The Palm Coast City Council holds interviews with prospective city managers on April 24, at least the last two still standing at last check. The city’s process, facilitated by Strategic Government Resources, a recruiting company, drew just 38 applicants, had to be reopened in attempt to draw more, ended up with five short-listed candidates, three of whom swiftly bailed in the face of an unsettled council and a mercurial mayor seemingly at war with the city. Palm Coast appears not to be an exception.
What started as a routine city manager search unraveled into a public spectacle recently at Sarasota’s City Commission. The breakdown on April 11 played out over two separate meetings—a morning workshop and an afternoon special session—where commissioners openly admitted to confusion, mistrust, and having no clear path forward.
Commissioners contradicted each other, the search firm hired to oversee the process struggled to provide basic materials and information, and the public was left in the dark—literally and figuratively—about how the process would move forward…