The city commission Tuesday chose the seven semifinalists who will advance in its search for a new city manager.
Plant City hired executive recruitment firm Strategic Government Resources (SGR) in July to search for Interim City Manager Kim Leinbach’s successor. Leinbach was hired to head Plant City’s administrative arm following the unexpected departure of former City Manager Mike Herr, who accepted a position as city manager of Winter Haven in May. Leinbach is currently working with Plant City on a month-to-month basis until a new manager is hired.
The SGR search is being led by former Lakeland City Manager Doug Thomas. Thomas told the commission the job listing received 55 candidates from 21 states and Canada, with most coming from Florida and Michigan. Thomas presented the commission with the 35 applicants he said “most closely match the desired skills experience and attributes for the City Manager Position Profile identified by Plant City.”
Commissioners made short work of choosing the seven semifinalists following the presentation.
“What’s incredible, three of these candidates, four of us recommended,” Mayor Rick Lott said, “I think we’re all very excited about the pool of candidates we have.”
The semifinalists chosen by the commission are Doug Adkins, city manager of Middletown, Ohio; Jamie Croteau, the management services director of Boca Raton; Jeff Brown, city manager in Panama City; Jonathan Evans, City Manager of Riviera Beach; Bob Middaugh, Loudoun County, Virginia’s assistant county administrator; Shawn Sherrouse, current assistant city manager of Lakeland; and Plant City’s assistant city manager and former police chief, Bill McDaniel.
Thomas said the next step will be for the semifinalists to submit responses to a questionnaire about general city manager duties as well as Plant City-specific items, a cover letter and resume and a video interview. Commissioners will be presented with the findings during a December commission meeting. From there, commissioners will choose finalists who will have in-person interviews in Plant City in January.
While the selection of semifinalists was quick, the meeting was not without its disagreement. Commissioner Mike Sparkman was displeased with the tenures of some of the applicants, despite Thomas reassuring him some short terms could be due to a change in the political climate where they served.
“I kind of disagree with the consultant’s analysis of why people get fired because of political changes. That’s never happened here in Plant City,” Sparkman said. “It’d appear to be that a lot of these people are professional job seekers. Anybody that’s been in a job a year or two and seeks another job, to me, is a job seeker trying to step up in the world. I would be very disappointed, as I was our last city manager (who) after two years started seeking another job and employment place.”
Thomas, however, reassured Sparkman that SGR has targeted applicants it expects to stick around.
“I think our guarantee is if an individual leaves within two years, we redo your search without any professional fees,” Thomas said. “I’m not anxious to have you go through this process prematurely or quickly as well, so our goal will be to try to find somebody that wants to stay here.”