Lakeland officials have set a new path moving forward to choose the interim commissioner for the city’s Northwest District.
The commission will begin interviewing the eight prospective candidates at 8 a.m. Oct. 10 at City Hall, located at 228 S. Massachusetts Ave.
Under Florida’s Sunshine Law, ALL the interviews will be open to the public.
Under the City Charter, City Attorney Palmer Davis said there is no legal requirement for the commissioners to interview the applicants, but taxpayers have been calling for public interviews in an effort to be transparent in this process.
Mayor Bill Mutz has asked each commissioner to draft a list of questions they would like each of the applicants to address during a 10-minute presentation.
Officials were instructed to send their list to the city attorney. City attorney will review the questions.
The commissioners are expected to discuss the questions and finalize a list at the Sept. 30 agenda study. The list of talking points will be provided to eight candidates ahead of the interview.
“These are guiding conformity if you want to know what we want to know,” Mutz said.
If one of the applicants cannot attend the Oct. 10 interview, the mayor has suggested the individual give their presentation via zoom.
Once all candidates are interviewed, the commission plans to narrow the field to the top three applicants.
The commission will decide at their Oct. 17 meeting who will be the interim commissioner to fill the remaining year of Commissioner Phillip Walker’s elected term. Commissioner Bill Read said there may be a chance he will be unable to attend the vote.
Lakeland residents will be given the opportunity to provide feedback and comments on the applicants ahead of the commission’s decision. The candidates are:
Lolita Berrien
Tracy Faison
Daryl Forehand
Guy LaLonde Jr
Veronica Rountree
Ricky Shirah
Samuel Simmons
Saga Stevin