Job contender ‘really did his homework’
Top candidate for city manager job itching to move back to Florida.
Randall Dowling, the city’s top choice to replace ousted City Manager Wadie Atallah, has heard all about the infighting among council members in recent months.
Those stories, however, didn’t make Dowling, a former county manager in Barrow County, Ga., think twice about applying for the city’s most important position. “It’s commonplace for elected officials to disagree with each other and have spirited debates,” he said. “A city manager loves stability, but that doesn’t always happen. What’s happened in Greenacres is typical of any community and nothing I haven’t worked with before.”
After the council interviewed a half dozen candidates for six hours on Saturday, the 53-year-old Dowling emerged as the city’s top finalist, with Andrea Monzon McCue, county administrator and chief clerk in Lan- caster County, Pa., the past 11 years, coming in second.
City Attorney Jim Stokes and Councilwoman Judy Dugo began negotiating a contract with Dowling on Monday. If those talks don’t bear fruit, Dugo said, the city would then set its sights on McCue. The city plans to have a new manager in place next month.
For now, Dowling has the inside track on the job that will pay $145,000 to $1750,000 annually.
Councilwoman Lisa Rivera said she was impressed with Dowling’s interview.
“He really did his homework on Greenacres,” she said. “I was looking for a candidate who did their homework because that person will have to step in and roll with the ball pretty quickly. We have (The Palm Beach Sheriff ’s Office) merger, we have to name a new fire chief and we’re expanding our community center.”
Deputy Mayor Jonathan Pearce said he liked Dowling’s credentials. As a county manager, Dowling operated a $66.5 million budget in a county that had 576 employees.
“He comes from a much larger municipality and has so much more experience than we need, but that we can utilize,” Pearce said.
Dowling served as county manager in Georgia for two years before resigning in August.
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manager form of government, and the elected officials didn’t embrace that new form of government,” he said. “I don’t think I could have contributed more than I did.”
Dowling was fired as a county administrator in Gordon County, Ga., in 2013 after serving in that capacity for 11 years.
He said he’s a good fit for the Greenacres job because he has direct experience in many of the projects the city will be working on the next few years, including the community center expansion and resurfacing roads.
Dowling also said he’s looking forward to moving back to Florida. He worked as an assistant to the city manager in Homestead for three years (1987-1990) and as an assistant to the county administrator in Indian River County for three years (19901993).
“Greenacres is a great city and has a great mix of population and projects that appeal to me,” he said. “I have the Florida experience the city is looking for.”