County Admin Search Narrowed to Four

The search to replace former county administrator Jim Ley, , might be nearing an end.

Sarasota County Commissioners voted on four finalists at Tuesday's BCC meeting from eight suggestions provided by a consulting firm, the Mercer Group.

Finalists are Randall Reid, James Baker, Fred Russell and Ed Mitchell.

Meet the Candidates:

• Randall Reid
  • He is currently the county manager in Alachua County, Florida.
  • Four of the five County Commissioners voted to make him a finalist.
  • He has 18 years of management experience in Florida counties.

• James Baker
  • Baker was the only unanimous selection by the BCC on Tuesday to be a finalist.
  • He is currently county manager in York County, South Carolina.
  • Before moving to South Carolina, Baker was county manager in St. Louis County, Mo., which has more than 1 million residents.

• Fred Russell
  • Currently, Russell is an administrator in Augusta, Ga. 
  • In Augusta, Russell leads a city-county government.
  • Russell was promoted to his current position after being deputy administrator in Augusta for two years.

• Ed Mitchell
  • Mitchell is  city administrator in West Palm Beach.
  • He did not initially make the BCC's cut as a finalist on Tuesday, but after a second look received enough votes to become a finalist. 

Residents of Sarasota County will now get two chances to meet the candidates in person and ask questions.

• The first public session will be 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, at the Venice Community Center, 326 S. Nokomis Ave., Venice. Each candidate will be given an opportunity to talk about his experience, followed by a 45-minute period for questions from the public. A representative of The Mercer Group, which is conducting the administrator search for Sarasota County, will moderate the meeting. Candidates and the public then will have about an hour to socialize.

• The second public meeting will be 6 p.m., Monday, Nov. 14, at the Potter Building, Robarts Arena, 3000 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota. The format will be the same as the first meet-and-greet session.

The only local candidate recommended by the consulting group was former Longboat Key town manager Bruce St. Dennis.