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Youth Is Rightfully Being Served With New Dade City Manager

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 24, 2008

Conventional wisdom suggests a government's top administrator needs to be seasoned, not only in life but also in public service, especially when state lawmakers and voters are mandating reductions in property tax revenue.

Dade City commissioners have bucked that trend - with very good reasoning.

In ending a city manager search that dragged on for months, the board tapped Billy Poe, Zephyrhills' assistant city planner, last week. Despite the difficulties in finding someone to replace former manager Harold Sample - the city's first choice backed out - Poe's selection is refreshing and exciting, even if he has never been a city manager or department head.

Poe is a local who's on the way up. He was raised in Zephyrhills and still lives there, so he knows the issues affecting east Pasco and its residents.

He has a master's in business administration from a local college - Saint Leo University. This will help him run the city as a business, which should please taxpayers.

He has spent more than five years working for the best city manager in Pasco County - Steve Spina. Poe's planning experience also will greatly benefit Dade City, which is finally growing after years of stagnancy.

And consider his work experience outside city government: He once taught special education and physical education at Woodland Elementary School in Zephyrhills. His communication skills and education background will be immensely helpful as he gets started in Dade City and works with community groups.

Poe's best attribute may be his youth - he's 31 and full of energy. His age shouldn't concern Dade residents in the slightest. Remember, state Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, is only 28, and he has a chance of becoming a future speaker of the house. And Florida Gators know that head men's basketball coach Billy Donovan was just 28 when he got his first head coaching job at Marshall University.

Poe should make an enthusiastic effort to get more young people involved in government and public service.

The four Dade City commissioners who chose Poe deserve credit for their willingness to hire a city manager who has never been one before. Commissioner Camille Hernandez, the lone dissenter, was concerned about Poe's lack of experience, which is understandable. But she should realize that too often, city and county administrators move from post to post just to further their careers, salaries and retirement benefits, not to strengthen communities where they seek jobs.

And Dade City is the perfect size for a novice city manager. You can bet that Poe will work even harder to prove the commission made the right decision.

If government is in turmoil or so sloppily run that taxpayers' best interests aren't being served, it's best to go outside for a fresh perspective in hiring a chief administrator, one who is a veteran problem-solver. But in Dade City, that's not the case. City Clerk/Finance Director Jim Class has kept government on course while serving as interim manager, and the city progressed under Sample's leadership.

Both Class and Karla Owens, the city's attorney and community development director, will be invaluable assets to Poe.

What's truly exciting is that Poe sincerely wants the job and is excited about it. And those are important qualities that don't show up on a resume.

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