Scott Hopes appointed as acting administrator. He will remain on school board for now
Scott Hopes will become Manatee’s acting county administrator while continuing to serve on the school board, the Board of County Commissioners decided Thursday morning.
The board said they would allow Hopes to remain on the school board until Gov. Ron DeSantis can appoint someone to fill the vacancy his resignation would leave on the five-member board. Commissioners approved Hopes’ contract by a 6-1 vote. Commissioner Reggie Bellamy cast the dissenting vote.
The county administrator is tasked with overseeing the county’s 1,900-employee workforce and implementing the board’s policy decisions. While Hopes holds both positions in the meantime, several commissioners said they expect the county administrator job to be his primary focus.
“We all understand up here that this is our first priority in life and everything else comes second,” said Commissioner George Kruse. “He’s going to diligently work as an administrator first and foremost and do an equally diligent job on the school because I’ve got two kids in the system.”
“As we know, the county administrator isn’t a part-time job. In fact, it’s a double-time job,” Commissioner Misty Servia said.
Speaking with the board, Hopes said he’s fully confident in his ability to handle both jobs during this “transitional period.”
“For the first one-and-a-half years on the school board, I was the CEO of an international corporation,” Hopes said, noting that the county will become his No. 1 focus.
“We only have two school board meetings in the next two months and only one in July,” he continued. “I’m expecting the governor to find a replacement much before then.”
In recent interviews with the Bradenton Herald, Hopes’ fellow school board members questioned his capacity to do both jobs efficiently. Being a school board member, they said, requires more commitment than attending two meetings a month.
Unlike his role on the school board, county officials hired Hopes into an administrative position. Hopes’ resume touts decades of experience running private businesses, but the acting county administrator position is his first time managing a municipal government body.
In a recent interview with the Bradenton Herald, Hopes said his ability to hold dual-office has already been discussed and cleared with the Florida Commission on Ethics. He has also said that the governor’s office is aware of the situation and seeking a replacement for his spot on the school board.
As of Friday morning, the governor’s office has not responded to a request for comment.
Through contract negotiations, the board also lowered Hopes’ annual salary from the $210,000 that had been proposed during a private conversation with Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge. Commissioners said they were happy to see the salary adjusted to $187,000.
Commissioners have said they expect Hopes to lead a search to find a permanent administrator. They also acknowledged that they’re open to the possibility of giving Hopes the permanent position if they’re satisfied by his job performance. He began working with the county Thursday afternoon.
Hopes quickly became a finalist in the search to replace ex-County Administrator Cheri Coryea. The board received 30 resumes after publicly advertising the position, but Hopes immediately stood out as a prime candidate.
The decision to appoint Hopes relieves Deputy County Administrator Karen Stewart, who had served as interim county administrator for the past month. Following the board’s vote, they highlighted Stewart’s success during that time.
“You’ve done a great job and you’ve answered every beck and call,” Commissioner Vanessa Baugh told Stewart.
This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 10:37 AM.
