County goes outside office for its attorney

The chief assistant watches as commissioners choose someone else.

By DAVID DeCAMP, Times Staff Writer
Published November 7, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Jeffrey Steinsnyder of Bradenton was chosen unanimously to be Pasco County's attorney. Barbara Wilhite, chief assistant, had sought the top attorney job.

DADE CITY - Pasco County picked a Bradenton attorney to be its top lawyer Tuesday, bypassing the No. 2 counsel and favorite of retiring County Attorney Robert Sumner.

Jeffrey Steinsnyder, 46, a lawyer with Kirk Pinkerton in Bradenton, was chosen on a 5-0 vote. It ended a month of maneuvering and dispute among county commissioners.

Chief assistant county attorney Barbara Wilhite, an 11-year employee who was close to having majority support two weeks ago, sat silently a few feet away from the board as it picked Steinsnyder.

Steinsnyder's candidacy gathered steam within the past week after being on only Commissioner Ted Schrader's short list. Steinsnyder specializes in land use, government and environmental law.

Steinsnyder worked at the Manatee County Attorney's Office from 1989 to 2005, when he left for private practice. He left as Manatee's chief assistant county attorney after the county picked someone else to be its top lawyer.

There was, he said in his application to Pasco, "no foreseeable advancement in the office for sometime."

Now, Wilhite, 38, is in that spot. Shortly after the vote, she quietly left the meeting room and did not return. A disappointed Sumner declined to comment.

Commissioner Pat Mulieri opened debate with a motion to hire Wilhite, but no one backed her motion. Then the remaining four members started endorsing Steinsnyder.

"I thought when we met two weeks ago, there were three votes for Barbara," Mulieri said.

"That was two weeks ago," replied Chairwoman Ann Hildebrand.

Wilhite could not be reached for comment. Nor could Steinsnyder, who did not attend Tuesday's meeting. He said Monday his job obligations would keep him away. He did not return phone and e-mail messages seeking comment Tuesday.

His ascension began after the board voted, 3-2, against hiring Land O' Lakes attorney Tim Hayes, who fought a Sumner accusation he was the "developers' candidate."

Commissioners Michael Cox and Jack Mariano had supported Hayes, and persuaded board members to allow them to re-interview remaining candidates before Tuesday. In those meetings, Cox and Mariano said, Steinsnyder allayed criticism he would not be a strong enough litigator and was too low-key.

But Cox criticized Wilhite's relationship with powerful County Administrator John Gallagher, saying Pasco needed a county attorney who would work better with Gallagher than Sumner's regime has.

Another factor was Hildebrand and Schrader saying they wanted a consensus choice instead of a divided board. Cox and Mariano remained opposed to hiring Wilhite, who was criticized for admittedly "nasty" dealings with staffers.

Still, Mulieri said, the vote sent a bad signal to the 2,100-person county work force.

"I think it sends the message that if you work really hard in Pasco, and you're really good, that we don't give you a chance to get ahead," Mulieri said.

[Last modified November 6, 2007, 21:58:06]