Beaufort Co. council picks administrator candidate finalist. Here’s what happens next
Beaufort County Council has narrowed down the search for the county’s next administrator to a single candidate., interim administrator John Weaver said Tuesday morning.
Council interviewed finalists Marc Orlando, Bluffton’s Town Manager; Ashley Jacobs, assistant county administrator for Aiken County; and Eric Larson, Beaufort County’s director of engineering and land management, on Monday, Weaver said.
“County Council spent about an hour with each of them,” he said. “At the conclusion of that, they held a discussion where they decided that they were particularly impressed with one of those three.”
Weaver expects to offer that candidate the position “in the next day or so,” and declined to say what the compensation for the position will be or who the offer is going to.
“Council authorized me to contact that person and see if they are interested in the job at a salary that is negotiable between council and the applicant,” Weaver said. “If they accept, we will make a public announcement if we have an agreement.”
In 2016, Kubic made $176,056 as the county’s top leader.
Calls to Orlando and Jacobs Tuesday afternoon to inquire about an offer were not immediately returned.
Larson said as of 3 p.m., he had not been contacted by the county since meeting for his interview Monday.
Weaver added that if the candidate accepts, he expects them to start in less than two weeks. However, there will be a transition period between the candidates former position and into the administrator job, he said.
The county announced last week that it had narrowed the search down to three finalists after 71 applicants applied for the long in flux position.
The position has long been in flux.
Former administrator Gary Kubic announced his retirement in September 2017.
The position then went to Josh Gruber, formerly Kubic’s deputy director, who was named interim administrator before he left in July for a position as Hilton Head Island’s assistant town manager.
Tom Keaveny — formerly on Gruber’s staff as county attorney — then became interim county administrator July 23.
In October, Keaveny stepped down as interim administrator after County Council members voted to investigate the legality of his decision to award a consulting contract to Gruber for $24,000 from Aug. 6 to Oct. 8, with options for 30-day extensions at $12,000 apiece.
Weaver, the former attorney for Lancaster County, has been in the interim role since October.
This story was originally published February 26, 2019 at 10:22 AM.
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