Kauffman To Be Interim Administrator

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Bill Kauffman

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Kauffman to be interim administrator for the county

By Joe Callahan
Staff writer
Published: Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at 1:09 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at 1:09 p.m.

The Marion County Commission on Tuesday decided to ditch a national search to find a replacement for former County Administrator Lee Niblock.

Instead, they named Assistant County Administrator Bill Kauffman, who had been acting administrator for the last two weeks, as interim county administrator.

Niblock recently left Marion County to take the county manager post in Alachua County.

After a lengthy discussion Tuesday, the board of county commissioners decided unanimously to give Kauffman until Sept. 30, 2015, to prove he can handle the job.

Each of the five commissioners will come up with specific job responsibilities on which they will evaluate Kauffman over the next 10-plus months.

They will review his leadership and budgetary skills, and if any commissioner believes Kauffman is not working out between now and Sept. 30, they can bring it to the board at any time for a discussion.

They also could immediately move forward with a national search if a majority agrees with that viewpoint.

In the meantime, Commission Chairman Stan McClain will work with Kauffman on a contract, whereby compensation and other details will be worked out. That contract should be ready no later than the last meeting in December, officials said.

“I’m good with it and looking forward to the challenge,” Kauffman said after Tuesday’s meeting. “I’m looking to help move this county forward.”

Kauffman joined Marion County in 2008 as an assistant county administrator in charge of public and administrative services.

From 2002 to 2008, he was chief financial officer for Hospice of Marion County.

He was a reimbursement manager for UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville from 1999-2002, and director of operations and then administrator of Shands HomeCare from 1997-1999. He worked as a controller and general manager in the private sector in the 1980s.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of South Florida in 1993 and a master’s degree in business administration from Kennedy Western University in 2004.

Abandoning the national search came after Commissioner David Moore made a motion to name Kauffman interim county administrator.

That prompted Commissioner Kathy Bryant to challenge the idea at first. Though she supports Kauffman, she said that if they were going to conduct a national search, having an interim administrator who was applying for the job would diminish the number of candidates who would apply.

“They would think we were just going through the process” and not apply, thinking the commission would just hire the interim, Bryant said.

McClain agreed, suggesting they give Kauffman a shot before conducting a national search.

“I don’t feel comfortable going down both roads,” McClain said of naming an interim and conducting a national search.

The commissioners agreed Kauffman could not be the interim administrator and also apply for the administrator job.

Moore said it appears Kauffman would be someone who would be with the county for seven to 10 years, instead of just two years, like a typical county administrator in today’s market.

McClain said that by giving Kauffman until Sept. 30 the commission can evaluate his performance, especially his biggest responsibility — the county budget.

The commission agreed it would be the best challenge they could put before any candidate.

Contact Joe Callahan at 867-4113 or at joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter at JoeOcalaNews.