Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
It didn’t take long last week for city officials to decide which of the two candidates who interviewed for the position of city manager should be offered the job.
Of the four top candidates that city officials reached out to and invited to come to Monticello for interviews, only Seth Lawless and Frank Ventresco came. The other two, Anthony Carson and Marcus Collins, withdrew their applications at the last minute.
In a special meeting on Tuesday evening, Oct. 5, the Monticello City Council voted unanimously to offer the job to Lawless based on his qualifications and affability. To a member, the council described Lawless as the better fit for Monticello, in terms of his experience, easygoing personality and experience with the Legislature and grant writing, among other expertise.
The council instructed City Attorney Bruce Leinback to convey the council’s decision to Lawless and negotiate a contract and salary that was mutually acceptable. In the event that all went well, the council scheduled a special meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, to approve the contract.
In his letter of introduction to the council, Lawless cited his extensive experience in supervising water and wastewater management systems, paid and volunteer fire and ambulance departments, sanitation, Public Works and cemetery operations, as well as in other areas.
He also emphasized his understanding of the importance of communicating with the council, employees, the public at large and partners. He also, he said, he liked to conduct regular department head meetings and one-on-one discussions to ensure that management and staff were working together and in the same direction.
“I strongly believe in established performance measures for all employees that are part of regular evaluations throughout all departments,” Lawless wrote.
Lawless was last city manager in Islamorada, Fla., a position that he held for almost four years before resigning in August 2020 for health reasons. He currently resides in North Carolina.
Before taking the Islamorada city manager position in September 2016, Lawless had served six years as town manager of Knightdale, a suburb east of Raleigh in North Carolina. He had previously served four years as Knightdale assistant manager.
His work history also includes a year as town manager of Nag Head and 11 years as town manager of Beech Mountain, two small communities in North Carolina.
Lawless holds a Masters of Public Administration from Appalachian State University and a Bachelor of Science from the same institution.
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