FINAL FIVE

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Lakewood Ranch Town Hall may have a new executive director by mid-June.

Members of the Lakewood Ranch Inter-District Authority last week whittled down a lengthy list of potential candidates to five, after Colin Baenziger, whose firm was hired to conduct the search, came back with 33 more potential candidates.

Top contenders include: Larry Arnold, of Parrish; Shane Crawford, of Lake Geneva, Wis.; Laura Hannah, of Lake Worth; Eva Rey, of Summerfield and Town Hall’s financial director Steve Zielinski, who currently is serving as the interim executive director.

“We’ve picked a list of candidates with varied backgrounds and experiences that hopefully will give us a good base to chose a final candidate from,” IDA Chairman Tom Green said.

A sixth contender, James “Jim” Gleason, interim city manager of the city of Mascotte, was eliminated from the interview pool on May 20, following an incident in which Gleason warned a city commissioner his water was going to be turned off and then asked the board member to delete the email about it. Board members said the incident showed “bad judgment” on Gleason’s part.

Selected candidates are set to meet with board members and representatives of Lakewood Ranch Community Development Districts 1, 2, 4 and 5 and homeowner association board members on June 9 with interviews following on June 10.

All candidates except Crawford have experience in Florida government.

Laurence Arnold
Laurence Arnold has more than 30 years of management experience with expertise in government business operations and project and contract management, among other items.

The Parrish resident has worked for Sarasota County Government since 2005, and currently serves as its manager of business operations, planning and development/transit services.

A resident of Manatee County for nearly two decades, Arnold considers the chance to work for a world-class master-planned community may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Arnold said his application for the Lakewood Ranch executive director post is the first he’s made since 2004. He cited several factors, including Lakewood Ranch’s green initiatives, the State College of Florida’s planned Design and Economic Acceleration Lab and future growth as reasons he applied.

Arnold’s government experience started in 1970, when he started in an entry-level position in the city manager’s office for the City of St. Petersburg. By 1985, he had worked his way into the position of chief assistant manager, a post he held until 1991.

Arnold then went on to serve as the senior executive for Medical Device and Software Companies in St. Petersburg from 1991 to 2001 before jumping back into local politics. He served as Winter Haven’s assistant city manager from 2001 to 2003 and a special consultant to the city manager of Port Orange and interim community development administrator of Martin County from 2003 to 2004.

Shane Crawford
Candidate Shane Crawford of Lake Geneva, Wis., has spent the entirety of his career in government in Wisconsin and now is looking to move to Florida with his wife.

Crawford currently works as the deputy county administrator of central services for Walworth County, a post he has held since July 2007. During his tenure, Crawford created the Intergovernmental Cooperative Council consisting of municipalities in the borders of Walworth County to foster governmental cooperation and potential consolidation, as well as created a “green” initiative and negotiated an agreement with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to continue state funding for state-owned, but county maintained roadways, among other accomplishments.

He served as Walworth County’s director of public works the two years prior.

“I’ve served on the elected side of things, and I’ve served on the appointed management side, as well,” Crawford said. “I know and understand what the other side (the electorate) needs and wants to see from its staff. 

“I’ve been doing this my whole career and I believe I bring a youthful energy that could be very helpful in this position because it’s so much more than just coming into the office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” he said. “In a position such as this, one needs to become part of the community, to approach people with tact and understanding, and to appreciate opposing viewpoints.”

Prior to his time in Walworth, Crawford served as the county administrator for Buffalo County, Wis., (2002 to 2004) and as Buffalo County’s administrative coordinator (2000 to 2002). From 1997 to 2000, as a college student, he served on the city council of La Crosse, Wis.

Laura Hannah
Candidate Laura Hannah, of Palm Beach County, has worked in local government since 1990, most recently serving as the assistant city manager of the city of Lake Worth, a post she held from January 2004 to June 2009.

During that time, she served as an acting city manager three times and also as the city manager’s designee, representing the city over a two-year period. In her post, she oversaw the city’s daily operations, including a budget of $138 million and 400 employees.

“I thrive on foreseeing issues and implementing appropriate strategies to avoid them while carrying out the directives of an elected body,” Hannah said. “For most of my career in local government, I have successfully worked with various stakeholders — a community’s elected officials, its residents, boards, committees and working collaboratively with neighboring communities.  It’s rewarding to work through competing interests and provide outcomes that are advantageous to all parties.”

Prior to her time in Lake Worth, Hannah served as the director of administration for the city of Orange City from 2002 to 2004. She previously served as the part-time city manager intern for the City of Kissimmee from 1999 to 2001 and held various support staff positions with the city of Kissimmee from 1990 to 2002.

Eva Rey
Candidate Eva Rey has more than 11 years experience in local government with both county and community development experience.

She currently serves as the director of purchasing and support services for the Village Center Community Development District. The Villages community, which has about 83,000 residents, sits on about 26,000 acres spanning Sumter, Lake and Marion counties.

Rey said she believes her experience successfully dealing specifically with community development districts will benefit Lakewood Ranch and provide guidance to advance CDDs to the next performance level.

“This position is an opportunity to bring my experience with managing projects and operational processes for multiple community development Districts to a growing CDD community,” Rey said. “Also, as a Central Florida native, I have always admired and enjoyed the Manatee-Sarasota area, and I would love to able to call Lakewood Ranch my home.”

Previously, from 2002 to 2007, she served as the executive assistant to the county administrator for the Marion County Board of County Commissioners. In that role, Rey prepared and managed county commission agendas, researched and prepared correspondence for the county administrator and managed day-to-day operations of the administration department. During that time, she also completed her master’s degree in public administration.

Other professional experiences include business and office management and billing and payroll work

Steve Zielinski
Candidate Steve Zielinski, a resident of Lakewood Ranch, currently serves as Interim Executive Director for the Lakewood Ranch Inter-District Authority, a post he’s held since late January, after former Executive Director Bob Fernandez announced his resignation.

Zielinski had worked as Town Hall’s director of finance since January 2008.

“This is something I aspire to,” Zielinski said of the community manager role. “I think I am uniquely qualified on the basis I reside here. I feel I am very involved and committed to the community, and I think I could possibly unify the community to take it to the next level. My heart and my soul have always been in the government sector.”

In 2007, Zielinski served as a supervisor for Lakewood Ranch Community Development District 5 after being selected by a review committee to fill a vacancy left by a retiring board member.

Before moving to Florida, Zielinski worked for more than 15 years (1987 to 2003) as the chief financial officer/treasurer of Mercer County, N.J., where he oversaw the staff responsible for maintaining official accounting records, the budget and other financial reporting procedures. He also was responsible for the development of annual operating and capital budgets ($217 million and $53 million, respectively, in 2004), among other responsibilities.

He worked as the municipal treasurer/tax collector of the city of Trenton, N.J., from 1980 to 1987, and as the assistant chief accountant of the city of Trenton the seven months prior to taking his tax collector post.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].