Would Sarasota Give Susan Stanton Another Chance?

Her name was Steven, as the CNN documentary says, and she wants another shot at applying for Sarasota city manager. 

Susan Stanton, a transgendered female who applied for the job in 2007, e-mailed Mayor Suzanne Atwell on Feb. 13 expressing interest in the post:

"About five years ago, I interviewed for City Manager for Sarasota shortly after leaving my previous job as City Manager in Largo Florida.  I was interested in the job at the time because I love the community and felt I had much to offer.

With the resignation of Bob, I am once again exciting about this potential opportunity." 

The city hired Robert Bartolotta instead in 2007, and he has since resigned in January following the controversy of mishandled computer files that could have violated open records and privacy acts.

Stanton became a nationwide story for being a transgendered woman applying for the job. Susan used to be Steven Stanton and was ousted as city manager in Largo in 2007 after she told officials that she would have a sex change operation. CNN even filmed a 2010 documentary on Stanton called "Her Name Was Steven."

Stanton was fired as Lake Worth city manager in December, according to the Palm Beach Post, after new commissioners came into office, citing a "sense of distrust and anger among residents." 

The firing itself was controversial, the paper reported:

"Stanton received a mostly favorable evaluation by the commission in April, though then-Mayor Rene Varela criticized her for poor relations with residents, employees and other government leaders.

In an April 4 memo to the commission, Stanton said she found more problems than she expected after she became city manager, including a financial system that allowed departments to spend money not approved in the budget, a lack of personnel policies and no payroll time-recording system."

The paper also reported in another story that residents showed up protesting Stanton's firing and the process. And even Lake Worth Commissioner Andy Amoroso, who voted to fire her, defended her to an extent, the Post reported:

"'She did a lot of housekeeping that we needed to do and hired a lot of good people,' Amoroso said. 'We have new visionaries in the city, and at this time we need some new energy. The people voted strongly for change, and I think we need to move forward in that direction.'"

Sarasota's city commissioners started the search process Tueday and how it wants to conduct it after giving approval for the Human Resources director Kurt Hoverter and Interim City Manager Terry Lewis to contact Colin Baenziger & Associates to begin recruitment.

The search will cost $28,500, of which $21,500 will be paid to Baenziger and $7,000 to host and interview finalists, according to the city.

The commissioners are open to broadening the search to beyond those with longtime experience in a city manager role.

"I want it broad," Commissioner Shannon Snyder said. "I'll take a retired Army or Marine Corps. colonel … or a retired police chief.

He said the ideal candidate has to understand what Sarasota is and what it's looking for, and what they're coming into. 

Mayor Suzanne Atwell wants community groups involved in some fashion. She had tossed around an idea of having community groups, like chambers of commerce, Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations and others, select a representative and be on a panel, and the idea morphed into having these groups suggest people instead. About 15 people could be on this version. 

"We need to get out in the community," Atwell said.

Vice Mayor Terry Turner expressed concern with the groups appointing the leaders, and attorney Robert Fournier added there could be issues with whether these persons were members of these groups, so instead the commissioners would be the ones selecting the members.

Atwell also added she would like the recruiter to be active finding applicants instead of waiting for résumés and would like the commission to receive 10 candidates and vote to narrow it down to five who would be interviewed.

Whomever takes the job won't have a cakewalk, a former mayor told The Herald-Tribune:

"It's not for the faint of heart," said Kerry Kirschner, a former Sarasota mayor and director of The Argus Foundation, a local business advocacy group.

"On the outside it looks great," Kirschner said. "But when you dig down, that person has to come here and face a lot of problems."

Baenzinger also told The Herald-Tribune that creating buzz to get quality candidates is key:

"'The real trick is to create a buzz,' Baenzinger said, adding that if the commission approves the contract it will take about 90 days to identify a finalist."

Would that buzz include Stanton? It's up to Sarasota.

Sarasota, would you consider Stanton for the city manager job? Tell Us in the Comments.