Applications pour in for Live Oak city manager position

Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, March 25, 2015

City Hall.

Twenty people have applied for the position of Live Oak city manager as of Monday, March 23, following the resignation of former city manager Kerry Waldron on Feb. 18. Waldron is now the administrator for the Florida Department of Health in Suwannee County. 
The job was advertised in late February at city hall and in the public notices section of this newspaper and the deadline to apply for the position is next Friday, April 3.

There are a handful of locals among the 20 applicants including Dorothy Cooks and Jacqueline White of Live Oak and Dale Palmer of Jasper. The complete list of applicants is below, followed by their city and state or country of residence and brief background as submitted in their applications to the city.

Don Amunds, Mary Esther, Fla. Amunds served as county commissioner in Okaloosa County, Fla. from 2004 to 2014 as well as serving as the Okaloosa County coordinator and in various positions at the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

William Baker, Enterprise, Ala. Since 2002, Baker has worked with Navigator Development Group Inc. in Enterprise as the vice president of client programs. Previously, he served in various positions with the military.

Terrell Brannon, Crawfordville, Fla. Brannon was a facilities instructor and building official with the Department of Education in Tallahassee from 2007 to 2011. Previously he was the branch supervisor of the Palm Beach County Building Division from 2005 to 2007.

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James F. Coleman, Lady Lake, Fla. Coleman is a reservist with National Disaster Recovery Support. He’s been a city manager for Williston, Fla., a public works director for Leesburg, Fla., and a town manager for Lady Lake, Fla.

Dorothy Cooks, Live Oak, Fla. Cooks is a certified dietary manager with a bachelor’s degree in health administration, who has worked at Surrey Place Care Center in Live Oak since 2006. She’s previously worked at the Madison County Memorial Hospital and Perry Health Care Center.

Gregg R. Griffin, Chattanooga, Tenn. Since 2013 Griffin has been the senior project manager of technology innovations with the Tennessee Valley Authority. He’s previously been a director of electric utility for Green Cove Springs and deputy director of electric utility for Ocala.

Don Hart, Tallahassee, Fla. Hart has been the chief financial officer for the city of Midway, Fla. since 2011. He’s served as a city manager for Cuthbert, Ga. and as an estimator for Southern Allied Contractors.

Hassan Itani, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Since 2012, Itani is the operations manager at King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia. He is a U.S. citizen and holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering technologies in electronics from the University of Central Florida.

Michael James, Mountain Brook, Ala. James is vice president and financial analyst for corporate finances for BBVA Compass in Birmingham, Ala. since 2011. His extensive financial background includes working as a senior financial analyst for Cox Media in Atlanta.

William Lopez, Jacksonville, Fla. Lopez is a property manager and key training professional with Public Storage since 2008. He has a background in sales, including work as a sales specialist at Lowe’s Home Improvement in Lake City.

Bradley E. Myers, Du Quoin, Ill. Since 2012, Myers has served as the city administrator and clerk of Du Quoin. He was previously a program manager and director of operations at Five Rivers Services in Colorado Springs.

Bryan Naugle, Sebring, Fla. Naugle works with the Salvation Army in Sebring as the Director of Misdemeanor Corrections since 2007. He was a minister with the Sebring Parkway Church of Christ from 2003 to 2006.

Louis A. Ogaard, West Valley City, Utah. Since 2014, Ogaard has been the program manager at Maden Technologies in Dugway, Utah. He previously served on the North Dakota Public Service Commission in Bismarck, N.D. from 1985 to 2006.

Dale F. Palmer, Jasper, Fla. Palmer was a public health administrator in Mercer County, Ohio, from 2008 to 2014. He served as the fire division chief in Cape Coral, Fla. from 1975 to 2002. He currently works as a self-employed labor relations consultant.

Dennis R. Sparks, Hopewell, Va. Sparks is a self-employed management consultant since 2005. He was previously the village manager of the Village of Maywood, Ill. from 2002 to 2003. He has served in county administrator and city manager positions since 1978.

Joseph M. Spence, Galesburg, Ill. Spence is a soil conservation technician with the USDA-NRCS since 2010. He was previously a developer/development partner with RPM America from 2000 to 2008, and was an assistant zoning administrator in Illinois from 1972 to 1984.

Trina Weiss, Orlando, Fla. Weiss is an Internet sales support supervisor with Miller Bearings Division of Motion Industries in Orlando since 2014. Her sales background includes a position as inside account representative with Hagemeyer North America.

Jacqueline White, Live Oak, Fla. Since 2014, White has been the lead Medicaid benefits counselor with Elder Options in Gainesville. Her healthcare background includes years of work with Elder Options.

William Whitson, Lynn Haven, Fla. Whitson was most recently the Panama City CRA director from 2011 to 2014. He has served as a city manager or assistant city manager in East Ridge, Tenn., Cairo, Ga., Port Orange, Fla. and Milton, Fla.

David Wilkinson, South Whitley, Ind. Wilkinson has been the town manager of South Whitley, Ind. since 2012 as well as a former town marshal. He has also held the title of chief of police in South Whitley since 1999.

The city manager of Live Oak oversees an annual budget of $18 million and 58 employees in a city of 6,850 people, according to the city’s job advertisement. Candidates for city manager ideally possess a “bachelor’s degree in public administration or business administration with three to five years of increasingly responsible Florida public sector management experience either at the city manager level or one step below,” the description reads.

The Live Oak City Council will review the applications for the city manager position before narrowing down the pool of applicants for interviews.