First impressions

Regarding new city manager Tom Bonfield.

I like him already.

Further afield, there was some grumbling that none of the three candidates presented last month hailed from cities as diverse as Durham. That seems to still be the case. Let's see if the grumbling resumes.

UPDATE: Looks like Mr. Bonfield doesn't arouse much ire in the Pensacola blogosphere. Only two mentions in the past three years in what appears to be a very highly opinionated local blog. (Remind you of anyone?)

One's a touch troubling, though.

Pensacola city manager Tom Bonfield must be smiling these days. After a nationwide search ended two months ago, it looked like he might have to hire as the next city fire chief his own professional Selection Committee's first choice: an Orlando firefighting woman with outstanding credentials.

But Bonfield held tough. She 'wasn't a good fit.' Now he's whittled the Just-Gotta-Readvertise list down to six new candidates. And whaddaya know? Every single one of the finalists is a local boy! (Emphasis on the boy. Now, that's a fit!)

That was two years ago. Pensacola News Journal has an article available for purchase in their archives about the "controversy,", so maybe one of our professional journalists will fork out the cash for the info. Here's the tease:

The more we think about it, the harder it becomes to not be puzzled about Pensacola City Manager Tom Bonfield's decision to ignore the recommendations of a highly qualified panel when it comes to naming a new fire chief. Bonfield said the top-ranked candidate, Kim Berryman-Dages, was not "the right fit" for the job. He said the same for the four male applicant finalists ranked immediately behind her. It's hard not to wonder if . . .

Again, it doesn't appear that, after the final selection was made, there was much in the way of ongoing controversy.