Ben Franklin announces finalists for general manager

Ben Franklin Transit will introduce the four finalists for the general manager’s post at public events March 22.

Open houses are scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Three Rivers Transit Center and from 6 to 8 p.m. at Ben Franklin’s main office.

The finalists for the post formerly held by Dennis Solensky are Gloria Boyce, Barbara Gilliland, Kenneth Hamm and Abdul Hassan.

Gloria Boyce, the Tri-City transit agency’s interim general manager for nearly a year, joined Ben Franklin in 2012 and was administrative services manager before being appointed to the interim position.

Her background includes executive-level positions with the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas, and the Sacramento Regional Transit District in California. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Portland State University.

Barbara Gilliland is senior project manager for transit and transportation projects for Parsons Brinkerhoff, a private consulting firm. Prior to that, she was an executive with another transit consultant, Parametric.

She has 20 years of public sector experience with the Washington Department of Transportation and Sound Transit. She has a bachelor’s degree in urban and regional planning from Western Washington University, and a master’s degree in intermodal transportation management from the University of Denver.

Kenneth Hamm lives in Liberty Lake and most recently served as director of the Department of Transportation and general manager for Fresno Area Express in California.

Prior to that, he led Lane Transit District in Eugene, Ore., and Link Transit in Washington. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and health care administration from City University of Seattle.

Abdul Hassan manages operations for the Department of Transportation in Anchorage, overseeing its People Mover service.

Past positions include chief of transportation for Prince George’s County, Md., transit operations manager for the University of Maryland and senior project manager for the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration.

He has bachelor’s degrees in English and management science and information systems from the University of Maryland, and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Baltimore.

This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 8:19 PM with the headline "Ben Franklin announces finalists for general manager."