Pitts out as Columbia airport manager

Friends and family members watch from the baggage claim area as travelers step off of a Delta Connection flight from Atlanta after arriving at the Columbia Regional Airport. (File photo July 8, 2012)
Friends and family members watch from the baggage claim area as travelers step off of a Delta Connection flight from Atlanta after arriving at the Columbia Regional Airport. (File photo July 8, 2012)

Tamara M. Pitts was a project engineer in the aviation section of the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) just two months ago.

Praising her knowledge of airports and "servant leadership style," Columbia City Manager Mike Matthes had announced her appointment Sept. 12 as manager of the Columbia Regional Airport (COU), confident she would lead the airport in the construction of a new terminal and reconstruction of a runway.

That didn't happen.

Pitts resigned her $68,016 per year position, plus car and phone perks, last Friday. The announcement of her abrupt exit came late Monday afternoon.

When she was hired, Matthes said of Pitts, "We are thrilled Tamara is joining our team. Tamara's servant leadership style, her work at MoDot in the aviation section and the relationships Tamara has developed with the FAA will help ensure the airport achieves our long term goals."

On her departure, Matthes said only that the airport's day to day operations and long term goals would remain the same regardless of Pitts' resignation.

Columbia spokesman Steve Sapp had no comment on the resignation and Pitts did not respond to calls to her Jefferson City home Monday night. Pitts' letter is not public record, but the city did acknowledge she was not eligible for severance because she had not been employed at least a year.

Pitts was introduced and spoke at a popular Columbia Chamber of Commerce quarterly breakfast last Tuesday, a program which featured the airport and its future. Her boss, Stacey Button, president of Regional Economic Development Inc., also spoke at that event. Button was quoted in a news release saying Pitts' departure would not have a deleterious effect on COU operations.

"We are fortunate to be able to draw on many resources within city operations and through our consultants who will keep these and future projects moving forward," Button said.

Button recently assumed control of the airport from Columbia's Public Works Department. Calls to Button also were unreturned Monday night.

At MoDot, Pitts had been project coordinator for 40 Missouri airports, coordinated project execution and compliance with the FAA, reviewed and approved federal grant applications for airports and managed and delivered construction projects on budget, the City of Columbia said in September.

Pitts is a director of Jefferson City's Dreams to Reality agency, a nonprofit which helps women in the professional workforce.