Northpinellas: Did too few apply to run county?

The 12 semifinalists to run Pinellas County include three assistant county managers, two former managers, the Pinellas assistant property appraiser and the top executive from the county across the bay.

Pretty impressive? Not if you're a Pinellas County commissioner.

Why only 87 applicants?

"The people there are still quality people, but I'm disappointed," said Chairman Calvin Harris. "I envisioned maybe 200 or 300."

Why not more top county administrators, or at least more assistant ones?

"I was shocked," said Commissioner Karen Seel. "I just expected there would be a tremendous response."

"Maybe I had over-rated Pinellas County and its attractiveness," said Commissioner Bob Stewart. "I thought we would have had an opening of the floodgates, and people around the state and around the country would have seen this as a great step in their careers."

After all, said Commissioner Susan Latvala, Pinellas is a great place to live, the county is prosperous but not overwhelmed by growth, and county government has "done things right for a long time."

Commissioner Ken Welch has doubts even though he's still studying the semifinalists' resumes.

"It didn't knock me off my feet," he said. "I'm just not sure why we didn't get a more robust group."

Commissioners are set to meet Tuesday to narrow the field to about six finalists to bring in for interviews. The five commissioners said they're not sure whether to go forward or to keep searching. They said they have spotted some strong candidates among the semifinalists, but declined to identify their front-runners.

"It all depends on whether other people reached the same conclusion I did," Stewart said. "If there's a strong consensus that there's one person we want to hitch our county wagon to for the next decade, there's no need to go back out."

Other commissioners said they want to talk with Steve Bernard, vice-president of the PAR Group, the search firm looking for an administrator, before deciding whether to continue the search. Seel said she also wants to talk to more people who know the candidates.

Bernard was driving to Florida from Michigan on Friday and couldn't be reached for comment. But he said last week that he was pleased with the field.

"We have outstanding applicants and a real breadth of talent the county can consider," he said.

Hillsborough County Administrator Dan Kleman, one of the semifinalists, said commissioners have a talented field and joked there was "at least one very strong candidate." But even Kleman, who has every reason to want the search to end, said he expected more applicants.

Harris said he's concerned that the group is not diverse enough. There are two women semifinalists. Bernard said one man is an American Indian, but he didn't know whether there were any other minorities.

Commissioners weren't sure why there were so few applicants.

"I want more information," Seel said. "I know they advertised, but did they ask people to apply? Did they hear from applicants who were hesitant (about Pinellas) for some reason?"

Florida's open records laws may keep some people from applying because their names become public earlier, Latvala said.

"It's a very precarious position to put the candidates in," she said.

But Stewart pointed to other Florida jobs with plenty of candidates. The St. Petersburg police chief's job drew 117 candidates, and he said the county's job to lead WorkNet Pinellas drew 66, even though it pays less than the administrator post. The county has advertised the administrator's salary as paying between $117,500 and $182,200 per year.

The job has been vacant since Fred Marquis retired last fall after 22 years as administrator. Only one county worker, assistant property appraiser Pam Dubov, is a semifinalist. Interim County Administrator Gay Lancaster didn't apply, saying she wants more time with her family.

Stewart said Marquis' success may have kept other county employees from applying.

"Employees might use that as a benchmark," he said. "That becomes a pretty hard act to follow. Who was the coach who followed Vince Lombardi?"

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