- June 3, 2025
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As its protracted search for a new city manager continues, the Sarasota City Commission has hired a new interim top city executive as the current temporary manager, Doug Jeffcoat, returns to his public works director duties.
By unanimous vote, the commission during a special meeting on Tuesday tapped veteran local government administrator Dave Bullock to hold down the position as it relaunches its effort to replace Marlon Brown, who retired in October 2024.
Bullock, currently a member of the Patterson Foundation Board of Directors in retirement, will begin his new role on Tuesday, May 27. The city will pay him an annual salary of $228,000 until they hire a new city manager.
Bullock served as CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County 2019 to 2021; Longboat Key town manager from 2011 to 2018 and Sarasota County deputy administrator from 1997 to 2011.
Jeffcoat will postpone his planned June 1 retirement to assist with the management transition as Bullock takes over in the heart of the fiscal year 2026 budget cycle. He will be on the job for four days before he takes a two-week vacation, a previously planned hiking trip to the Rocky Mountains.
“I may not have (cell) service, but you do have a highly competent staff,” Bullock told commissioners. “When I'm gone, someone will be designated, but you can always call me anytime you want.”
That someone, Bullock added, will be Jeffcoat.
Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch asked why not just set the start date for after his return.
“Mr. Jeffcoat and the staff are deeply involved in budget preparations right now,” Bullock said. “I intend to learn as much as I can about the work that's been done or is being done during those four days, especially in the larger departments that constitute a bigger part of the budget.”
City Auditor and Clerk Shayla Griggs informed the commission that, during that initial four-day period, several internal budget meetings are scheduled that Bullock will attend.
“That's why I don't want to miss that time. That’s useful,” Bullock added.
As Bullock prepares to take the temporary reins at City Hall, commissioners will relaunch the search for Brown’s permanent replacement.
The commission parted ways with the municipal executive search firm initially selected to guide it through the process, Daytona Beach Shores-based Colin Baenziger & Associates, and its set of applicants that self-reduced from 51 to 43 over a few weeks. A majority of commissioners, led by Ahearn-Koch, were disillusioned with not being more heavily involved in the process from the start, and all parties agreed it was best to begin anew.
On Tuesday, commissioners scheduled discussing procurement of a consultant to guide choosing a new search firm, but placed that duty in the hands of staff, specifically City Attorney Joe Polzak and Griggs.
The city’s Procurement Division will issue a letter of interest soon to seven firms, as outlined in the Florida City and County Management Association’s City Manager Search Guide, inquiring about each firm’s interest in executing a city manager search.
Director of Government Affairs Jennifer Jorgensen and Procurement Manager Renee Hayes briefed the commissioners about complications held within the city’s procurement code for soliciting a consultant to solicit a search firm.
“So basically, what you're saying is it would be complicated with a consultant and it would be much simpler just to get a search firm,” said Mayor Liz Alpert.
Not one to mince words with commissioners when it comes to reminding them of procedures and protocols, Griggs expressed her desire to not enter a consultant search without direction that had been clearly absent — as some commissioners have themselves have admitted — to date.
“If you do decide to move forward with the consultant, you all, as a commission, as a body, have to tell us what the scope of that work is,” Griggs said. “We can't make that up. You all have to tell us what that is and I just think that's going to make the process longer.”
Polzak told commissioners, in lieu of a consultant, a guide to an executive search firm process published by the Florida City and County Management Association is sufficient to help staff lead the process and, if desired, the organization FCCMA can come before the commission for a presentation of procedural best practices.
Convinced about the efficiency and the greater degree of control, the commission unanimously agreed to keep the search firm search in-house.
With that, the commission’s busy May is complete as it heads into its June break. Its next scheduled regular meeting is Monday, July 7.
