Mass transit officials decided that hours of interviewing and the controversy surrounding the selection of a Late Nite Ride Service director were not needed in the first place.

Sharat Shenoy, the current LNRS director, will be next year’s director despite the Student Association Mass Transit Board’s wishes, said SAMTB Co-Vice Chairman Pat Sanchez.

The board’s 7-3 decision not to give Shenoy the job was overturned because the University Police, which officially hires the LNRS director, said Shenoy gets the job automatically as long as he wants it next year, Sanchez said.

The UPs gave the mass transit board power to hire the director. UP officials in charge of the LNRS could not be reached for comment.

Sanchez said no one on the board, including Executive Director Todd Allen, was aware of the policy saying if the current LNRS director wanted the job for the next year, it is usually granted.

Having the board interview and pick a director was a new idea this year that did “not seem to work,” Sanchez said.

The voting by the board was shrouded in controversy after it made a 6-4 vote to hire Shenoy in a Mar. 25 closed meeting, and then changed its mind with the 7-3 public vote Monday.

Allen could not explain why the board changed its mind, and board members who changed their votes were quiet about their reasons.

Board member Henry Treftz said he was surprised that Allen overturned the board’s decision.

“Why did he bother asking the board in the first place?” Treftz asked.

“If he had made it apparent that he wanted the board to make a decision on this, I think it is wrong for him to say ‘Oh well, now I am going to make an executive decision,'” he said.

Treftz said he did not think the board’s change of mind was irresponsible. “It is just showing that people on that board are thinking. They are not just a bunch of sheep,” he said.

Allen said the board’s vote was more like a recommendation than a decision. He would not comment further on the issue until his official statement is handed out at Monday’s Board meeting.

Dave Forster, the only other candidate for LNRS director, said he blames the mass transit board, and not Allen, for the mix-up.

“If the job is offered to me, that is fine. It really does not matter,” he said.

Shenoy refused to comment on the situation.

The LNRS offers rides on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 2 to 6 a.m.