Friday, October 30, 2009

Interim City Manager Peter Rosasco will look at something old and something new as he prepares the Marathon City Council to pick a new full-time city manager.

Rosasco took over for former Marathon City Manager Clyde Burnett last week after Burnett resigned amid allegations of harassment levied by another city employee.

When it comes to finding his replacement, Rosasco was directed by council to first check down the list of applications that applied for the job a little under two years ago when Burnett was first hired. The council also directed him to place a call for job applications through the Florida League of Cities and a city managers' association to try and draw some fresh blood.

Rosasco, who is also the city's contracted finance director, was appointed to head up operations at City Hall until a full time manager could be found. Rosasco has said he does not want the job long term.

"Pull out that original search again," Councilwoman Ginger Snead said. "Call back on some of the people who are qualified."

Around 60 applications poured in the last time the city put out feelers through state-wide agencies like the Florida League of Cities. The city did not hire a professional recruiter last time, and it appears it will not this time around either.

"There were certainly 10 or 15 qualified people," Councilman Pete Worthington said of the wave of applications. "Three or four were way over qualified."

Some of the notable applications that had local ties to the Keys from the 2008 search included:

C.J. Geotis: The city's former deputy city manager, Geotis had served as City Hall's second in command for three years before being transferred to the ports department after Burnett eliminated the deputy position. Burnett later let Geotis go -- citing budget concerns -- and turned all of the city marina's operations over to Richard Tanner.

Kerry Willis: As recently as 2006, Willis was an attorney with the Vernis and Bowling law firm, which provided service for local entities including the Monroe County School Board and the City of Layton. Prior to that, the Marathon resident was the assistant secretary for the Florida Department of Community Affairs and also had stints as the city manager for the cities of Boynton Beach and Lake Worth.

Bernard LaPira: LaPira served as the Village of Islamorada's manager for three years before resigning in early 2006.

Michael Stampfler: Stampfler was one of the finalists for the Village of Islamorada manager search in 2008. From 2005-2006, Stampfler was the City Manager for Casselberry, and prior to that spent 20 years serving as the city manager for the city of Portage in Michigan.

Councilman Dick Ramsay wanted to make sure the local scene was canvassed during the search.

"I would certainly like to investigate whether we have that capability locally," Ramsay said.

The council unanimously directed Rosasco to check over the old list and re-advertise the position. How the actual search would be conducted is still undecided. When Burnett was selected, each council member ranked their top ten choices for the position. No interviews were conducted.