MANATEE COUNTY – Between March 8 and March 12, the Manatee County Human Resources Department received 30 resumes from individuals interested in serving as the acting county administrator.
Austin Rentsch, Camron States, Christopher Pomeroy, Dennis Sparks, Derod Joyner, Ken Klein, Lizsandra Ramirez, Michael Nagy, Patrick Marsh, Sangria’Le Fulger, Sarah Clough, Dr. Scott Hopes and Sharon Ann Eberman submitted their resumes by March 8.
Emily Gerken, Eric Cavender, Fabiana Monteiro, Hector Rivera Sr. and Joseph Lessard submitted their resumes by March 9. Ashley Jacobs, Jarvis Darnell Middleton, Kevin Foor and Tamara Nunez submitted their resumes by March 10.
Joseph Napoli, Leonard Sossamon and Shawn Henessee submitted their resumes by March 11. Christopher Rose, Dr. Christopher Rodriguez, Jane Shang, Michael Brillhart and William Ward submitted resumes on March 12.
Although previously mentioned as possible candidates, former Manatee County School District Superintendent Rick Mills and Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance President and CEO Dom DiMaio did not apply for the acting administrator’s job. After being rejected by a 4-3 commission vote on Feb. 23, former Sarasota County Commissioner Charles Hines did not seek further consideration.
After receiving copies of the submitted resumes, each commissioner was asked to provide Human Resources Director Kim Stroud with as many as three preferred candidates.
The agenda for the Tuesday, March 23 Manatee County Commission meeting includes a 2 p.m. “presentation of candidates for the position of acting county administrator.” The agenda does not state whether the acting county administrator’s position could or would be filled that day if at least four of the seven commissioners support the same applicant.
Separation agreement
On Feb. 23, the county commission approved a previously negotiated $204,000 separation agreement that ended Cheri Coryea’s two-year stint as county administrator and her 30-year career as a county employee. During that meeting, the commission majority then opposed Hines serving as the acting county administrator according to the proposed contract negotiated by County Attorney Bill Clague.
Faced with the need for someone to immediately fill that role on a short-term basis, Deputy County Administrator Karen Stewart agreed to serve as acting county administrator until March 23 or soon thereafter. It was noted then that Stewart did not wish to serve in that role for an extended period.
During the commission’s March 4 land use meeting, Commissioners Reggie Bellamy, George Kruse, Misty Servia and Carol Whitmore voted in favor of advertising the acting county administrator’s position for a limited time. Commissioners Vanessa Baugh, James Satcher and Kevin Van Ostenbridge opposed advertising the position.
As he did on Feb. 23, Hopes, who currently serves on the Manatee County School Board, again expressed interest in serving as the acting county administrator. Hopes said he would resign from the school board if appointed to that position. He also expressed interest in serving as the county administrator on a long-term basis. During the land use meeting discussion, Van Ostenbridge and Kruse both said Hopes was their top choice at the time.
