Touart, Reynolds On County Administrator Candidate List

December 4, 2013

Escambia County Commissioners are expected to move ahead during a Thursday meeting to cut list of 16 candidates for county administrator down to a short list of five.

There are two very familiar names on the list of 16 recommended by the Waters Consulting Group, a search firm that was hired to find a permanent replacement. The previous administrator, Randy Oliver, was fired about a year ago.

Touart (pictured) and former Pensacola City Administrator Bill Reynolds applied for the job. Back in July, the commission voted to prohibit Touart from applying for the job as he told them he had no intention of seeking the permanent administrator’s job. County legal staff later said that it would be illegal to prohibit Touart from applying for the job.

Once the commission creates a shortlist of five candidates, interviews will begin in January with the selection of a finalist by February.

Comments

18 Responses to “Touart, Reynolds On County Administrator Candidate List”

  1. david lamb on December 5th, 2013 1:52 pm

    Send Tourat packing!

  2. Jane on December 5th, 2013 4:07 am

    The good ol’ boys are the main reason Pensacola and Escambia County haven’t moved forward and caught up with the rest of the counties. We need to vote these guys out and get new people in! There will be no progress in Escambia County until that happens.

  3. Nick Saban on December 4th, 2013 9:06 pm

    Okay,
    Give me a second to think about this.

  4. Concerned on December 4th, 2013 4:52 pm

    Listening Grover? If you vote for GT……you have three guess and the first four don’t count.

  5. JOHN D. BODIE on December 4th, 2013 3:59 pm

    I bet George gets the job…..keep them good ole boys together…lol…just sayin..

  6. Jacqueline on December 4th, 2013 11:51 am

    I don’t think that we have to worry about the District 5 commissioner, Steven Barry, doing the right thing. In the July 18, 2013 meeting, he said the following before making the motion to bar Mr. Touart from applying for the job:

    “If we were to move forward with direction today that doesn’t include the inactivating of the interim’s current candidate for position status, we will make no progress … we will be sitting here a year from today in the same quagmire. ”

    He goes on to say that the BCC has been spending inordinate amount of time and energy on the administrator hire process and that the commissioner’s have to consider the tax payers in this.
    “We aren’t going to make a smooth transition without the change.”
    “I want a healthy future.”
    These are bold and decisive statements from the D5 commissioner. Let’s just hope that the two other commissioners that agreed haven’t changed their mind.

    The July 18th meeting is viewable online and well worth watching. Mr. Touart said in that meeting: “I made it very clear that I am not a long term administrator. I am a gap administrator to get someone in here that will hopefully take the reins of this county …” He said he was going to retire and was willing to stay for only a year longer.
    Hopefully, tomorrow, our concerns will be relieved when the shorter list comes out.

  7. bewildered on December 4th, 2013 11:08 am

    I worked for 20 years in Human Resources in a State affiliated institution and have seen this corrupt play many times over. Jobs are advertised to the public while all along under the table a “politically connected person” was already promised the job. We had to screen 60 or 70 applications and resumes knowing all along it was a waste of time. No matter how qualified applicants were for the job, they never had the slightest chance of getting hired . As sickening as it is, people in power know fully well that the public is smart enough to see what is going on, but they also know they can get away with it without any consequences.

  8. Patriot on December 4th, 2013 10:30 am

    Jay,
    Excellent advice on purging the incumbents, and a timely reminder on the gasoline “tax”!

  9. John on December 4th, 2013 10:17 am

    I agree with Mr.Willis. If my county commisioner votes for Touart I will not vote for him period. I hope the the other commisioners haven’t corrrupted him yet. The CC have already said they didn’t want him (Touart) to apply .We will see how true they meant that statement. Will it be the good ole boy system all over again. Might as well bring back WD.

  10. E on December 4th, 2013 8:38 am

    Well, George sure seems qualified to hold a Pensacola government office.

    http://www.pensapedia.com/wiki/George_Touart

  11. Allen Willis on December 4th, 2013 8:26 am

    I wondered how long the commissioners would stall before coming back with Touart as there pick for the job. People need to remember this at election time and any commissioner that votes for Touart should be voted out.

  12. Jay on December 4th, 2013 8:17 am

    Just another reason to vote “OUT” all of the County Commissioners next election. Already going to go to Alabama to buy gasoline in Starting January 2014.

  13. Robert S. on December 4th, 2013 8:12 am

    @ Concerned….Yep, why waste any more time and money in an attempt giving the citizens an illusion of fairness on the part of the CC.
    It is without a doubt that if anyone knows the ins and outs of county government and how to work it, that is Mr. Touart, as evidenced by his record.

  14. David Huie Green on December 4th, 2013 8:10 am

    Actually, they are trying to NOT give the job to him. Or so it seems.
    They have just had a hard time finding a more qualified person who is willing to work with them.

    David for the best

  15. molino jim on December 4th, 2013 7:55 am

    Two wonderful people to choose from. George said he didn’t want the job (now has changed his mind). I guess he’ll pull more retirement by staying around. Reynolds was fired by the city. As the old song goes “just good old boys– doing no harm”. Not a lot of people applied for the job– I guess Escambia county has built a poor record.

  16. 429SCJ on December 4th, 2013 7:50 am

    The good thing about time and duration, relative to human affairs, is it’s brevity.

    Some will not have a period of life remaining lengthy enough to observe passing and change, many will.

    429SCJ for change and hanging in with the many to see it.

  17. jeeperman on December 4th, 2013 6:57 am

    So the county commissioners voted to prohibit Touart from applying for the job.
    County legal staff says they can’t legally do that.
    But that does not bare the BOCC from shredding his application and scratch him from consideration.
    IF the BOCC has any integrity at all.

  18. concerned on December 4th, 2013 4:34 am

    So, why go thru all the shenanigans? Just give Touart the job. That is what the County Commission has been trying to do all along.