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Politics

City manager search on hold

Commissioners say some members want to rethink the internal search.

By KAMEEL STANLEY
Published July 3, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Douglas R. Clifford] Norton "Mac" Craig has been acting City Manager for Largo since Steve Stanton's firing in late March.

LARGO - City officials have temporarily put the brakes on an internal search for a new manager amid speculation that some commissioners are having second thoughts.

Interviews that were originally scheduled for today with acting City Manager Norton "Mac" Craig and Assistant City Manager Henry Schubert have been postponed until further notice.

Instead, commissioners will discuss their search strategy during a special work session at 5 p.m. today, an hour before the regular commission meeting.

Mayor Pat Gerard said she decided to pull the interviews off the agenda after she got word from an unidentified caller that some commissioners wanted to rethink the decision to search internally for a city manger.

"I just want to make sure that people are still wanting to follow through on this process," Gerard said. "Before we did something people were uncomfortable with, I just wanted to be sure."

The city manager position has been vacant since Steve Stanton was fired in late March.

After Stanton's firing, the commission decided against a national search because both Craig and Schubert had expressed interest in the job.

"I thought we were all on the same page," said City Commissioner Gigi Arntzen, who supports the internal search. "It did come as a surprise to me. I had no idea there might be a change of heart."

The board was set to vote on the matter at tonight's meeting.

Both Schubert and Craig already have submitted resumes and had individual sit-down interviews with each commissioner.

It's a shame doubts have surfaced so far into the process, said Vice Mayor Harriet Crozier, who also reported getting a similar warning.

She wouldn't name the caller, but said the person told her three commissioners were having second thoughts and might disrupt a vote.

The city's charter requires a super-majority -- at least five votes -- for a city manager to be appointed.

"I was very upset," Crozier said. "To me, it was a slap in the face."

It's not fair to the candidates if people aren't committed to the process, she said, especially this late in the game.

Still, Crozier said, she supports the mayor's decision to get everything out in the open and find out where officials stand.

"I hope that it gets out on the table and there's a process agreed upon and that's it," Crozier said.

Kameel Stanley can be reached at kstanley@sptimes.com or 445-4158.

[Last modified July 3, 2007, 08:07:02]