Gruber's move to Hilton Head boosts "sense of urgency" in county administrator search

The rebooted search for new Beaufort County administrator continues in the wake of Monday's announcement that a perceived frontrunner for the position — whose candidacy has divided officials — will soon be working for the Town of Hilton Head Island.

Josh Gruber, current interim county administrator and a former applicant for the job, will be Hilton Head's next assistant town manager beginning in early August, but it remains to seen how his move will affect the search.

In the past, Beaufort County Council found itself fractured over Gruber's candidacy, which arguably resulted in the failure of the first search in October. Now, with tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars funding the search, council members are up against a hard deadline with pressure to produce a hire — and put differences aside in order to do so.

Some members are more optimistic about the effort, but others worry they've lost the best person for the job. And there's a heightened urgency to make a good hire as the face of county leadership will look much different after November's election.

"There was no plan for this," councilman Rick Caporale said Tuesday morning, referring to Gruber's departure.

"I did think he was going to stick it out," Caporale said. "But he certainly had some reasons to think he might not get the job."

Caporale said Monday's announcement gives him and his colleagues a chance to "start from scratch," a sentiment echoed by councilman Mike Covert.

"It was a divided council on Josh," Covert said, "and that's not really a bad thing. But I guess since he took himself out of it, it's a clean slate (for council). ... With some people not running again, there will be four new seats, a new administrator, a new deputy (administrator) — it's kind of exciting."

In addition to Caporale, councilmen Steve Fobes, Jerry Stewart and Tabor Vaux will not seek reelection.

Councilwoman Alice Howard, who's long supported Gruber, worries those changes create a "loss of continuity" and leave the next administrator with a steeper learning curve.

"It wasn't a very happy day," Howard said, referring to Hilton Head's Monday announcement of Gruber's hire — he's slated to start his duties with the town on Aug. 6.

Gruber — who, over the past two days, has not returned at least five phone calls, a text message and an email — has yet to comment publicly on Monday's news.

The second search, which will cost taxpayers $22,500 plus expenses, comes on the heels of a failed effort that cost $17,000.

The first search disintegrated when council couldn't decide on a candidate. Officials in the pro-Gruber camp accused colleagues of failing to clearly explain why they didn't support him. They, in turn, accused the other side of hijacking the search and excessively lobbying for Gruber.

Council chairman Paul Sommerville said search firm GovHR USA is currently reviewing 50 applications for the position. The next step is to pare down the applicants and begin selecting finalists.

Caporale said he and colleagues received an updated search timeline from Beaufort County Attorney Tom Keaveny on Tuesday morning, but that he couldn't be specific about it as council must vote to either approve or amend it at Monday's meeting.

Keaveny could not be immediately reached for comment, but Caporale said the proposed timeline "should get the job done."

Councilman Brian Flewelling said Gruber's departure doesn't "drastically change the timeline" but might lend "a sense of urgency" to the process.

Flewelling added the new hire will appoint his or her own deputy administrator, the role Gruber filled before taking the reins from former county administrator Gary Kubic, who stepped down in September 2017.

Gruber began his tenure with the county in 2011, first working as a county attorney. He was promoted to deputy county administrator and special counsel in 2014.

"We have one less quality candidate," Stewart said, when asked about Gruber's departure.

"I think we got bogged down, to be honest with you, and Josh made the right professional move," Stewart, one of Gruber's supporters, added.

Stewart said it's "unlikely we'll have unanimous consent on any candidate" but hopes council can "coalesce around someone and make a decision."

While six of the 11 council votes would technically be enough to hire a candidate, council members want to see a super majority and a clear frontrunner.

Caporale, who hopes Gruber's move will make the process "less antagonistic," said he almost regretted relinquishing his seat ahead of the impending changes to council.

"It makes me want to stay around," Carpole said, "and watch the sunrise."

This story was originally published May 22, 2018 at 3:05 PM with the headline "Gruber's move to Hilton Head boosts "sense of urgency" in county administrator search."