Bunnell City Manager’s Job Draws 83 Applicants, Including Two of Its Own Directors

Eighty-three people applied to be Bunnell’s next city manager by the time the application window closed at the end of last week. The 75,000 to $80,000 position was advertised barely two weeks, but it’s drawn 36 applicants from 26 states and the District of Columbia, with the balance—47 applicants—from Florida.

Of those, eight are from Palm Coast, including Perry Mitrano, Bunnell’s solid waste manager, two are from Ormond Beach, including Judi Stetson, the city’s special projects director and a leading contender for the job, one from Flagler Beach (Neal McCopping, a former school administrator) one from Daytona Beach, and just one is from Bunnell—Mark Richter—though his resume, like several in the mix, cannot be taken seriously as a city manager candidate. Most of the Florida candidates are from within 90 minutes of Bunnell, and only four are from large cities (Jacksonville, St. Petersburg, Miami).

Elbert Tucker, one of the city commissioners, has said that he’s opposed to hiring anyone from a large city, because it wouldn’t be a good fit for Bunnell. (His original comment had been aimed at Miami in particular, where the current manager, Armando Martinez, came from. Tucker later explained that he did not mean to single out Miami or a particular geography so much as exclude candidates from larger cities—something county and city officials often do when they consider what would be the best fit for their own city.)

Mick Cuthbertson, Bunnell’s community services director since 2006, had considered throwing his name in, but then decided against it. “I love what I do right now,” he said.

Bunnell is looking to replace Martinez, whose contract expires in October. To keep him on, three of the five city commissioners wanted to pay Martinez less than his current salary of $112,000. Martinez would not agree to go below $97,000. The three—Elbert Tucker, John Rogers and Bill Baxley—would not go beyond $80,000, making the end of Martinez’s five-year tenure all but final.

Mayor Catherine Robinson and Commissioner Jenny Crain-Brady attempted to keep Martinez, staunchly defending his record, but fell short. The battle over Martinez has deepened a serious rift on the commission between the three men and the two women—a rift that colored the departures of Finance Director Cynthia Bertha in July, and the resignation of City Attorney Lonnie Groot last week after two months on the job.  Betha blamed the new majority for her resignation, while Groot hinted at a lack of professionalism on the commission after Crain-Brady questioned his billing.

The rift on the commission, whose meetings now frequently devolve into something little short of name-calling when serious matters are on the table, will likely define the way the five members hire a new manager—if they succeed in doing so.

The manager, once hired, will be in a precarious position, because next March’s election may change the complexion of the commission once again. Two seats are up, those of Rogers and Brady. Several candidates are lining up to run, or testing a run, among them Randy Burke, the long-time Bunnell City Police lieutenant and Daisy Henry, the former city commissioner who lost in the last election by a few votes. The election may be a referendum on the new majority. If that majority falls, Robinson, who’s reacted bitterly (and publicly) to the current majority’s actions, may look for pay-back. Martinez himself has said that he would consider returning to Bunnell if he was not employed elsewhere by then, and if there was an outcry for him.

But a new manager may create new dynamics as well.

As is often the case when a city is flooded with applicants (Flagler Beach got 140 applications in 2010), a substantial number of those can be ruled out with a quick glance, as the applicants are clearly unqualified for the position they’re seeking—with little to no management or public agency experience.

Other than Mitrano, the Palm Coast candidates include John Elac, William Karback (a former sheriff’s employee and candidate for sheriff), Michelle Liedtke, an events and catering manager, Jacqueline Pratt, who’s been involved mostly in education, Natalie Terman, most recently a substitute teacher in Flagler schools, R. Scott Tippton, a Florida State Trooper  since 1983, and Lawrence Williams, a former city manager of Belle Isle, a city of about 6,400 (“In 2008 I resigned from my position,” he wrote, “to be closer to my grandson who was diagnosed with a serious illness”). Only Williams has managed a city before.

Below is a full list, including the resumes and applications of all candidates who turned them in.

Bunnell City Manager Applicants

Pdfs of Resumes	Last Name	First Name	Address	City	State
Resume	Adams	Glen	317 Calagary Drive	Preachtree City	Georgia	30239
Resume	Austin	Dave	604 Chivas Court	Orange Park	Florida	32073
Resume	Bates	Dudley	968 Vineridge Run #102	Altamonte Springs	Florida	32714
Resume	Baugher	Douglas	808 Branbury Dr	Port Orange	Florida	32129
Resume	Belmarez	Michael Barr	501 Doverton Place	DeBary	Florida	32713
Resume	Borkgren	Ronald	802 A St NE	Washington	DC	20002
Resume	Bowerman	R. Stacy	100 Cumpstone Dr	Hamden	Connecticut
Resume	Braun	David
Resume	Bythwood	Patricia	P.O. Box 620942	Oviedo	Florida	32762
Resume	Carlyle	Darrel	1308 Highland Ave	Read Oak	Iowa	51566
Resume	Clapsaddle	David	986 Sylvia Dr	Deltona	Florida	32725
Resume	DeCandis	Andrew	409 Triple Crown Lane	Jacksonville	Florida	32259
Resume	Drymon	J. Douglas	5532 E. Harbor Dr	Fruitland Park	Florida	34731
Resume	Ducas	George	3300 University Park Lane	Irving	Texas	75062
Resume	Elac	John	19 Reindeer Lane	Palm Coast	Florida	32164
Resume	Etheridge	Franklin	509A Second Street	LaFayette	Georgia	30728
Resume	Evans	Randall		Port Orange	Florida	32129
Resume	Evett	Lee	337 James Circle	Lake Alfred	Florida	3385
Resume	Finch	Doug	166 Deseyn Drive	Canandaigua	New York	14424
Resume	Fiozzo	Gregory	10 St. Joseph Street	Schenectady	New York	12303
Resume	Fox	Marlowe	10435 Midtown Parkway #210	Jacksonville	Florida	32246
Resume	Francis	Kendal	1309 North Mill	Beloit	Kansas	67420
Resume	Franklin	Allen	2533 Polo Road	Winston-Salem	North Carolina	27106
Resume	Gallego-Arboleda	Mercelana	6808 Amici Commissioner Tucker.	Port Orange	FL	32128
Resume	Gantt-Brown	Niema	503 Cherokee Dr	Summerville	South Carolina	29486
Resume	Glover	Mark Langello	334 S. Bahamas Ave	Temple Terrace	Florida	33617
Resume	Hamilton	Kevin	2515 Fillmore Ave	Ogden	Utah	84401
Resume	Hayfield	George	P.O. Box 763	Dover	Tenessee	37058
Resume	Hicka	Hope	1475 Woodlake Dr #220	Lakeland	Florida	33803
Resume	Houillion	Brian	1497 Main Street #15	Dunedin	Florida	34698
Resume	Jackson	Alvin	5528 Boynton Gardens Dr	Boynton Beach	Florida	33437
Resume	Jankosky	Judith	40023 Agusta Dr.	Lady Lake	Florida	32159
Resume	Karback	William	P.O. Box 352828	Palm Coast	Florida	32135
Resume	Keogh	Kevin	6219 Palm Del Mar Blvd #216	St. Petersburg	Florida	33715
Resume	Kerbin	William	10791 Foreston Road	Chestertown	Maryland	21620
Resume	King	Hugh
Resume	Lang	Constance	5931 Guarino Dr.	Sarasota	Florida	34238
Resume	Liedtke	Michelle	60 Fairbank Lane	Palm Coast	Florida	32137
Resume	Lucas	Danny	P.O. Box 1678	Ridgeland	South Carolina	29936
Resume	Mangini	Joseph	7359 Old Westover Marion Rd	Westover	Maryland	21871
Resume	Marro	Stephen	70 Andora Street	St. Augustine	Florida	32086
Resume	McCoppin	Neal	306 North 11th Street	Flagler Beach	Florida	32136
Resume	Mendez	Ricardo	905 Brickell Drive #323	Miami	Florida	33131
Resume	Mitchell	Brandon	102 Camellia Drive	Quitman	Georgia	31643
Resume	Mitrano	Perry	207 London Drive	Palm Coast	Florida	32137
Resume	Moffett	David	767 W. Granada Ave #4203	Ormond Beach	Florida	32174
Resume	Morales	Pedro	6808 Amici Court	Port Orange	Florida
Resume	Museus	Robert	636 E. Waterford Drive	Beloit	Wisconsin	53511
Resume	Nagy	Michael	P.O. Box 831	Paris	Kentucky	40362
Resume	Neratko	Steve	P.O. Box 463	Dunkirk	New York	14048
Resume	Nuckles	Duane	4901 Wakeview Court	Huber Heights	Ohio	45424
Resume	Phillips	Rick	1608 E. Poplar Street	Davisville	West Virginia	26142
Resume	Pilgrim	Carlo	7 Abenaki Rd	Boothbay Harbor	Maine	4538
Resume	Pratt	Jacqueline	1 Selene Place	Palm Coast	Florida	32164
Resume	Rabun	Ronald	511 Forest Trail	Griffin	Georgia	30223
Resume	Reid	James	15802 Myrtle Place	Dumfries	Virginia	22025
Resume	Richter	Mark	5814 Ironwood	Bunnell	Florida	32110
Resume	Rivera	Hector	3682 SW Bimini Circle N.	Palm City	Florida	34990
Resume	Roberts	Jon	8215 Bar X Terrace	Colorado Springs	Colorado	80908
Resume	Rodabaugh	Thomas	11 Arlen Road #F	Nottingham	Maryland	21236
Resume	Roebuck	Russell	665 Forest Lane	Deland	Florida	32724
Resume	Rosario	Jose	3069 Boxelder St	Deltona	Florida	32725
Resume	Russo	Christopher	400 Dover Avenue	East Providence	Rhode Island	2914
Resume	Sandoval	Alex	3430 Sweet Pea Way	Sacramento	Califorina	95833
Resume	Sheckels	Lisa	9675 Luther Beck Road	Hastings	Florida	32145
Resume	Silva	Peter	891 E. Red House Branch Rd	St. Augustine	Florida	32084
Resume	SmigielskI	Mell	407 Ridge Road	Mahomet	Illinois	61853
Resume	Snead	Brannon	1312 Lake Lucerne Way #301	Brandon	Florida	33511
Resume	Sparks	Dennis	2308 Jackson Street	Hopewell	Virginia	23860
Resume	Stampfler	Michael	7350 Angling Rd	Portage	Michigan	49024
Resume	Stetson	Judith	76 Margaret Rd.	Ormond Beach	Florida	32176
Resume	Stuntebeck	Clint	371 Rose Glen Frive	Radnor	Pennsylvania	19087
Resume	Terman	Natalie	P.O. Box 350035	Palm Coast	Florida	32135
Resume	Tipton	R. Scott	4 Squire Court	Palm Coast	Florida	32164
Resume	Toutounchian	Justin	1224 South Palmetto Ave #209	Daytona Beach	Florida	32114
Resume	Urquilla-Diaz	Carlos	19400 E. 37th Terrace Court #1305	Independence	Mossouri	64057
Resume	Vella	Fred	2458 4th Place	Vero Beach	Florida	32962
Resume	Ventresco	Fred	18 Coldbrook Rd #2	Wilmington	Vermont	5363
Resume	Weaver	John	930 Mt. Gilead Road	Murrells Inlet	South Carolina	29576
Resume	Weeks	Stephen
Resume	Whisnant	Angie	6821 Eagle Ridge Loop	Lakeland	Florida	33813
Resume	White	Troy	2603 Swansong Lane	Charlotte	North Carolina	28213
Resume	Williams	Lawrence	12 Wilksboro Place	Palm Coast	Florida	32164