Ranch IDA postpones director interviews

LAKEWOOD RANCH — The hunt for a new executive director of Lakewood Ranch Town Hall is heading back to the drawing board.

After two meetings to review candidates brought forward by the executive search firm Colin Baenziger & Associates, supervisors agreed they were not satisfied with the candidate pool presented and are directing the company’s owner to bring forward candidates that better meet their criteria and expectations.

“We just don’t think we’ve seen the right candidate yet,” IDA Chairman Tom Green said. “We’re OK with a couple of them — not enthusiastic. We need a few other candidates (to look at). If we’re not comfortable, then we should hold off.”

Candidate interviews slated for May 2 have been postponed.

During a meeting with Baenziger owner Colin Baenziger on April 15, supervisors tentatively selected three candidates from a pool of eight — Laurence Arnold, of Parrish, Stephen Cottrell, of Windsor, Vt., and James “Jim” Gleason, of Ocoee.

At that time, however, board members said they did not feel the candidates presented, in total, met their criteria. Furthermore, many of them were overqualified, they said, and may not be able to accept the position, for which the salary will ranch from $120,000 to $160,000.

That night, Baenziger sent four more résumés for board members to review, but supervisors on Tuesday agreed the candidates presented still did not meet their expectations.

“I’m not thrilled with any of the candidates,” Supervisor Dave Emison said. “We don’t want to live with somebody. We want to be excited about going forward.”

Supervisor Nancy Johnson agreed.

“When you have somebody like (former Executive Director) Bob (Fernandez) in your head, who did a good job, you want all those pieces again,” she said.

Baenziger, who was not at the Tuesday meeting, said he needed to get more feedback from Green before moving forward with finding alternative candidates. However, he said he now has a better understanding of the kind of leader the supervisors seek.

“I’d take a different approach (going forward),” he said. “I thought I knew what I was looking for, and that wasn’t right.”

On his initial search, Baenziger placed an emphasis on candidates’ level of experience, which primarily yielded finalists who had 20 to 25 years of experience. In their redirection, supervisors said they are seeking someone who is looking for the next step in his or her career and who would be a long-term leader for Lakewood Ranch.

Fernandez, who served as the top manager for Town Hall since May 2007, resigned Feb. 18. He led the community as it transitioned into being resident controlled, established procedure and addressed other issues, before leaving. The IDA hired Colin Baenziger & Associates on Feb. 10 to search for Fernandez’ replacement for $20,000.

Town Hall Director of Finance Steve Zielinski has been serving as interim executive director, and IDA supervisors said the organization is operating smoothly under his leadership as they continue looking for
Fernandez’s replacement.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].