Escambia County Administrator's Search Narrows to 4 Names: Where We Are & How We Got Here

Escambia County will soon be hiring our next administrator.  The sooner, the better.....

Thursday afternoon it was announced publicly that our search for the next Escambia County administrator was narrowed to 5 names.  That announcement came shortly before we were given the packages on the five finalists selected by the Florida Association of County Managers (FACM) panel we hired to help us narrow the field.

I spent time over this weekend reading all these resumes.

We had a huge list to work down from initially--and it was helpful and necessary to have a firm help us get to the short list.

We spent $5K to do this and I believe it was money well spent.

This panel we hired has been diligent in the way they have carried out this search and the way they narrowed the field.

Friday, they released their report to staff that described their members, their methods and metrics, and also their thought process in culling the large list down to five names.  They also list in detail the positives and negatives of each candidate on the short list.  Also, they list detailed next steps for us to take in the process to hire our next administrator--from negotiating the contract to transitioning him into the organization once we make the selection.  I thought this report was extremely informative--and I believe this group earned their $5K for what they have delivered.  Every citizen that is interested in this process should read this report because it is a very thorough and enlightening report.

(The Escambia School Board members should read this report and see how we have moved this forward as a preview into what challenges and issues they will face as they prepare to hire their first appointed Superintendent....lots of good information here!)

At last Thursday's meeting, there was some tension in the air about how this process concluded, and about the way the committee did the cut without consulting any member of the BCC.

There were questions about why no women made the cut.  "Were there even any minorities in the final list?" was another question I heard.

I happen to know there were several former military officers on the first list that appeared very well

Who Wants to be Escambia's Next Administrator?

The following list was provided by staff.  This is all of the applicants that met at least the minimum requirements for the job.

Tomorrow We Begin the Process of Hiring a New Administrator...What Should the Salary Be?

Peer counties we selected to survey for salary levels are shown above...The average administrator in this survey group is paid in excess of $200,000 yearly.

InWeekly did a piece on this topic last week, and Sunday the PNJ made this a feature article in the local section.

Tomorrow we will begin the process of searching for, selecting, and offering a contract to Jack Brown's replacement.  We will be getting a new County Administrator.

The staff has put together a thorough agenda chock-full of information for tomorrow's special workshop on this topic--for those interested in reviewing this information, it is here

For my part it will be simple.  When we whittle it down to the short list of very well-qualified candidates, I will sit down and speak with each candidate individually, face to face.  I'll want to know about their track record in solving intricate, complex issues.  I'll want to hear about big successes these candidates have achieved.  I'll want to discuss their view on providing leadership and guidance to the board.  These will be essential to my eventual selection, because I am looking for someone who will bring solutions and plans.  It is not good enough to wait and hope that the board will know enough to be able to tackle every job;  this is what we pay the administrator for.  And we will pay them well, because we need a good one.

Tomorrow will be an interesting meeting!