Manatee receives more than two dozen resumes in search for acting county administrator
Following the Manatee Board of County Commissioners’ decision to advertise the position, more than two dozen applicants have submitted resumes in hopes of becoming the acting county administrator.
After considering just a handful of applicants earlier this month, the board opened up the process, allowing more applicants to throw their hats into the ring. The resumes include several former or current county administrators, city managers or human resources professionals.
Once hired, the acting administrator will be tasked with leading an official job search to find a permanent county administrator. Speaking at a workshop meeting Tuesday morning, commissioners said they have received a number of impressive applications.
“We did get some good resumes. I went through them all already and put my thoughts into them,” said Commissioner George Kruse. “I think there’s more than enough qualified applicants.”
The board had previously considered just three candidates — Rick Mills, former superintendent of the Manatee County school district; Dom DiMaio, president and CEO of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance; and Scott Hopes, a Manatee school board member. Of the three, only Hopes had submitted his resume.
Hopes remains the top contender for Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge, who first pitched the elected official to his fellow commissioners.
“There were a couple impressive resumes, but all three of those were long-term public-sector folks, and I think it would be counter-intuitive to replace one bureaucrat with another,” said Van Ostenbridge, who first led the effort to oust former county administrator Cheri Coryea.
As of March 12, these are the 30 applicants who have submitted their resumes to the county:
By Friday, each commissioner will submit up to three of their top choices to Human Resources Director Kim Stroud. The board will then discuss selecting one of those candidates at a future meeting.
