Politics & Government

New Parking Authority Chief has Casino Background

Tom Hartley, now of Middletown, Conn., used to coordinate parking for Mohegan Sun.

The incoming executive director of the Bethlehem Parking Authority has spent most of the last 13 years coordinating parking operations in both the public and private sectors, including eight years at the second largest casino in the world.

Tom Hartley was hired at the authority’s board meeting this afternoon. He will officially assume his new $90,000-a-year-job on June 15.

He takes over for Hector Nemes, who left the job on Jan. 31 after more than 10 years.

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Most recently, Hartley has been the parking director for the city of Middletown, Conn., a job he assumed in March 2010.

“Middletown was great,” said Hartley, noting that there is no acrimony with the old job. “This has nothing to do with Middletown. It has to do with this opportunity.”

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The Bethlehem Parking Authority oversees more than 3,900 off- and on-street parking spaces in and near the North and Southside downtowns. That includes operations at 14 garages and parking lots with more lot and garage development on the horizon. It takes in more than $3 million a year in revenue.

Among the biggest chores of the job is coordinating parking during Musikfest, which draws about a million visitors to the city for one week every August. There are also the tens of thousands of people who visit Bethlehem every year during Christmas season.

Board Chairman Joseph Hoffmeier said Hartley was chosen as a result of a nationwide search in which candidates were sought in parking trade publications. A search committee consisting of himself, board secretary Michael Recchiuti and Mayor John Callahan then interviewed five of the 15 candidates who applied from as far away as Atlanta, Hoffmeier said.

“It was a pretty thorough search, in my opinion,” Hoffmeier said.

The field included a few local candidates, including the current deputy and interim director, Robert Curzi, said Hoffmeier, who thanked Curzi for his service.

Callahan was not at the meeting, though he did say through a news release:

“Parking is vital to a healthy downtown and I am confident that Tom is the right leader with the right skills to move the Bethlehem Parking Authority forward.”

Prior to working for Middletown, Hartley was director of transportation services for the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn. There, according to his resume, Hartley was responsible for a parking space infrastructure of 15,000 spaces and a fleet of 200 vehicles, including limousines and shuttle buses. At peak hours, the casino saw the arrival of between 2,000 and 3,000 vehicles, Hartley’s resume says.

A native of Florida, Hartley began his career working for Walt Disney World, ending more than 20 years there in 2001 as the business unit leader for theme park operations, a job which included overseeing parking at Disney-MGM Studios.


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