Now that the firm retained by the city of Sarasota to help conduct the search for a new city manager has relinquished its lead role, the City Commission is no further along in the process than it was in October 2024 when Marlon Brown vacated the position.
On April 21, Daytona Beach Shores-based Colin Baenziger and Associates via email informed city officials it was curtailing its involvement, relinquishing to the city its list of candidates and all data collected on them to date, and offering its continued services in a supporting role going forward.
At Monday’s regular meeting, the Sarasota City Commission instead voted 3-2 — with Mayor Liz Alpert and Vice Mayor Debbie Trice opposed — to sever ties with the firm and, at its scheduled April 12 special meeting, determine where it goes from here. The motion also placed the charter offices of City Auditor and Clerk Shayla Griggs and City Attorney Joe Polzak in charge of the process in cooperation with the city’s Human Relations Department…