CITY OF LAKE WORTH, FLORIDA
The City of Lake Worth offers an outstanding opportunity to a seasoned planning and development professional to profoundly impact the quality of life in the City through the application of the principles of sustainability in all aspects of urban planning, design and development.
Lake Worth is a coastal city of 37,000 residents and 7 square miles, located in Palm Beach County, Florida. It is a dynamic, multi-cultural city with a strong social and environmental consciousness. People are drawn to the city by its individualistic style, acceptance of different cultures and lifestyles, over 1,000 historic buildings, hip downtown, and distinctive residential neighborhoods.
Lake Worth is one of the few towns in South Florida that has avoided high-rise development and retained its old-Florida flavor. While the city wishes to strengthen its economy, city government officials and residents alike are very committed to maintaining the character of the city, and protecting their town from insensitive development.
Lake Worth incorporated in 1913 and operates under a council/manager form of government. The current members of the City Commission are activists and have a very strong commitment to good government, transparency in government, citizen involvement and input to the governing process, and sustainability
The City Manager, Susan Stanton, was appointed to the position in April 2009. She is a high performance manager who is driven to upgrade the quality of life and create a distinctive brand in the communities she serves.
Lake Worth is a full-service city with 395 full-time employees and an all funds annual budget of $138 million.
ABOUT THE POSITION
The Community Development Director in Lake Worth has responsibility for the city’s planning and zoning functions, building permitting and inspections, code enforcement, housing programs, the Community Development Block Grant and historic preservation functions.
Among the priorities for the new Director will be:
· Resolving outstanding issues with the city’s comprehensive plan.
· Creating and directing the implementation of strategies that mitigate the negative impacts of a high incidence of absentee-ownership of residential properties,
· Housing and code enforcement issues affecting quality of life for low income residents.
· Achieving a better balance among education, respectful treatment, and enforcement in achieving compliance with city and State code provisions.
· Making needed revisions to the city’s land development regulations.
· Managing a complex project to renovate the City-owned beachfront “Casino” building and the parking areas.
· Planning for the redevelopment of a large, underdeveloped industrial area.
For more information about the position, including the education and experience requirements and salary, please review the recruitment brochure on our site.
HOW TO APPLY
The City is handling the front-end of the recruitment and The Mercer group will become involved when a short list of candidates is developed. To apply, send resumes and a cover letter electronically to Diane Clark, Human Resources Director for the City no later than August XX, 2009 at the following email address dclark@lakeworth.org.
Please be aware that applications are subject to Florida’s open records law.