Three city manager search firms remain under consideration

One executive search firm is young and scrappy. Another is based in Illinois with a local office in Tampa. And a third has placed city managers in dozens of Florida cities.

All three were among two favored by each of the Sarasota city commissioners, so each will get a shot at consulting Sarasota in its city manager search 2.0 via virtual interviews sometime in September.

“If you're going to move forward interviewing all three you'll probably have one stand out in that process,” advised City Attorney Joe Polzak.

Commissioners held a special meeting on Aug. 26 to review and discuss responses to a list of questions posed to, and formal proposals received from, three firms they selected in July. They are MTG Impact Solutions of Northfield, Illinois; Sumter Local Government Consulting of Alpharetta, Georgia; and Slavin Management Consultants of Norcross, Georgia.

Unable to settle on one, or even narrow the field to two, commissioners unanimously agreed to hold virtual meetings with each at a special meeting yet to be set, possibly as soon as Sept. 9 when the commission has a scheduled workshop, but currently no agenda to discuss.

Sumter came in at the lowest cost of $18,000-plus with additional expenses restricted to pre-approved advertising costs and travel. Slavin posed a not-to-exceed cost of $25,722.25 and MTG Impact Solutions provided an estimate of $45,000.

Sumter, the young firm in business since 2021, pledges to put its president, Warren Hutmacher, on Sarasota’s search and to conduct no more than two city manager projects at one time with only one at a time in Florida. MTG, with a presence in Tampa, currently has 50 active searches but a big team. It has conducted 19 city and county management recruitments in Florida since 2016. Slavin pledges to put President Bob Slavin and others on the case as one of fewer than five active city manager searches at one time. It has placed such executives in 35 Florida cities — including Venice — ranging in 2025 populations from Gulfport at 11,655 to Miami at 455,924.

With favorites differing among commissioners, they unanimously agreed to hold public, virtual interviews with each to gain better understanding of questions that remained beyond the same seven posed to each. And they want to interact directly with representatives of those firms to gain greater insights into their processes and capabilities. 

Further, they want to ascertain — unlike the unsuccessful search 1.0 with Daytona Beach Shores-based Colin Baenziger and Associates — that the firms’ processes and the commission’s expectations align.

Commissioner Kyle Battie recommended questioning the firms beyond basic form and function.

“I think during an interview like this, the spontaneity of asking and answering questions can be very revealing, and I would support Commissioner Battie’s suggestion that also gives us the opportunity to ask the important questions,” said Commissioner Kathy Kelley Ohlrich.

Sarasota has been without a permanent city manager since the retirement of Marlon Brown in October 2024. Interim City Manager 2.0 Dave Bullock recommended the commission move forward expeditiously. 

“The interim city manager places the hiring of a permanent city as the highest priority,” he said.