Escambia County hires consulting firm to lead county administrator search

Escambia County could have a new permanent county administrator by late spring or early summer after the County Commission approved the hiring of a national search firm on Tuesday.

The commission voted 4-0 to approve the hiring of GovHR USA, an Illinois-based public management consulting firm that specializes in recruiting department heads for municipal governments.

Since June 2021, Wes Moreno has served as interim county administrator after the County Commission fired former County Administrator Janice Gilley.

In August, the commission approved finding a search firm to conduct a job search to find a permanent top executive for the county government.

Four firms responded to the county's call for search firms, and a selection committee recommended GovHR USA for the job.

The firm will be paid a fee of $22,500, plus up to $10,000 for any travel or related costs.

GovHR USA will work with the county to come up with a job description and then conduct a search and screening of potential candidates. There will be two rounds of interviews, with the first including five or six candidates and the second round narrowing the field to two or three finalist candidates who will go to the County Commission for a final decision.

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GovHR USA's proposal said they will conduct the search in 14 weeks.

"I tend to be a little skeptical," Commission Chairman Jeff Bergosh said. "But if they can do that, that means in the May or June timeframe."

Commission Lumon May was also skeptical.

"We've done this rodeo before," May said. "…If they brought some names back in 14 weeks, great, but I don't see that happening."

Bergosh said he supported hiring a search firm, but he was in no rush because Moreno was "doing a hell of a job."

"Wes, thank you for stepping up in some very tough circumstances," Bergosh said.

Moreno said it's been an honor to work for the County Commission.

"It's quite a learning experience for sure," Moreno said. "But with support the board, you've accomplished quite a bit in the six or seven months that we've been at this, and so I want to keep working hard. We're going to keep making strides in the right direction."

Jim Little can be reached at jwlittle@pnj.com and 850-208-9827.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia County hires GovHR USA for county administrator search