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Field for administrator down to six

Background checks must still be done. The goal is to fill the position by February.

By ASJYLYN LODER
Published December 9, 2005

The search for Hernando County's new administrator has been narrowed to six candidates, a mix of out-of-state applicants and Florida natives, all of them touting their credentials in what they see as the county's top issue: growth.

The pared-down pool of hopefuls, all longtime government professionals, includes one woman, two Georgians, a man who favored taxing Amish buggies at his last job and former Citrus County Administrator Gary Kuhl.

The mixed pool is not without controversy, including candidates who have been fired or forced to resign, according to reports in their local newspapers.

"That is actually not uncommon. The average tenure of county administrator is not very long," said Barbara Dupre, Hernando County's director of human resources. "If you stay someplace long enough, you eventually will have made everybody unhappy at some point in time."

So far, no background checks have been done to verify employment background, check for a criminal history or talk to references, Dupre said. Employment history will be checked before the Dec. 16 interviews and other background checks done on the two or three finalists remaining after the first round of interviews, Dupre said.

The County Commission will conduct a second round of interviews in early January, Dupre said. Commissioners hope to have a new administrator by February.

The county's outgoing administrator, Gary Adams, resigned after less than two years on the job, making him the fourth county administrator to leave in six years and spurring concerns that applicants would be put off by the high turnover at the top. Adams' last day is Dec. 16. Planning Director Larry Jennings will serve as interim administrator after Adams leaves for his new job in Illinois.

The applicants to replace Adams include Kuhl, 59, the well-respected Citrus County administrator from 1996 to 2000 and former executive director of the Southwest Florida Water Management District. He left Citrus for a job in Hillsborough County and works as an operations director for the water management district.

Another Florida native is Pam Brangaccio, 49, the only woman among the finalists. Raised in Tampa, Brangaccio spent most of the past three years as the county administrator in Bay County in northwest Florida until her contract ended in June.

Gary Shimun, a veteran of government posts throughout the country, has spent the past two years as assistant city manager of Pembroke Pines. Before that, his 15-year career in government service took him to Missouri, Idaho, Michigan and Ohio.

Edward Williams spent the past six years as county administrator of Reno County, Kan., where in 2003 he advocated taxing the horse-drawn buggies of local Amish residents, according to an Associated Press report. He served most of his 30 years in government in various posts in Illinois.

David Rutherford, 54, served as the county administrator in Effingham County, Ga., from 2001 until late November, when he was forced to resign, according to the Savannah Morning News. Rutherford applied for the Hernando County post nearly a month before his resignation.

Rutherford said that after four years, it was time to move on from his current position. "Managers have a survival rate of three to four years in this business, and then you get tired and you want to move on," he said. Nonetheless, he is hoping his next job will last him until retirement.

Billy Beckett, 56, also from Georgia, comes from a brief stint as the executive director of the Coosa River Regional Development Center in Rome, Ga. A long commute and a "mutual disappointment" in the job caused him to resign in July after less than one year, he said.

Before that, he served for more than three years as city manager of Riverdale, Ga., where he resigned amid controversy in 2004. He was fired from his 15-year tenure as Fayette County, Ga., county administrator in 2000. He was fired at his request because his resignation would have barred him from drawing severance pay, he said.

"Sometimes things just don't work out. You have to have the right kind of chemistry," Beckett said.

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or 352 754-6127.

[Last modified December 9, 2005, 01:19:17]