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North Port commission names five finalists in city attorney search

5964644 · July 30, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

The City Commission of North Port agreed by consensus July 30 to advance five candidates as finalists in its search for a new city attorney and directed the recruitment firm to begin background checks and schedule on-site interviews.

The City Commission of North Port on July 30 selected five finalists to advance in its search for a new city attorney and directed the recruitment firm to begin background checks and schedule in-person interviews.

The finalists selected by consensus were Keith Merritt, Matt Rowerson, John Anastasio, Michael Puino and Regina Kardish. Doug Thomas, senior vice president at Strategic Government Resources (SGR), the firm conducting the search, told the commission the next steps include criminal- and employment-history checks, reference checks, media searches, and asking finalists to prepare a written "first-year game plan" and a short public presentation for on-site interviews.

SGR told commissioners it received ten initial applicants and narrowed the pool to eight semifinalists for the commission’s review. The semifinalist group included four women and…

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