Destin council to interview top city manager candidates
DESTIN — The City Council on Monday agreed to soon hold a special meeting at which it plans to interview its top five city manager candidates.
The special session is set for 9 a.m. Nov. 27 at City Hall.
The five finalists come from a pool of 53 applicants and were ranked as the most qualified by the seven council members.
The finalists are, in no particular order:
• Lance Johnson, who had served as Destin’s parks and recreation director since 2006 and has served as Destin’s interim city manager since early August
• Robert Rokovitz, who has served as the city manager of Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia, since 2016
• Mark Rohr, who was the city manager of League City, Texas, from early 2014 to late 2016
• Danielle Judd, who was the city manager of Green Cove Springs near Jacksonville from 2011 through this past September
• Ted Lakey, who has served as the county administrator of Taylor County, south of Tallahassee, since 2017.
Edwin “Buz” Eddy, a senior adviser with the Florida City and County Management Association and International City/County Management Association, has been helping Destin search for a new manager.
Eddy on Monday recommended that the council interview the five finalists by telephone or via Skype on Nov. 27. Each interview is anticipated to last 45 minutes.
Carisse LeJeune resigned as Destin’s city manager this past summer after two years on the job after a majority of the council cited concerns such as a lack of trust in her and a division between staff and the council.
The salary range for the job is $123,000 to $140,000.
In other business Monday, the council agreed to indefinitely table a proposed, almost $147,000 initial phase of a study that would have looked at potential parking/transportation system upgrades, including at least one city parking garage.
Among other concerns, some council members said the city already is subsidizing various Harbor District businesses that haven’t provided enough of their own parking spaces.