Seminole trims list for next manager
Considers urging exemption to Florida’s Sunshine Law
Seminole commissioners this week narrowed their new search for a county manager to five candidates, including two men who have held top administrative posts in neighboring Orange County.
Seminole officials also said they may urge state lawmakers during the upcoming Legislative session to exempt from public disclosure the names of candidates applying for top positions within a city or county government, including as manager or attorney.
Tricia Johnson, Seminole’s deputy county manager, said many top-notch candidates from other areas hesitate to apply for open positions within local governments when they learn about Florida’s Sunshine Law that provides the public with a right to access most government documents and proceedings. It therefore limits the pool of qualified candidates, officials said.
“It creates some challenges for folks who don’t want their current employer to know that they may be pursuing opportunities elsewhere,” she said.
Last March, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that prevents the public disclosure of any information that identifies applicants for leadership posts at state colleges and universities. Seminole officials want the law to be broadened to also exclude the identifying information for applicants to top jobs within local governments.
Johnson and other county commissioners acknowledged that convincing state lawmakers to create such an exemption would be unlikely this legislative session, which begins in March. Commissioners will ultimately decide their list of legislative priorities at their Jan. 24 meeting.
Commissioner Lee Constantine said the county should instead lobby for improving water quality — rather than pushing for an exemption to the Sunshine Law.
“I like the openness,” he said. “And I think it has very little chance of passing, if any. I would not want it to be part of our legislative priorities.”
But Commissioner Andria Herr
said the Sunshine Law can limit a local government from hiring a top candidate.
“I believe when you’re searching for the lead executive of an organization, the broadest pool possible would benefit the citizens of Florida, and not just this county,” she said. “I don’t believe the current Sunshine Law facilitates that. It gets in the way of it, to a large degree. They’ve already decided that that was a problem at the state university level.”
As an example, Johnson said that during Seminole’s current manager search, one “very strong candidate” from northern Ohio shied away from applying after learning about Florida’s Sunshine Law and feared retaliation from his government board.
Caitie Muñoz, chair of the board of trustees for the Florida First Amendment Foundation, said a person seeking a top government job should be prepared to be “vetted thoroughly and must not fear public scrutiny.”
She called “the excuse of needing to keep private” the names of applicants to broaden the pool of job candidates “overused” and “under-supported” by the recent law signed by the governor.
“Expanding the exemption would only keep more tax-paying Floridians in the dark from knowing about who is in the running to run their city or county government,” she said.
Johnson said the names of the first batch of applicants could be shielded from public disclosure. But the final shortlist could be made public before a hiring selection is made by commissioners.
“Maybe there’s a compromise so that the public could be part of the process,” she said. “But I think we have good candidates, despite the Sunshine Law. But it makes it more of a challenge.”
Seminole launched a search for a new manager in December 2021, when Nicole Guillet resigned to become executive vice president for commercial development, real estate and legal affairs at the Orlando Sanford International Airport. She is now the airport’s president and chief executive officer.
Last June, commissioners launched a second hunt after interviewing three finalists for the job but declining to hire any of them. The county then hired S. Renee Narloch, who runs a head-hunting firm in Tallahassee, to help with the search.
From 20 applications she received from around the country, Narloch whittled the list to five candidates. Commissioners agreed Tuesday to start interviewing them. Those include:
Darren Gray, of Orlando, who served as deputy county administrator of Orange County from 2020 to 2022. He is currently the deputy county manager for Osceola County. He also was city manager for the city of Clermont and county manager for Lake County.
Randy Singh, of Winter Garden, who served as deputy county administrator for Orange County from 2018 to 2020. He is currently the chief administrative officer for the town of Eatonville. He also served as chief financial officer for Visit Orlando and assistant county administrator for Orange.
James Harriott Jr., of Newberry, who has been director of engineering for transportation for Causseaux, Hewitt & Walpole Inc., a consulting firm in Gainesville. He also served as deputy county manager for Alachua County, and as executive director and county engineer for Sarasota County.
Stanley Hawthorne, of Bloomfield, Conn., has served as town manager for Bloomfield since 2021. He also was assistant city manager for the cities of Fort Lauderdale, Lakeland and Tamarac. He was president of DoyleSH Corp., in Bloomfield, and city manager for Lauderdale Lakes.
Christopher Miller, of Tyler, Texas, has worked as administrator of King George County in Virginia since 2021. He also was city administrator for the cities of Bay Minette, Ala., and Lamar, Colo. He also was an executive director of the Northeast Texas Regional Mobility Authority in Tyler.
Seminole’s new county manager would oversee an annual budget of nearly $341 million and just over 1,300 employees. Guillet earned $221,372 a year in the post.
Commissioners noted that Seminole’s next manager should be able to guide the county as the current one-cent infrastructure sales tax ends on Dec. 31, 2024.
Seminole commissioners this year are expected to consider whether to ask voters on the 2024 election ballot if the penny sales tax should be renewed. Revenue from the current sales tax is used to fund transportation and infrastructure projects, along with building new schools and other capital improvements.
“I do think it’s important that we have someone with experience with the sales tax,” Herr said.
The public will have an opportunity to talk to the candidates during a meetand-greet at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 25 at Seminole State College, at 1055 AAA Drive,
Heathrow.
“It will be a great opportunity for anyone in the community who has an interest, to just spend a few minutes with each candidate,” interim County Manager Bryant Applegate said.
On Jan. 26, commissioners will conduct public interviews of the candidates beginning at 9 a.m. in the commission chambers, at 1101 E. First St., Sanford.