Glades Manager Hunt Continues

Unsigned Applications To Be Trashed 
MOORE HAVEN, FL. -- At the Glades Commission meeting Tuesday, it was determined that of the eighteen applications received for the position of Glades county manager, three applicants had not supplied a signed employment application with their resume. The commissioners indicated those three would not be eligible for consideration.

Commissioner Beck stated he was not comfortable with ranking applicants in order of preference but would like to name at least ten to be considered for the next step which would be interviews following background checks.

Vice Chairman Donna Storter suggested re-advertising the position with a higher salary range of up to $135,000 to enlarge the pool of candidates.

Commissioners Echols stated if the position was to be re-advertised to attract more applicants with a higher salary range, it should also include removing the requirement for a successful applicant to relocate to Glades County within 12 months of being hired, and Commissioner Beck agreed.

Commissioner Griffin expressed desire to go forward with the current list of applicants and if after interviews a satisfactory choice was not made, then start over and re-advertise, keeping the original applications for consideration.

At the meeting two candidates introduced themselves. Noah Powers introduced himself to the Board as a candidate for County Manager, clarifying that his school administrative experience was not as a principal of a school, but in School District financial and operations executive administrative management for over thirty years as well as with the Department of Juvenile Justice. 

He stated his leadership, administrative and operational experience mirror the County Manager Job Qualifications because of the similarity of School districts’ and State agencies’ internal operations of Finance, Budget, Human Resource, Risk Management, Procurement, Growth Planning, Emergency Management, etc. He further stated they are all governed by many of the same Federal and State laws such as GASB (Governmental Accounting Standards Board), GAAP (General Accepted Accounting Principles), HIPPA, Due Process, Labor Negotiations and EPA 

requirement.

Powers stated he realizes he’s an unknown quantity in the County Manager circle and encouraged the Board to contact his previous supervisors and colleagues. Mr. Powers, an Air Force veteran, thanked the Board for their Resolution in Item 6 supporting the 2nd Amendment.

Thomas Corbitt formally introduced himself to the Board as a candidate for County Manager noting that had been in attendance at previous BoCC meetings getting acquainted with Board matters.

After extensive discussion of the options for proceeding with hiring a new county manager, Board decided to proceed with selection from the current list of candidates for an initial interview, with each commissioner to list up to ten of 15 qualified applicants. The following listings were made in alphabetical order by applicant’s first name:

Commissioner Beck: John Granger, Johnny Limbaugh, Noah Powers, Raymond VanHouten, Ricardo Mendez-Saldivia, Richard Giroux, Stuart McCutcheon, Thomas Corbitt, Timothy Day.

Commissioner Griffin: Crystal Drake, Gary Rawlings, Greg Wood, Guy Maxcy, John Granger, Noah Powers, Richard Giroux, Thomas Corbitt.

Commissioner Echols: Guy Maxcy, John Granger, Johnny Limbaugh, Noah Powers, Ricardo Mendez-Saldivia, Thomas Corbitt.

Commissioner Stanley: Gary Rawlings, Greg Wood, Guy Maxcy, John Granger, Noah Powers, Phillip Ludos, Ricardo Mendez-Saldivia, Stuart McCutcheon, Thomas Corbitt, Thomas Day.

Commissioner Storter: John Granger, Johnny Limbaugh, Noah Powers, Ricardo Mendez-Saldivia, Richard Giroux, Thomas Corbitt.

Attorney Pringle tallied the selections listing:

5 listed John Granger
5 listed Noah Powers
5 listed Thomas Corbitt
4 listed Ricardo Mendez-Saldivia
3 listed Guy Maxcy
3 listed Johnny Limbaugh
3 listed Richard Giroux
2 listed Gary Rawlings
2 listed Greg Wood
2 listed Stuart McCutcheon
2 listed Timothy Day
1 listed Crystal Drake
1 listed Phillip Ludos
1 listed Raymond VanHouten

The Board moved to short-list the first seven candidates for consideration with a background check by staff and verification of continued interest in the applicant within the parameters initially offered including the salary range up to $100,000 annually and requirement to relocate to Glades County within one year of hiring.

Staff was directed to bring back the requested information at the March 25 meeting, with Board to decide at that time the date and type of interview, perhaps making the first by Skype teleconference, and then consider an in-person interview and the remuneration for travel for out of area applicants.