Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne is making an 11th-hour bid to slow down a contract extension for the head of a powerful but little-known transportation agency.
The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency channels around $50 million in state and federal money each year to projects like street resurfacing and bike trails. Its 48-member board includes Ronayne, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and bipartisan officials from Cuyahoga and several surrounding counties.
CEO and Executive Director Grace Gallucci has led the organization for more than a decade. She stands to receive a pay bump and three-year contract extension on Friday. The raise would bring her salary up to $291,679 beginning next July, after a 3% increase and 2% equity adjustment, according to the board agenda and a draft contract NOACA provided to Signal Cleveland.
On Monday, Ronayne sent a letter to NOACA’s board president objecting to what he called a “rushed” process that lacked clear performance measures. He did not support the contract in an executive committee meeting in November.
“I could not in good conscience endorse a process that was so obviously flawed and recommend a contract the details of which I knew so little about,” Ronayne wrote.
The Democratic county executive asked John Hamercheck, the Republican Lake County commissioner who currently serves as president, to table the contract vote and conduct a written performance review for Gallucci.
But Hamercheck rebuffed that request on Wednesday, saying the board had done its diligence and judged Gallucci’s performance against the agency’s annual work program. In a letter to Ronayne, he wrote that NOACA’s executive committee had discussed Gallucci’s employment at three meetings going back to August.
“Your actions risk creating a hostile environment and undermining the effectiveness of not only a strong leader, but of NOACA itself,” Hamercheck wrote. “It is vitally important to NOACA that the position of Executive Director is stable and consistent.”
The exchange was the latest sign of friction on NOACA’s board. Earlier this year, the board wrangled over including the word “climate” in an annual planning document, Ideastream Public Media reported. Cuyahoga County Sustainability Director Mike Foley has questioned whether NOACA has the staff to do all the work it has taken on, according to minutes from a prior committee meeting this year.
NOACA spends grant dollars across five counties – meaning it has to navigate urban, suburban, Democratic and Republican interests. Long a target for the ire of conservative Tea Party activists, NOACA faced jeers during a climate action plan presentation in Geauga County, according to the Geauga Maple Leaf.
Gallucci took the top job at NOACA in 2012 after working for more than two decades in public transportation. The latest three-year contract includes an option for a fourth year, which would extend her tenure at NOACA into 2028.
The board’s Friday agenda includes a memo from Gallucci listing her accomplishments at NOACA’s helm. Among the items on the list: securing a grant for Irishtown Bend hillside stabilization, commissioning a Hyperloop feasibility study, funding the Superior Midway and leading the agency through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Together, we have accomplished much toward the achievement of our vision of strengthening regional cohesion, preserving existing infrastructure and building a sustainable multimodal transportation system to support economic development and enhance the quality of life in Northeast Ohio,” she wrote, “and together we will continue to strive for excellence.”