In-house candidate among finalists for CM
The Sanibel City Council narrowed the city manager candidate field to five during a well-attended special meeting Wednesday at City Hall.
The field includes one in-house candidate, Keith Williams, the city’s director of Community Services. He was the only one among the five finalists to receive unanimous approval from the council.
The search firm, Colin Baezinger, acknowledge his credentials but offered Council some advice, saying that while Williams is talented and knowledgeable about the city, he would be best served to continue in his current role and learn from whomever becomes the next city manager.
“We try to treat the internal candidates like external ones. They may know the city and the issues and have a strong support group, but they may not be strong managers,” Baezinger said. “If they don’t succeed, to me, it’s a failure. It leaves the city in a bad spot.”
Council, though, expressed concern with the process in dealing with Williams, in that he has never been a city manager, while all the other candidates have and that Baezinger may have treated Williams differently.
“He cannot be treated the same because he’s not a city manager. They have a track record. He doesn’t,” Baezinger said. “You hired me for being an expert. I’ve done this for 23 years and I know a lot of the candidates.”
Williams would not comment on the situation, saying he wants things to play out first.
The other finalists were Stacy Almond, Yvonne Kimball Dana Souza and Jeffrey Durbin, who was the lone candidate with four votes. The others got three votes from the five-member council.
Kenneth Klein, Matthew Garside, Lee Staab and Alexa Barton were also on the short-list, but not selected to advance as a finalist.
The finalists will come to Sanibel on Tuesday, Sept. 28, for a tour of the island and a reception that evening.
The following day, the candidates will be interviewed individually by council members before participating in the public interview in the afternoon.
On Thursday, Sept. 30, the city council is expected to make its decision on a new city manager.
The city attorney and Mayor Holly Smith will negotiate with the candidate of choice on a contract, which is expected to be voted on at the Oct. 5 meeting.
The new city manager, from there, might not be able to begin work for several weeks as he/she gives notice, moves and settles in here, which would necessitate the hiring of an interim city manager.
Smith and the rest of council agreed with Baezinger that Williams should not be considered as an interim manager, as it could create an awkward situation for the incoming manager.
The new city manager would replace Judie Zimomra, who is retiring from her position on Sept. 29 after 20 years as city manager.