Six candidates vie for the Manatee County administrator spot

The Manatee County Board of County Commissioners narrowed down prospective county administrators to six candidates, and only one is from out of state.

No one from Manatee County had been on the top 10 list compiled by Springsted Waters Executive Recruitment, which is in charge of vetting candidates for the county administrator job. The contract for the current county commissioner, Ed Hunzeker, will expire Jan. 29.

Commissioner Carol Whitmore said county employees “should be given an opportunity to be considered,” pointing out county recreation division manager Danny Hopkins and building and development services director John Barnott.

By a unanimous vote, Hopkins and Barnott were added to the list of candidates to interview. Hopkins, Barnott and two other county employees — Simone Peterson in neighborhood services and Gregory Davis in contracts — had applied for the position.

Each commissioner then wrote down their top four picks from the list of 10 that Springsted Waters Executive Recruitment had compiled.

In the end, aside from the two county employees, the top picks were Daniel Alfonso, Alyce Robertson, Marc Ryan and David Ellis.

According to the semi-finalist report compiled by Springsted Waters, five of the six candidates come from Florida and one is from Raleigh, N.C.

Alfonso has been the city manager for the city of Miami since 2011 and Alyce Robertson has been the executive director of the Miami Downtown Development Authority since 2008.

Ryan is based in Land O’ Lakes and is the chief strategy and compliance officer for MedHOK, a health care information technology company, previously having worked for the Connecticut Legislature. Ellis has been the deputy county manager in Wake County, N.C., since 2015.

Tentatively, candidates will come to Manatee on Sept. 21 and 22 to have a “speed-dating” interview with commissioners, have an informal get-together at the Powel Crosley Estate and meet with department directors and the public.

For a full list of candidate information, visit mymanatee.org.

This story was originally published August 15, 2017 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Six candidates vie for the Manatee County administrator spot."