ST. LUCIE COUNTY — As St. Lucie County’s search for a new county attorney continues, commissioners are weighing whether to move forward with hiring an external candidate or promote from within.
At a Nov. 4 County Commission meeting, County Administrator George Landry told board members that the search, led by consulting firm S. Renee Narloch & Associates, has yet to produce strong results.
“As you may be aware, the consultant closed the search down on November 3rd and what we’ve heard so far, unofficially, is that there has been a few people of interest, but none have really met the minimum qualifications except for possibly one that she’s looking at that was a late addition,” Landry said. “Not really much in the way of exciting news, but we’re hoping to get a further report from her in the near future.”
The position has been vacant since former County Attorney Dan McIntyre resigned on Aug. 29.
Commissioner James Clasby suggested that, given the limited results from the consultant’s search, the county consider hiring interim attorney Katherine Barbieri for the permanent position.
“Hearing that we’re only finding one person potentially from that, are we sure we don’t want to look within to hire somebody from within the organization?” Clasby said. “I don’t know if it’s appropriate or not, but I had some conversations with our current interim attorney. I think that she would be fine with that position. I don’t know how we go about that, but was looking to maybe see if the rest of the board has any opinions on that as well.”
Clasby previously opposed the consultant’s earlier round of recommendations. At a Sept. 15 meeting, he was the lone dissenting vote against advancing three finalists chosen by Narloch, saying the candidates were politically biased. Although the board approved the motion, Landry later informed commissioners that the finalists had withdrawn from the process.
“Our consultant had reached out to us with regards to the search for the county attorney and some of the applicants considering to interview here coming up next week has respectfully withdrawn from the process, so we really don’t have a pool for you to interview,” Landry said at the Sept. 18 meeting.
Vice Chair Larry Leet voiced support for Clasby’s suggestion to promote Barbieri. “I would happen to concur with Commissioner Clasby,” he said. “I have had conversations with Katherine [about the] potential of moving forward, and I would like to have some more discussion on that and whatever is appropriate to start moving that forward.”
Commissioner Kathy Townsend said she agreed Barbieri has performed well but emphasized the need to follow proper procedures.
“I mean, I think that Katherine has done a good job in the interim. However, there’s a process,” Townsend said. “I don’t think we can decide this right now tonight, and I would be interested in seeing who has submitted, not because I don’t think Katherine’s capable of the job. I think she’s more than capable, and I think that she’s done a good job, but number one, we have to follow procedures.”
Townsend said the board should confirm whether Barbieri submitted an application within the required timeframe before considering next steps.
Commission Chair Jamie Fowler also said she is open to the idea of promoting Barbieri but wants the board to discuss it more thoroughly.
“I don’t know about the other commissioners, but I can only speak to us just having started those conversations this morning,” Fowler said. “So I do think we should progress those conversations and see where we land.”