PInellas County Recruits New Administrator From Illinois

ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- In a unanimous decision, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners on Thursday, Aug. 16, selected its top candidate for the county administrator position.

Chairman Kenneth T. Welch will now begin negotiations with Barry Burton, who currently serves as the county administrator for Lake County, Illinois.

“Mr. Burton brings with him decades of leadership and accomplishments in county government administration,” said Welch. “We will look to him to uphold the standard of progressive and collaborative leadership exemplified by our outgoing administrator, Mark. S. Woodard.”

Woodard is set to retire later this year after a successful career of 30 years with Pinellas County government. Woodard has served as county administrator since 2014.

Burton has spent more than 30 years working in the public sector, with broad experience overseeing strategic planning, managing county budgets, projects and fiscal policies, building community partnerships and implementing progressive workforce initiatives.

He is a retired U.S. Army Reserve/National Guard infantry officer and holds a master’s degree in public administration from Northern Kentucky University.

Image via Lake County government

(For more local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)