Phot: Scott Hopes, Charles Hines, Rick Mills

Manatee County will soon have a new county administrator. A series of increasingly scandalous developments assured that, and if anyone had a doubt how this all might end, Cheri Coryea ended speculation this week as she began severance negotiations.

As hard as that must have been for an administrator brought down more for her associations that any genuine missteps, this was the right thing to do as multiple newly elected commissioners made clear early they intended to deliver change. Good luck with that. As George Washington once rapped in Hamilton, “winning was easy young man, governing’s harder.”

But something else became clear this week too, namely that some of these harbingers of change have names in mind already for who should take over from Coryea. Both Manatee School Board Member Scott Hopes and former Superintendent of Schools Rick Mills had their names dropped non-casually. Indeed, those with names in mind seemed ready to install these individuals with haste. This surely rubbed Coryea supporters the wrong way, adding further question as to whether her proximity to termination came from any actual level of dissatisfaction with her work at all.

For the moment, the county instead appears on track to put former Sarasota County Commissioner Charles Hines in the job. While there seemed some public consternation at Tuesday’s commission meeting about whether there should be a more lengthy and public interview process, that’s not warranted considering the job will be temporary. Terry Lewis, a former North Port Police Chief who for a period seemed the interim choice for every government in Sarasota finding itself between administrations, once described the job of acting manager as keeping the wheels on the bus. Overriding vision, he mused, was the job of permanent hires.

But what happens now for Hopes or Mills? I don’t think anyone needs to forget these names soon, or the fact sitting members of the county commission already want one of these men running the administration.

Personally, for a county Manatee’s size, it seems only prudent a national search for candidates takes place. That said, both Hopes and Mills have backgrounds in administration, including in the public sector. Either one has the qualifications to lead the county. Both also boast a working knowledge of the community, something you don’t get with an out-of-state hire, and a working knowledge of working under Florida law including the confounding-to-some Sunshine Law.

Then again they both also bring baggage. Mills, much like Coryea, quit his superintendent job amid unsolvable tension with the board. Critics abounded within the district and community, though he arguably left schools themselves in better shape than he found them. Hopes can say the same thing, but has his critics as well. He survived a tough election cycle two years ago, and those who worked hard unsuccessfully to unseat him still live here and likely won’t welcome accruing more power.

Personally, from my own conversation with Hines this week, there’s also a chance he may take an interim tenure to prove he would also make a good permanent choice. That will bring interesting community conversation as well, I’m sure.

I’ve seen politicians hired into administrative roles before, but truthfully, it’s more common to see internal promotions, like Coryea or Sarasota City Manager Marlon Brown, or hires from outside the area. It will be a rare process to see debate over a number of known quantities with their own reputations in the region.

One another important note. Hopes today feels there could be an overlap in time as administrator. The Ethics Commission has apparently already said that’s okay as far as the law. But Commissioners, should they pick Hopes as a permanent administrator, should ask he resign his post and make a choice. The School Board and County Commission interface often, sometimes with competing agendas, on everything from growth management to taxes and impact fees. Elected officials report first to their constituency. An administrator needs his loyalty to be to the agenda of his seven commissioners to implement their policy decisions absent any other pressure.

Jacob Ogles is contributing senior editor for SRQ MEDIA.

Phot: Scott Hopes, Charles Hines, Rick Mills