Photo by Sebastián González de León y León
Kenneth City’s Town Council continues to search for its new Town Manager after the last one was fired in April. Police Chief Michael Vieno continues to temporarily fill the position.
During the July 12 Town Council meeting, Mayor Megan Zemaitis and the rest of the council discussed multiple financial decisions. This included budget planning and maintaining the current tax millage rate. They also talked about giving a raise to police officers, and compensating Vieno for his town manager duties.
Updates For Kenneth City’s New Town Manager
“Our process is not one where we’re going to throw a whole lot of candidates against the wall to see what sticks,” said Jay Reynolds, CEO and president of WolfCreek Consulting. “We have somewhere in the neighborhood of eight candidates.”
WolfCreek was tasked with searching and bringing candidates to fill the position of town manager. Vice-mayor Bonnie Noble said the vetting process had not been as thorough as she wanted.
“There were no social media checks,” Noble said. “We had specifically said that we wanted social media checks.”
For one candidate, Noble said: “I’m quite concerned because there was like an 86 page investigation.” This was about Peter Lear, a former city manager of North Port who made the list of candidates.
“I’ll read you the conclusion [of the investigation], just the highlights,” Noble said. “There’s sufficient evidence to conclude that Lear engaged in misconduct.”
The search for Kenneth City’s new Town Manager is not all that happened at the July 12 Town Council meeting. Read about the Town’s recently elected Mayor, and budget changes.
According to The Herald-Tribune, Lear faced accusations of having an affair with a subordinate. In 2020, Lear stepped down as manager and received a $140,000 severance following a settlement with North Port.
“He was able to be employed by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department because he had a clean background,” Reynolds said.
“If our clerk wouldn’t have gone out and asked for additional information, we would be sitting here thinking that ‘well, maybe Mr. Lear is a good candidate’,” Noble said.
Council members also said they wanted more candidates. Miguel Joubert from WolfCreek noted that candidates beyond the list were asking for salary expectations that were too high. Others were not interested.
“These were the ones willing to interview,” Joubert said.
Top Three Picks
“We should interview the ones that we have,” Zemaitis said about the eight-person list. “If we wait and hold another two months… some of these initial candidates might not be available anymore.”
“I think that that’s exactly the course that we should take,” Reynolds said.
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The council voted for each member to choose their top three picks and send them to Deputy Clerk Kristin Cook.
The dais also decided to share further details on their expectations about candidates with WolfCreek after a workshop session scheduled for July 18. The representatives also want to continue working with WolfCreek. If the council can’t decide on a candidate from the list, WolfCreek will have to find new options.
“It’s a process we have to kind of bend and bring back on the roadway,” Vieno told The Gabber Newspaper at the end of the meeting. “I think they’ll be able to move forward with their guidance.”
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