- April 24, 2024
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Jerry Cameron, formerly an assistant county manager for community services in St. Johns County, will be Flagler County's interim county administrator, starting Thursday, Feb. 20. He is replacing Craig Coffey, who was the county's administrator from 2007 until his resignation in January 2019.
The Flagler County Commission voted unanimously in a special meeting the afternoon of Feb. 18 to hire Cameron.
Cameron left his previous position in St. Johns because he was in the state's retirement system, according to his application packet.
He is also owner of a consulting firm, Community Consulting and Management LLC, and was previously the police chief and city manager of Fernandina Beach, and the police chief of Irmo, South Carolina. He is a graduate of the FBI Academy at Quantico.
County commissioners held open door interviews the morning of Feb. 18 of Cameron and another applicant, Ted Lakey, who had been the county administrator of Jackson County and Taylor County. Two other candidates on the county's shortlist — former Apopka city administrator Glenn Irby and current Flagler County Special Projects Coordinator Michael Esposito — dropped out of the application process before the interview phase.
Speaking at the special meeting, commissioners said they had been impressed with both candidates, but liked Cameron's background.
"For me, Mr. Cameron has a little extra checking off the boxes on experience with a coastal county and a larger county," County Commission Chairman Donald O'Brien said.
Commissioner Charlie Ericksen proposed hiring both men — one as an interim administrator, and one as an assistant administrator to replace former assistant county administrator Sally Sherman, who retired at the end of January.
"I think there’s some savings to that," Ericksen said. "Two people doing work for us at the same time are going to get us to the endpoint faster."
But other commissioners were not in favor.
"I think it’s time to make a choice and pick a leader," Commissioner Joe Mullins said. "I like both candidates, I agree, but I think it’s time to make a decision.. ... It's probably time to run lean and mean for a while, because we’ve got a lot of issues that are facing us."
Speaking after the meeting, Cameron mentioned some priorities for his time with the county.
"I think everybody knows that the elephant in the room is the Sheriff's Operations Center, and there's got to be a resolution on that sooner rather than later," he said. "We also have the Plantation Bay utility issue, and you're finishing up a major beach renourishment project ... that needs to be brought to a successful conclusion. Perhaps the biggest thing is to go through, interview staff, and just find out how strong the bench is — I suspect that it's pretty strong — and then I'll allow these guys to stretch and display their skill sets, and let's move the county forward."
