Today the Escambia County Commission will discuss, possibly as early as this morning, who will be the next county administrator. Here is the list:
Vincent Akhimie, Lakeland, FL – Management Consultant
Peter Bieniedk, Rising Sun, MD – Chief of Solid Waste, Cecil County, MD
Danny Blair, Albany, GA – Downtown City Manager, Albany
Lyndon Bonner, Ocala, FL – former City Manager, North Miami Beach
Howard Brown, Miramar – Acting Asst. City Manager, Opa-locka
Jack Brown, Perry – Taylor County Administrator
Thaddeus Cohen, Tallahassee – Client liaison, MBR Construction (former Pensacola Economic Developer Director)
Barabara Drummond, Mobile – Executive Director, Admin. Services, City of Mobile
Danny George, Clinton, OK, CEO – Oklahoma Group
Clifton Johnson, Tunica, MS – Tunica County Administrator
Odis Jones, Detroit, MI – Executive Director, Public Lighting Authority
Ted Lakey, Graceville, FL – Jackson County Administrator
James Palenick, Gastonia, NC – Interim Town Manager, Dallas, NC
Albert Penksa, Gettysburg, PA – Adams County Administrator
William Reynolds, Pensacola – Former City Administrator
Mary Skipper, Evergreen, AL – Conecuh County Commission Clerk
James Smith, Edmond, OK – Asst. City Manager, Edmond
George Touart, Pensacola – Interim Escambia County Administrator
David Tyeryar, Richmond, VA – Deputy Sec. & CFO, Virginia Dept. of Transportation
John Weaver, Murrells Inlet, SC – Attorney, Thomas & Brittain
The News Journal came out today with an editorial that said pick anybody but Reynolds and Touart. Both have lobbied hard for the position.
The sense I’m getting is the commission will either themselves or have a committee narrow down the list to five finalists – which will then be interviewed and voted on in January.
However, I wouldn’t rule out a motion to hire Touart for another year. Commissioners Wilson Robertson and Gene Valentino had made clear that he is their choice. I don’t get any sense that the other three–Grover Robinson, Lumon May and Steven Barry–are ready to do that. They may want to study the field more.
However, stranger things have happen in commission chambers. If the list is reduced to five, we will start our own analysis process before the final vote.