A bump in pay and more responsibility await Bob Lee in Naples.
By ANGEL BEDINGHAUS ZENT
Published June 4, 2003
GULFPORT - Bob Lee signed on the dotted line.
On June 30, Gulfport's city manager of 13 years will become Naples' top administrator.
"It's certainly emotional," Lee said Monday night. "The people in Gulfport are wonderful. I don't know how else to express it. From the mayor to the City Council members to the directors to the citizenry, advisory boards. It's like a sitcom, a very successful sitcom to me - Cheers or MASH or something - and it's ... I guess it's just time for me to move on to something else, but it's not without a lot of emotion."
Mayor Michael Yakes said there is no replacement for Lee in the wings and that the city is in no hurry to find one.
"Where I'm concerned is we take our time, we hire the right person for the job, and we need not be impatient because we are in good shape," Yakes said.
He said the city is debt-free and has healthy reserves, and that most of the department heads have been with the city for at least a half-dozen years.
Yakes said that when Lee was hired, a consulting firm narrowed the candidates to 10. By reviewing applications, the City Council pared the pool to five. After interviews, two remained. The council voted on a final candidate.
"That's a good way of doing business. And I like that ... I hope that we will follow that process," Yakes said.
Lee will trade:
A $100,452 salary and $5,000 bonus for $124,800 (after six months, it rises to $129,600), plus $18,000 annual housing bonus.
A budget of $24-million and tax base of about $500-million for a $66-million budget and tax base of more than $10-billion.
Oversight of 180 employees for 500.
Naples is the hub of Collier County, Florida's largest county in the area.
