New city manager may be named by March 2026

By Andrew Warfield
| 5:00 a.m. November 5, 2025

City Attorney Joe Polzak and City Auditor and Clerk Shayla Griggs are facilitating the search for the next Sarasota city manager.

Sarasota
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He doesn’t have any hair, but if he did Sarasota City Commissioner Kyle Battie would have been pulling it out by the root near the end of a more than a 70-minute discussion about the draft recruitment brochure for the next city manager.

During their Nov. 3 meeting, commissioners scrutinized the brochure prepared by Sumter Local Government Consulting. They also deliberated the proposed time frame, at what point thorough background investigations would occur on a narrowed pool of candidates, whether and in what form housing assistance might take if offered, and more.

As the verbiage nitpicking dragged on with Sumter owner Warren Hutmacher, who joined the meeting remotely, a resemblance to the commission’s failed relationship with its prior executive search firm, Colin Baenziger and Associates, began to emerge. The city and Baenziger parted ways in May 2025 over irreconcilable differences, namely the commission’s apparent uniquely deep level of desired involvement in the early stage of candidate gathering.

Now more than a year after the retirement of Marlon Brown, City Auditor and Clerk Shayla Griggs, who along with City Attorney Joe Polzak is facilitating the search process, was ready to get on with advertising the position and finalizing the brochure.

“I just want us to be careful about wordsmithing this. We will never get this out if we're going to do it like this,” Griggs implored. “Talk about the important things you really need to see in this because if we keep doing what we're doing right now … I’m going to have to bring this back again.”

For his part, Battie just wanted to move on.

“I’m about to jump out of my seat. Good God almighty, can we get on with this?” Battie said.

After Vice Mayor Debbie Trice made the motion to approve the draft with several changes — including narrowing the starting salary of between $225,000 and $305,000, depending on qualifications and experience, to an as-yet specified range — Battie added, “I just feel like I seconded Pythagoreans theorem or something.”

Hutmacher recommended a three-week deadline from the posting of the job to accept applications, all of which will go to commissioners. He plans to attend the Jan. 5, 2026, commission meeting to help narrow the field to a non-specified number of semifinalists.

The lone sticking point among commissioners, namely Jen Ahearn-Koch, was the depth of background checks prior to the pool of finalists. Hutmacher recommends to subject semifinalists to a “soft” background check and finalists a more thorough investigation into criminal history, social media activity and other relevant areas.

“I'm just going to say I'm not okay with that, but if the rest of the commission feels comfortable with that, that's obviously fine,” Ahearn-Koch said.

For now, interviews of semifinalists will occur through mid-January, and finalists perhaps selected at the first meeting in February, if not during a special meeting. If that time frame holds up, Sarasota will name its first permanent city manager in 17 months, the job filled in the interim first by now-retired Public Works Director Doug Jeffcoat and currently by former Longboat Key Town Manager Dave Bullock.

The ideal candidate

The draft recruitment brochure prepared by Sumter Local Government Consulting lists the following qualities sought in the next Sarasota city manager.

A competitive individual who knows, understands and values the importance of being part of a team.
A leader who possesses the ability to relate to a diverse workforce.
An individual who can work with a shared community vision to see the big picture and execute the City Commission’s direction to achieve that vision.
A supportive leader with the will and ability to collaborate with the staff.
A confident leader, willing and able to delegate tasks that allow seasoned staff to work autonomously.
Exceptional communication skills.
A person of high integrity, always working to do what is in the long-term best interest of the city.
Someone who can think both locally and regionally.
An individual who can respectfully and effectively help resolve problems between opposing viewpoints.
Resourceful problem solver who works to progress, not impede the process.
Actively involved with local, state, and federal officials in a continuing effort to secure the resources necessary to continue moving the city forward.

Qualifications and preferred experience

At least 10 years of senior management experience as a city manager, assistant city manager or department head.
A bachelor’s degree in business, public administration, public policy or a related field. A master's degree is highly desirable.
Knowledge and experience in developing and maintaining complex municipal infrastructure.
A proven track record of open and productive community dialogue with community groups, business organizations, residents, visitors and regional and state leaders who may have at any time similar or conflicting views on community issues.
Knowledge of issues commonly associated with coastal communities, including infrastructure, emergency preparedness, crisis management and intergovernmental cooperation.
Familiarity and comfort with promoting and managing the impacts of tourism, seasonal resident populations and active and vibrant downtowns.

author

Andrew Warfield

Andrew Warfield is the Sarasota Observer city reporter. He is a four-decade veteran of print media. A Florida native, he has spent most of his career in the Carolinas as a writer and editor, nearly a decade as co-founder and editor of a community newspaper in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.