Lewis starts work at City Hall

Terry Lewis climbed into his car Jan. 23, as he has every other Monday for the past seven months, to go to work as an interim administrator. Only this time, he had to remember to drive to City Hall instead of to the Sarasota County Administration Center.

Lewis accepted the position of interim city manager Jan. 20, at the unanimous request of the City Commission. His contract includes a daily pay rate of $553, plus a company vehicle.

Three days earlier, City Manager Bob Bartolotta had resigned in the wake of a forensics computer investigation that has alleged potential criminal wrongdoing on his part and on the part of Deputy City Manager Marlon Brown.

This is the third time elected officials have turned to Lewis to help guide a local government on a temporary basis. He just wrapped up a seven-month stint as interim Sarasota County administrator.

During one of his first public appearances this week in his new post, Lewis listened Tuesday as Palm Avenue merchants pleaded with him and the Downtown Improvement District Board of Directors to consider bagging the parking meters on Palm, until the roundabout construction is complete on Ringling Boulevard.

“I promise I will look into it,” Lewis told the crowd. “But, to be honest, I haven’t even figured out where my parking spot is yet.”

Lewis told the DID he planned to attend its regular meetings and those of other organizations. Bartolotta was not a regular participant at such meetings.

Lewis told the Sarasota Observer he spent Monday meeting with commissioners and staff and learning the details of day-to-day city operations, thanks to Brown’s assistance.

Brown characterized this week as a period of “getting Mr. Lewis up to speed.”

Brown added, “He didn’t accept this job just to keep the city manager’s seat warm.”

Lewis not only will have to be prepared to handle any fallout from the Information Technology investigation, but he also will be participating in the city budget meetings, which are expected to begin in earnest in the coming months. Moreover, Lewis must be prepared for the commission’s goal-setting retreat, scheduled for the afternoon of Jan. 30.

In the meantime, Human Resources Director Kurt Hoverter suggested to the commission Jan. 20 how the process of finding a new city manager could work.

The commissioners last week received a draft of an abbreviated recruitment outline, which says it will take four to six months to develop desired performance criteria for a new city manager, based on commissioner comments.

City staff is recommending the commission utilize a search firm, although Vice Mayor Terry Turner said he would like to see resumes from firms other than The Mercer Group. That firm found Bartolotta and new Sarasota County Administrator Randall Reid.

City Commissioner Shannon Snyder said the board should not rush to replace Bartolotta.

“I know we need to prepare for this, but we need a public workshop, so residents can tell us what kind of city manager they want and what kind of personality they want,” Snyder said.