While the CEO position of the Selma-Dallas County YMCA remains unfilled, Henry Moore Jr., president of the YMCA Board, said he and others are actively seeking candidates.

After former CEO Bill Porter resigned, Moore said it will be difficult to find someone to fill his shoes, as he was a strong asset to the YMCA’s success for the past two years.

“We’re absolutely going to miss Bill, and it will be hard to find someone who is as dedicated as he was, but that’s what we’re trying to do now,” Moore said. “There are a lot of qualities we’ll be looking for in this position.”

In the mean time, Kasey Burton, YMCA employee, will fill Porter’s position as interim CEO. And because Porter left the YMCA in such sound financial shape, Burton said the community shouldn’t be worried about its stability.

“We hate to see him leave, he’s always been a big part of the Y ever since he participated in camps way back when,” Burton said. “He helped us though some financial needs that we needed to sort out.”

Currently, Moore said the board is in the process of creating a selection committee that will recruit potential candidates for the position. Moore said he is not opposed to looking outside Selma and Dallas County to make a hire.

“We’re trying to be very proactive in this. We just need to take our time and do it like it should be done,” he said. “Once we get the selection committee and start to look at the applicants then we can make that determination.”

After a new CEO is hired, both Burton and Moore said the Y is looking to implement several new programs that will contribute to its success. Specifically, Moore said he would like to involve the community more to receive more input on how the Y is doing.

“Sometime in the near future what I’m going to do is probably have a community meeting with a question and answer session,” Moore said. “However, right now, we need to get the internal part of the YMCA where it needs to be before we start soliciting other ideas.”