YVRTA Hires Charles Odimgbe as First Executive Director

Steamboat Springs —"Mr. O — who is interested in working with us on the terms that we had advertised for this position."

That was YVRTA Chair Sonja Macys, speaking after the board went into executive session on Nov. 2 to discuss employment offers for the new Regional Transportation Authority. The name "Mr. O" refers to Charles Odimgbe, who has now been formally hired as the Yampa Valley Regional Transportation Authority’s first executive director. He starts Dec. 1.

The timing is tight, but intentional. Less than a week after voters in the YVRTA jurisdiction approved a half-cent sales tax to fund regional infrastructure and service, the board locked in its leader. To hear them tell it, this pairing of a new executive and a sustainable funding source marks the organization’s most critical milestone since residents approved the authority’s formation last November.

The search was competitive. Odimgbe, most recently the COO of the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority in Ohio, interviewed against three other finalists: William Higdon from Okaloosa County, Florida; Carson Priest of the Smart Commute Transportation Management Organization in north Denver; and Brent Timm, general manager of the Okanogan County Transit Authority in Washington.

Community members in Steamboat Springs and Hayden were invited to meet-and-greet events on Oct. 23, with formal board interviews following the next day. When Macys emerged from executive session on Nov. 2, she explained that the board had extended initial offers to both Odimgbe and Timm. Both returned with terms they found acceptable, but the board felt comfortable advancing the offer to Odimgbe.

Timm, who was not selected, spoke during public comment at the Nov. 9 meeting. He thanked the board for their consideration and underscored the professionalism of the interview process, a rare moment of grace in a high-stakes hiring cycle.

The compensation package is specific: a base salary of $170,000, a $1,000 monthly housing stipend, and a maximum $10,000 reimbursement for moving expenses. The job description originally listed a salary range of $150,000 to $180,000. The math holds up for a role that requires building an organization from the ground up, establishing its culture, strategic direction, and financial framework.

Geography matters here. While the job description indicates the position is based in Craig, Odimgbe is not required to live specifically in Craig. He can reside anywhere within the YVRTA jurisdiction, or anywhere in the valley except for unincorporated Moffat County. For neighbors who worry about whether a new executive will actually be present in the region, that distinction is key. The authority covers a wide swath of the valley, and the leadership needs to be accessible across it, not just anchored in one town.

The question is whether a half-cent tax and a new COO-turned-CEO can actually change the daily reality of commuting on I-70 or navigating local roads. The board says yes, and the voters have already voted with their wallets on the funding side. Now they get to watch the execution.

Odimgbe’s first task is to turn a board-approved framework into a working system. He will work closely with the board to establish administrative systems and an approach to regional service delivery that hasn’t existed in this form before. It’s a start-up role, and the pressure is on to deliver tangible results quickly enough that the new tax feels justified.

As Macys put it, the board is now in a position to advance an offer to someone who wants to work with them on the advertised terms. The rest is up to the new executive director, who will be walking into a valley that has just handed him both a mandate and a deadline.