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Bradley Arnold outlines timeline for Flagler County administrator search
Summary
Bradley Arnold, a Sumter County administrator helping on Flagler’s three-member search committee, told the Flagler County Board on May 4 that the job posting has drawn about 31 qualified applicants and laid out a June–July timeline for screening, shortlisting and background checks.
Bradley Arnold, a Sumter County administrator working with the Florida Association of County Managers, told the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners on May 4 that the county administrator job posting has produced a strong applicant pool and outlined a multiweek recruitment schedule.
Arnold said the county had already received about 31 qualified applications and that staff expect to begin screening the week of June 30, with committee review planned for July 6–10 and a tentative shortlist review scheduled for July 13. Background checks are slated for July 14–20, with public interviews and the board’s final selection to follow in a July 27–August 17 window.
The update came as part of a three-person search-committee process the board hired to manage screening and shortlisting. Arnold described the committee’s role as producing a ranked shortlist for the board and asked commissioners for guidance on how many finalists to present. “If you do want all of the applicants, I can give you guys all the applicants as we go through,” Charlie Pecano, the county’s HR director, said; the board asked staff to provide PDFs of qualified applicants on an ongoing (weekly) basis to give commissioners visibility during the process.
The committee emphasized candidate fit for Flagler’s specific challenges — including growth-management and infrastructure experience and the ability to work with cities and constitutional officers — and said those priorities would guide shortlist rankings. Arnold noted that committee members bring experience from counties facing similar growth pressures and that part of the committee’s work is aligning candidate experience with board priorities.
Commissioners asked how to handle incidental contact with applicants at outside meetings. Arnold said applicants should respect the county’s process and that commissioners may ask a person directly whether they are an applicant to avoid inappropriate conversations. Commissioners also discussed that applicant names may be subject to Florida’s public-records and Sunshine requirements and that some counties use executive-search firms to protect identities until the shortlist stage.
Next steps: staff will continue to accept applications, share qualified applicant lists with the commission on a weekly basis, and return with the committee’s tentative shortlist in mid-July for the board to authorize background checks and public interviews.
