Charlie Bishop named Manatee County administrator

Manatee County interim Administrator Charlie Bishop was selected Tuesday by commissioners to be the new administrator. 

Commissioners voted 6-1 to make Bishop the permanent administrator with Commissioner George Kruse casting the only dissenting vote. 

Bishop has been serving as interim administrator since Aug. 3.

Commissioners Kevin Van Ostenbridge, Jason Bearden, Mike Rahn and Amanda Ballard all said Bishop's performance as the interim administrator impressed them. 

"Thus far, he has done a commendable job," Ballard said. "With commissioners, with staff, he has been truly excellent. He did a great job leading us through the hurricane."

Van Ostenbridge said he originally intended to vote to hire a candidate from outside Manatee County, but he was not impressed with the top five candidates produced in the nationwide search. 

"I wasn't blown away by the candidates," he said. "I didn't believe any of them rose to the level I was looking for in a county administrator. (Bishop) is exactly what I'm looking for in a county administrator. In the end, I'm very happy with where we ended up. I strongly feel we have found the right person for the job and for Manatee County."

Kruse said although he has no issue with Bishop, he believed the intent was to hire someone outside Manatee County to "bring fresh views and fresh ideas to Manatee County."

A search firm hired by Manatee County had narrowed the field to four candidates, none of them Bishop. On Aug. 22, Bearden and Van Ostenbridge added Bishop to the finalists and, before the meeting was over, narrowed the field to Bishop and Andrew Butterfield, who has been the St. Petersburg operations manager since 2019. He is a 36-year veteran of the U.S. Navy. 

Bishop joined the county in 2001 and has served as a project manager, facilities services manager, infrastructure division manager, construction services division manager, and, for nearly 12 years, as the director of property management for Manatee County. Bishop was named deputy county administrator in August 2021.