Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) announced on Thursday that it has officially named a new executive director. Jeff Meilbeck, the new hire, hails from Flagstaff, Arizona and “has more than 25 years of transit and municipal leadership experience.” Meilbeck is slated to start his new job at BATA on October 1.

BATA initiated a search for a new executive director following the departure of Kelly Dunham at the end of last year. Dunham, who had held the executive director role since 2016, announced in November that she was leaving BATA to take on an executive leadership role at 4Front Credit Union. Since Dunham’s exit, Chris Davis has been serving as the transportation authority’s interim leader – a role he will continue to fill until Meilbeck’s arrival this fall.

According to a press release announcing the news, BATA has been in the midst of “an extensive national search” since last December. Utilizing “selective” criteria that required candidates to have “small urban transit agency and executive leadership experience,” BATA received “more than 100 applications for the position.”

Meibleck’s resume includes stints as CEO and general manager of the Northern Arizona Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority (NAIPTA) and as executive director of MetroPlan, Flagstaff’s Metropolitan Planning Organization. Back in 2015, Meilbeck also spent the better part of a year as interim city manager for the City of Flagstaff. He holds a bachelor’s degree in recreation management from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and a Master’s in Public Administration from Northern Arizona University.

In 2013, under Meilbeck’s leadership, NAIPTA was recognized as the Small Urban Transit System of the Year by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). The following year, Meilbeck was named Transit Manager of the Year by the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA), again for his role with NAIPTA.

Upon taking the job with BATA, Meilbeck will earn an annual salary of $200,000.

“We’re excited to add Jeff’s leadership skills to the BATA Team,” said Wayne Schmidt, chairman of BATA’s board of directors. “His experience will be valuable as BATA continues to grow and collaborates with our region’s new metropolitan planning organization.”