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Pinellas County, Schools Poised To Hire New Leaders

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By STEVEN GIRARDI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 8, 2008

CLEARWATER - Their missions, once they choose to accept them, are something like this:

Solve the problems of one of Pinellas County's two largest governments; squeeze similar services from smaller budgets, and show a knack for turning controversy into consensus.

As Pinellas County commissioners and school board members move this week to hire new leaders, they acknowledge the demands are more easily made than done.

"You not only have to deal with seven bosses - the seven commissioners - but some 2,800 working staff and all the citizens and the constant scrutiny of the media," county commission Chairman Bob Stewart said, summing up the county administrator's position. "It's really understandable how issues come up and how polarization happens."

The county commission has offered that job to Bob LaSala.

LaSala, who resigned in November as the manager of Lancaster, Calif., is as close a match as they might find to the interim administrator, Fred Marquis.

Marquis led the county for 22 years before retiring in 2000. Commissioners lured him back in September 2007 after firing his successor, Steve Spratt.

LaSala, 59, spent 10 years as Marquis' first chief assistant, from 1979 to 1989. Commissioners are expected to finalize a $225,000-a-year contract Tuesday to make him their new administrator.

"He reminds me of Fred," Commissioner Susan Latvala said. "Fred has a positive attitude and says 'Let's figure out how to get this done.' And that's what Bob brings."

Meanwhile, the Pinellas County School Board will interview three remaining candidates for the superintendent of schools job today. Wednesday, they are expected to choose one of the three and begin contract negotiations before taking a final vote Sept. 23.

Superintendent Contenders

Their choices: Alberto M. Carvalho, 43, associate superintendent of Miami-Dade County schools; Nicholas M. Gledich, 55, chief operations officer for Orange County schools; and Julie Janssen, 59, the interim superintendent and a 38-year employee of the Pinellas school district.

The school board is replacing Superintendent Clayton Wilcox, who resigned in June to take another job after four years in Pinellas.

The job pays $200,000 to $240,000 to lead the 23rd-largest school district in the country, with a $1.5 billion budget, 16,000 employees and about 105,000 students. The new boss will inherit issues from budget cuts to school zoning and will need to please parents, educators and seven board members.

"I'm not quite sure anyone in their right mind would like to be superintendent in this day and age," school board member Jane Gallucci said. "You have to have a very strong sense of self."

Gallucci said finding someone who values team-building and collaboration will be important - "someone that is an innovator and is going to move the school district forward."

School board Chairwoman Nancy Bostock said the district needs to find the right person.

"Ultimately, the superintendent has to walk a fine line between being that point person, being that leader, but one who can take direction from the elected board," she said. "You really have to work together, even if you don't see eye to eye."

Bostock said the county needs someone with experience in large school districts, and that has eliminated some candidates. "Not so much for ideas - many people have good ideas - but for the implementation of whatever new approaches there are. They need a good grasp on what it means to roll it out," she said.

With education issues, controversies flare up often.

"Being able to build that consensus and to move forward is an important skill for all of these folks," Bostock said.

Smooth Transition Seen

For LaSala, the transition should be smooth enough. He is familiar with the county, and Marquis will work with him for six weeks after LaSala takes over Nov. 18. "It's one of those rare events," Marquis said. "Usually, when you're replacing a county administrator, something controversial has happened."

Commissioners are scheduled to interview LaSala again at their meeting Tuesday and vote on his contract.

LaSala leaves a city of 145,000 in Lancaster, Calif., to lead a county of nearly 1 million people, with 4,000 employees, a $2 billion budget and looming budget cuts because of property tax reductions voters approved in January.

He resigned as city manager in Lancaster in an uproar over his opposition to a development backed by the previous city manager and proposed by a politically connected developer. The developer vowed to have LaSala removed and found allies in three of the five city council members. Despite an outpouring of public support, LaSala resigned.

"Ultimately, I concluded this was not going to work out very well," he said.

Commissioner Latvala said the controversy reinforced her desire to hire LaSala.

"He did the right thing and stood up to the developers and to some of his commissioners who wanted to bend the rules," she said. "That's the kind of ethics I was looking for and integrity."

Commissioner Karen Seel said that LaSala's experience with tax limits in California should help as Pinellas faces similar cuts. She said that he will be adept at quashing controversies and reaching compromises - trademarks of Marquis' tenure.

"I think Bob has learned from Fred that if you have a sticky situation, you work with the opposition and find that middle ground," she said.

LaSala said Marquis is a good example of putting aside your own ego and respecting the government process, "as opposed to trying to establish yourself as a power and influence at the expense of others."

Those are important traits, Latvala said, as the county administrator will have to deal with his own government and build relationships with 23 municipalities in Pinellas.

Reporter Steven Girardi can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or sgirardi@tampatrib.com.

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