Scott Hopes? Rick Mills? Someone else? Manatee commission split on interim administrator

Time is running out for the Manatee County Commission to choose an interim administrator after the board’s newest members led an effort to oust Cheri Coryea.

After approving a separation agreement with Coryea in late February, the board appointed Karen Stewart as the interim administrator through March 23. Stewart, the deputy administrator under Coryea since 2019, is hoping to pass the baton in less than three weeks.

That time frame became a sticking point at Thursday’s commission meeting. Though the commission planned to approve contract language and then pick an interim leader on March 9, their next regular meeting, some are now calling for more due diligence.

For much of Thursday’s meeting, commissioners debated whether to broaden the pool of candidates or to move forward with one of three candidates currently on the table.

The board was considering Scott Hopes; a Manatee school board member; Rick Mills, former superintendent of the Manatee County school district; and Dom DiMaio, president and CEO of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance.

“I’m not ready to hire a county administrator as we sit here today, with three people who have thrown in their hats without even advertising in the local paper,” Commissioner Misty Servia said. “We need to do a national search to do that.”

After a lengthy conversation, Servia made a successful motion to advertise the interim position and have the human resources department present applicants “as expeditiously as possible.” Her motion also directed the county attorney’s office to draft language on the hiring and firing authority of the acting administrator.

Commissioners Carol Whitmore, George Kruse, Reggie Bellamy and Servia voted in favor of the motion, while Vanessa Baugh, James Satcher and Kevin Van Ostenbridge voted against the proposal.

Servia said she also identified one potential applicant with help from the Florida Association of Counties. Without naming the person, she said he served three times as an interim county administrator in Florida.

Servia then floated the name of Mike Bennett, the supervisor of elections in Manatee County. Neither suggestion gained traction on Thursday.

In a similar call for more scrutiny, Whitmore said the board should launch a formal search for its interim and permanent administrator.

“I want to make sure that somebody has some kind of governmental experience and private sector experience,” she said.

Bellamy moved to have the human resources department seek out a recruitment firm, which could present candidates to the board on March 23, the deadline to choose a new interim. Ultimately, he withdrew the motion after failing to garner support.

Conversely, the board chair called for a greater sense of urgency. They had three qualified candidates, Baugh said, and Thursday’s focus was supposed to be the draft contract for Manatee’s interim administrator.

“We have a county staff that is looking for guidance from this board,” she said. “It seems to me that we should be discussing the three candidates that we have.”

Baugh also suggested they remove “interim” from the title and, should a better candidate arise, they could rely on a separation clause in the agreement.

“I think by looking at an interim, you are setting that administrator up for failure,” Baugh said. “Staff is not going to look at them as being an administrator — their boss. They’re going to know this person is just an interim.”

In response, Kruse said he disagreed with the notion that an “interim” title would discredit the acting administrator.

“Interims are legitimate administrators. Our staff are very professional. They are going to work with an interim, especially if we put the right interim in, because that’s what they do for a living,” Kruse said. “They do it very well. And they’re going to do it professionally with whomever we put in place.”

Kruse went on to acknowledge the benefit of a statewide or national search. However, he said, the board should move forward with the three candidates and anyone else who expresses interest by the deadline, followed by a search for the permanent administrator.

This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 4:19 PM.