Mark London, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, intends to retire at the end of August 2015, and finding his replacement has become one of the commission’s high priorities. The commission invites public comment on the search process.

The job of executive director is an important position for the Island. He or she is responsible for the overall administration of the commission, which is both a regional regulatory and planning agency, dealing with a wide range of issues such as transportation, water quality, climate change, affordable housing, economic development, scenic values and many more.

A search committee was set up in October made up of eight elected and appointed commissioners to recruit and hire the best possible candidate for this position. The committee has established a timetable which calls for preparing a candidate profile in December, advertising the position in January and February, and screening candidates and preparing a short list by mid March. Final interviews are scheduled to be held by the full commission in late March with an eye toward making an offer in April. The new executive director would start in August.

The final interview and selection process will be conducted at an open commission meeting. The initial screening process will not be public, in accordance with the Open Meeting Law which recognizes the overriding interest in protecting the confidentiality of candidates who may not want their current employers to know of their interest in the offered position.

Although MVC bylaws specify that the search committee members must be commission members, the committee wants to ensure that it benefits from the participation of Island leaders and the other members of the community. To this end, we are inviting comments from town boards and commissions, other Island organizations and members of the public who may have some insight about what should be in the candidate profile.

We want to know what Islanders want in the leader of our regional planning agency. What kind of candidate will best serve the Island’s interests as MVC executive director? You may have in mind certain experience, skill sets, education, leadership attributes or views about the role of the leader of a regional planning agency which a successful candidate will bring to the office.

We invite you to send your written comments before Dec. 12 to search@mvcommission.org. You are also invited to attend one of two open houses with members of the search committee and the recruitment firm working with us, to be held Wednesday, Dec. 10, at 5:30 p.m. and Thursday, Dec. 11, at noon at the commission offices in the Olde Stone Building in Oak Bluffs.

Mark London has been leading the commission for 12 years. He will be remembered for his many accomplishments as well as his commitment and expertise. Still, our loss is also our gain. We have an extraordinary opportunity to hire someone whom we can all support and who will lead the Island into its next chapter.

Please take the time to tell us what you think.

Doug Sederholm
Chilmark

The writer is chairman of the MVC executive director search committee.