Melinda Carlton, former Township Administrator for Vernon Township, New Jersey. Unanimously terminated in January 2010 after pressure from the Vernon Taxpayers Association. One of the reasons cited by VTA: failure to obtain bids before executing contracts with various vendors to failing to apply for extraordinary state aid in 2008 and 2009. Read more.
Randy Oliver was a candidate back in 2008. He has since been fired/resigned by Peoria, Ill. and Surprise, Ariz. He was passed over for the City manager position at Cape Coral, Fla. The Surprise City Council gave no reason for firing Oliver.
Kenneth Griffith was a finalist for the Nassau County position. The former assistant county administrator of Marion Count was fired in March 2010. He also served as assistant county administrator of Hillsborough County (2006-2009) and executive director of the Pearl Valley Water Supply District, near Jackson, Miss. The reason given for Marion County firing Griffith was downsizing. Read more.
Gregory Lewis, county manager in Niagara County, NY, is the first-ever county manager for Niagara. His contract expires Nov. 30, and he is not seeking to be retained. He has applied for other county manager jobs across the country. He interviewed for a county manager job in Lake County, Fla. (as did Griffith). Read more. In July Lewis was interviewed for the Chippewa County, Minn. county manager position. He told the commissioners there that: “His wife had retired and they were looking to move back to this part of the country to finish out his career.” Read this article.
The other two candidates are Rebecca Peterson,a chemical engineer and former manager of the Solutia plant in Cantonment, and Maurice Inkel, retired Air Force colonel living in Pensacola.
The best bet for the Escambia County Commission may be to keep Newsom on board as interim for another year. Give the instructions to make functional consolidation work and then let him return to traffic or be the asst. county administrator.
