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Crowded slate for county commission appointment

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Eight more people are seeking an appointment to the Lee County Commission seat left vacant by the death of Bob Janes.
Janes died March 10 at age 78. He represented District 1, which includes Sanibel, Captiva, Cape Coral and Pine Island. Gov. Charlie Crist plans to pick someone to fill the seat until the November election, when voters in Lee can elect a new commissioner to finish Janes’ term. His term expires in 2012.
As of Friday, 20 people had submitted an application for the appointment. According to documents released by the governor’s office, the list includes:
– Wayne Daltry, former director of Smart Growth for Lee County
– Bruce J. Scott, former state representative and Lee County commissioner
– John Manning, former Lee County commissioner and former Cape Coral City Council member
– Richard Hoffman, deputy sheriff with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office
– Carletha Griffin, owner of a consulting business
– Robert Chilmonik, Lee County School Board member
– Linda Carter, executive director for Emergency Preparedness for the ADA Advisory Board of Southwest Florida
– Nicholas Sacca, formerly of Adecco Employment
– Charles Dauray, chief executive officer and chairman of College of Life Foundation
– Chelsey M. Perry Sr., retired Fort Myers resident
– Donna Loibl, retired Matlacha resident
– Gerald Finan, substitute teacher
– Christopher Berardi, former Cape Coral City Council member
– Noel Andress, real estate broker and business owner
– A.J. Boyd, former Cape Coral City Council member
– David Barton, former Cape Coral board member
– Donald Devoe Slisher, former Lee County commissioner
– Donald Farrell Eslick, former Lee County committee member
– Michael W. Denham, former Sanibel City Council member
– Paul D. Asfour, former Cape Coral City Council member
Sterling Ivey, the governor’s press secretary, reported that there is no deadline for submitting an application. The Governor’s Appointments Office will accept them until an appointment is made and each one will be reviewed.
“We will review applications as they are received and interview prospective candidates,” he said, adding that not every applicant will be interviewed.
After the interviews are completed, a “level two” background screening will be done. According to Ivey, the screenings typically take two to three weeks and they are conducted through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
“(It) involves a thorough background check through state and national law enforcement databases, primarily looking to see if criminal charges have every been filed against the individual,” he said.
Upon the successful completion of the background screening, Crist will announce his appointment. Ivey said there is no set time frame in which the appointment must be made, and depending on the number of applicants, the process can take anywhere from six to eight weeks or longer.
“The number of applications received thus far is not unusual for a county commission vacancy,” he added.