Commission to reopen Fort Lauderdale city attorney search; majority favors using search firm and wider outreach

The Fort Lauderdale City Commission on June 3 directed staff to reopen the recruitment for the permanent city attorney and to obtain quotes from search firms to broaden outreach and identify additional candidates.

Background and action: Human Resources Director Jerome Post summarized the recruitment process: 52 applicants were screened, 17 interviewed by the citizens committee and three finalists (Alexander Boxner, James Saunders and Dwayne Spence) advanced for commission consideration. Commissioners interviewed the finalists individually; several commissioners said they valued the candidates but wanted broader outreach. Commissioner Ryan Sorensen explicitly said he was not comfortable selecting any of the three finalists and recommended a renewed search with professional recruiting assistance.

Why it matters: Commissioners cited two reasons for reopening the recruitment: (1) several potentially qualified candidates might have abstained from applying during a period of city leadership transition (the city had an ongoing city-manager search earlier) and (2) commissioners wanted additional confidence that they had reached the broadest possible qualified pool. Roosevelt Walters, who served on the citizen search committee, told the commission that the committee chose not to press its recommendations so the commission could make the final selection without committee influence.

Next steps: Staff will solicit quotes from search firms and return with a plan. Commissioners discussed limiting the search to Florida-licensed attorneys or a regional scope rather than a national search. Jerome Post estimated a roughly three-month timeline to complete the search-firm assisted recruitment and return finalists to the commission.