For manager, Dade City should stick to standards

By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published June 28, 2007

Dade City shouldn't feel hurried to fill its top municipal government post.

Though disappointed that the first and unanimous choice to be the new city manager, Richard Reade, and the city could not come to contract terms, commissioners have a suitable backup plan in retaining Harold Sample as a consultant until the vacancy is filled.

Sample, whose last day as city manager is Friday, begins a private-sector career next week after four years of guiding the city through difficult financial times. That is an imperative point in this search. The city had to shut down its fire department three years ago and staved off closing its police force with several hundred thousand dollars worth of budget cuts. It needs a new City Hall and now looks at $55, 000 in lost revenue because of state-mandated property tax reductions. It does not have the luxury of meeting salary and benefit demands that are exorbitant by Dade City's standards.

The city budget was $5.6-million in 2001, and this year it is $5.5-million. It has annexed land in anticipation of growth, but the recent boom skipped the city.

"We have been in stress for 10 years, " Mayor Hutch Brock accurately told state legislators earlier this month.

Fiscal prudence, obviously, will be a highly desirable attribute in the successful city manager applicant.

Dade City's commission also can take heart that recent city manager searches elsewhere in Pasco have been equally bumpy. New Port Richey had two of its selected finalists withdraw from consideration before it decided on Scott Miller in 2004, five months after the job came open. Likewise, Port Richey settled on Jerry Calhoun in November 2004, six months after the City Council fired his predecessor and after the council's first two choices rejected the job offer because of salary concerns. Both cities have expressed satisfaction in their choices with a new Port Richey council majority even talking Calhoun out of resigning in 2006.

Rare is the occasion that a ready-made candidate works down the hall. Sample stepping in after 30 years of public service with the county and Sheriff's Office, and Zephyrhills' promotion of Steve Spina in the mid 1990s are exceptions rather than standard procedure.

Despite its difficult finances, Dade City has much to offer. Its downtown antique district is the envy of other Pasco cities. It annexed the former Lykes citrus process plant, which is being converted into a successful business and industrial park, and a new hotel is opening. Its active chamber, merchants, and Main Street groups keep the city busy with a calendar of events.

The successful applicant will recognize the ancillary benefits of being a member of and leader within this community. The job description need not carry a price tag beyond the city's means.

[Last modified June 27, 2007, 21:37:51]