With the retirement of Palm Beach County Administrator Verdenia Baker after 10 years on the job, the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners is in the process of recruiting and selecting the county’s next administrator.
After reviewing applications from across the nation, there are four candidates moving forward in the process. They include Assistant County Administrator Isami Ayala-Collazo, Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptroller Joseph Abruzzo, Palm Beach County Director of Strategic Planning Keith Clinkscales and Deputy County Administrator Patrick Rutter.
To give residents the opportunity to get to know these individuals, Palm Beach County is hosting a County Administrator Candidate Forum on Monday, June 16 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, located at 650 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach. All four candidates will be answering questions submitted by the public.
The public is invited to attend the forum and submit questions in person. Questions can also be submitted in advance of the forum. Questions submitted in person at the forum will be accepted until 6 p.m. on the day of the event. All questions will be screened to be legally appropriate. Depending on the number of questions received, there is no guarantee that the candidates will be asked your specific question. The questions will be placed into a bowl, selected randomly by a moderator, and each candidate will have the opportunity to answer. All questions should be applicable to all four of the candidates; questions directed to one specific candidate will not be accepted.
The forum will also be broadcast live on PBC TV Channel 20 and streaming online at www.pbc.gov.
In addition to the County Administrator Candidate Forum, commissioners will be conducting in-person, one-on-one interviews with the candidates earlier on Monday, June 16 and will hold a workshop on Tuesday June 17 at 9:30 a.m. in the Jane Thompson Memorial Chambers at the Palm Beach County Governmental Center.
In this workshop, the commissioners will publicly question the candidates with a goal of selecting a new administrator by the end of the meeting. This workshop will be broadcast live on PBC TV Channel 20 and streaming online at www.pbc.gov.
