Faced with the departure of County Manager Stockton Whitten on April 30, Brevard Commissioners selected a Volusia County firm to lead a national search. For a $15,750 fee, the Mercer Group scoured the country for a replacement to guide day-to-day affairs.
Commissioner John Tobia’s suggestion that the county save the money and go in-house first did not get much support at the time.
But in the end, the commission will end up going in-house after all, choosing Interim County Manager Frank Abbate to succeed Whitten, thus rejecting the three candidates presented by the Mercer Group.
“Turns out I was probably correct,” said Tobia, who introduced a resolution last Tuesday to name Abbate as permanent manager. The resolution met with approval from three other commissioners, but the motion was tabled until the next meeting when Commissioner Kristine Isnardi will be in the house and they could make it unanimous.
When the search began, Abbate informed commissioners he would not apply for the post.
“He said he would not get in the way of the national search,” said Don Walker, county spokesman. But he would be willing to accept that position if he had the support of the commission. Once the finalists were named, the commission opted for support in recognition of Abbate’s performance and because of his knowledge of Brevard County.
Tobia’s resolution made it official.
W.D. Higginbotham, Mercer’s senior vice president, spoke about the search.
“Unfortunately we did not get the number of applicants we hoped. After an extensive recruitment and extensive solicitation, we received almost 200 inquiries. Only seven met the qualifications. I eliminated one and spoke with six. I recommended three to you,” he told the commissioners.
The three included one from Miami, one from Colorado and one from New Jersey. Two had experience with shore issues.
“These three exceed qualifications,” Higginbotham said.
But Walker said all three finalists were already collecting salaries well over $200,000, which is more than Whitten received.
Even so, the commissioners had misgivings with the results. “I asked that we hold off because some candidates had large issues,” Tobia said.
Commissioner Jim Barfield was more direct. “I did not get the impression there was one who fit what we have. I saw similarities but nothing that they understood what we have in a county that is 72 mile long. I think we should consider Frank,” he said.
Said Commissioner Vice-Chair Rita Pritchett: “I could not have said that better.”
Commission Chair Curt Smith also rejected the candidates Mercer selected. “If there is someone as qualified as Frank I’d say talk to them. But the real key is that none of these bring to the table the institutional knowledge we would gain from Abbate,” he said.
A 5-0 vote at the next commission meeting still doesn’t seal the deal.
“They would have to enter contract negotiations. So this will likely push into mid to late August before we no longer have an Interim County Manager,” Walker said.
