Palm Beach County Commissioners on Tuesday approved clerk of the circuit court and comptroller Joseph Abruzzo as the new county administrator, concluding a monthslong search involving more than 200 applicants from across the country.
Abruzzo is replacing former county administrator Verdenia Baker, who retired after a decade-long career on May 31. Abruzzo’s salary will be nearly half-a-million dollars a year. This will be the county’s eighth administrator.
Abruzzo first started working as the clerk of the county’s circuit court and comptroller in January 2021, having since led the county to becoming the largest investor in Israel bonds. Before that, he was a Democratic state representative and senator representing the county.
“I have a broad breadth of experience through many different sectors of our government. I actually lead an organization. I built a culture. I’ve instilled innovation as far as modernizing systems, advancing AI, the leadership of our workforce,” Abruzzo said Tuesday morning during the final interviewing process for the four finalists.
“I have been operating as your CFO, your treasurer, your auditor, the clerk to the board, the clerk to the circuit court, and operating our federal passports office here. So I’m not just a former legislator. I’m very proud of the legislative duties, but I’ve been an integral government partner for nearly 20 years here in Palm Beach County,” he said in response to the question of why he believed himself to be the best candidate for the position.
As the county administrator, Abruzzo will conduct daily operations of the county’s government, which includes overseeing more than 7,000 employees, balancing a $9 billion budget and working with the county’s nearly 40 municipalities.
The administrator also works closely with the county commission, which addresses issues in the county such as affordable housing, employment, transportation and development — particularly as it pertains to the balance between growth and preservation.
Abruzzo underwent a lengthy application process and ultimately fell into the final pool of four finalists, which also included Keith Clinkscales, the county’s director of strategic planning and performance management; Isamí Ayala-Collazo, an assistant county administrator; and Patrick Rutter, the deputy county administrator.
Before Tuesday’s selection, each county commissioner asked the candidates rounds of questions, including what plans they would implement during their first year if elected, how they would respond to resistance from county staff, how they would handle security issues in the county, how they would execute the administrator role differently than how Baker did and about their leadership style.
The finalists also participated in a candidate forum on Monday evening where they received questions from members of the public.
Though Abruzzo received the most votes from the seven-member commission, the results were mixed:
— Mayor Maria Marino voted for Rutter
— Vice mayor Sara Baxter, commissioner Gregg Weiss, commissioner Joel Flores and commissioner Maria Sachs all voted for Abruzzo
— Commissioner Marci Woodward and commissioner Bobby Powell voted for Ayala-Collazo.
Before casting the vote, mayor Marino called it “probably the biggest decision” the board of county commissioners would make. Commissioner Weiss said the county was at an “inflection point.”
The county has “the opportunity to change things, to expand our vision, to go beyond what we’ve done in the past and to embrace the future,” Weiss said.
After he was approved for the county administrator position, Abruzzo promised to handle “the duties and powers of this position with the utmost transparency and respect.”