the public.”

“Typically you don’t do an RFP for employees,” noted Billick. “Why is this a consulting relationship (with Airplanners) instead of a staffing relationship? Does a staff approach make more sense?”

“It can be a benefit to work with a consultant that has other clients,” said Tomcich, who relayed that he had six other clients. 

“In my opinion, based on Scott’s recommendation, we should extend this contract with Airplanners without an RFP,” said Billick.

“When I hire people there are regular reviews,” said Puckett Daniels. “Working with consultants, RFPs is when you have those reviews.”

“There is a review every time the contract comes up for renewal,” said Truex.

“Should it be instituted as a matter of policy? It’s a structural question of are we being accountable to people,” asked Puckett Daniels.

“My question is whether it is a board decision or Scott’s decision,” said Billick. “I defer to Scott. Is he getting what he needs? I’m all in favor of an annual evaluation but how, and who handles it?”

“I would suggest looking into adding reviews into the contract but continuing with Airplanners,” said board member Anna Fenerty.

“There is an education piece for me and other new board members,” said Puckett Daniels. “Are we delivering our goals to the people? I don’t want to get into the business of micromanaging, but looking out for the high level goals with evaluations.”

“It’s part of a work chart. Who is responsible for what? Give Scott a chance to consider the work chart accountability. Is accountability with Scott or Bill? I like to get clear on accountability and responsibility,” said Billick.

“That’s an important point,” said Smith. “Is Airplanners responsible to Scott or the board? The organizational knowledge would be helpful.”

“I could go either way,” said Billick. “It just needs to be clearer.”

“I would love to see the pros and cons of each scenario for discussion purposes,” said Puckett Daniels. 

“The RTA has a bi-annual strategic planning retreat. Maybe that’s the place to do a better job on that front,” said Tomcich, who noted that is the current forum in which these issues are discussed.

“Going back to the original question, I would like to see us move forward with Bill and not waste our internal resources,” said board member Steve Morris. “Bill is a valuable and historical resource. He provides immense value.”

The next RTA meeting is August 9. Truex will compile some more information on the issue for the board to consider.