'If it's not broke, don't fix it': Santa Rosa makes interim administrators permanent

DeVann Cook and Brad Baker have signed on as the permanent county administrator and assistant county administrator, respectively, for Santa Rosa County.

They were both brought into the roles in an interim capacity last summer when Dan Schebler resigned as county administrator.

The Board of County Commissioners approved the contracts at a meeting in late January.

Schebler was criticized by some residents for misspeaking at an April 2021 meeting, when he said the county had applied for funding for the Small County Outreach Program. The county had missed the deadline and the opportunity to receive SCOP funding for infrastructure.

Before taking up these roles, Cook was the county's risk management director, and Baker was the public safety director.

Cook will earn $155,000 annually, and Baker will earn $135,000.

"I mean, both Brad and DeVann are just great public employees. They're very transparent, very positive, solution-oriented guys. And I've had a great experience working with other public employees and public officials that have also been very positive. Brad and DeVann rank right up at the top," said County Attorney Thomas Dannheisser.

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Cook said his day-to-day workflow has not change now that he has transitioned to a permanent role, but he said the decision from the board gave him some peace of mind.

"Personally, it's a little more settled because you finally know what's going to happen. And we didn't for some time," Cook said. "We weren't sure if it was going to be a permanent situation or not. But as far as the job goes, it's the same job every day."

Commission Chairman Bob Cole said he had not considered looking externally to fill the roles and liked that people with long-term knowledge of the county could step into them.

"But I had no intention of going out looking further for somebody when we had two people right there, that had put so much time in as county employees," Cole said. "I felt like we had a good team, got things going again, had a good team set up. If it's not broke, don't fix it."

Cook said one priority for him is working to fill the vacancies in the county, which he said total about 70 positions right now. He specifically noted public works departments as some of the most vulnerable.

"It's just unbelievable what the demand for people from those areas (is). Then just the general staffing. All the other departments, with the workforce being as thin as it is right now, after COVID. But those are the areas where we were really struggling," Cook said.

When the topic of Cook's and Baker's contracts came up at a commission meeting last month, District 5 Commissioner Colten Wright was quick to note and defend their salaries.

"I think our county was not in the right place when it came to salary ranges in a number of areas. And I think that our administrator and assistant administrator, applies the same way," Wright said at the January meeting. "So I just wanted to say that I think these salaries are certainly reasonable and comparable to what they should be in the government sector, particularly for counties our size."

Schebler’s salary was about $147,400 per year, and the News Journal previously reported nearby Bay and Okaloosa counties pay their county administrators $170,000 and $160,680, respectively, per year.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Santa Rosa Commissioners make interim administrators permanent