CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Port of Corpus Christi Chairman Charlie Zahn told 3NEWS that he was as transparent as possible in the search for a new port CEO.
That comes after a number of city and county leaders complained about the lack of transparency.
Kent Britton was named as the new CEO on Wednesday.
"Kent Britton far, far exceeded the qualifications that we were looking for to take this port into the future, and continue its success," Zahn said.
Zahn said the reason why Britton was selected to stay on the job on a permanent basis. He ended up as the new port CEO after being one of the 46 participants for the position.
"I think there were a solid slate of candidates for this position. I think I had advantage that I have been here six years and I've been in the region 11 years you know I pointed out to them that I raised my kids here," Britton said.
Zahn pointed out one advantage Britton did have over the other candidates.
"I think he had one slight advantage there and that was from May until we made a decision last week he's been operating this port and he's done a really good job," Zahn said.
There was a lot of interest from area politicians in finding the right candidate and concerns about transparency. So much so that many of those leaders sent a letter to the Port Commission urging a fair and transparent hiring process for the new CEO.
"We had a lot of transparency in the process itself, and then we sent that request for proposals out worldwide," Zahn said.
The port chairman added that one of Britton's top priorities will be to continue repairing relations with city and county leaders, saying that those relations were strained over the past few years. Britton told 3NEWS he doesn't have a confrontational management style and will work to ensure the port will have positive relationships with those leaders.
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