The Daytona Beach News-Journal by Eileen Zaffiro-Kean
September 23, 2019
DAYTONA BEACH — When First Step Shelter Board members interview candidates for the vacant executive director position Tuesday afternoon, they’ll have those conversations behind closed doors. And they’ll use an unusual interview process to avoid violating Florida’s Sunshine Law with those private interviews.
That’s a departure from the past for the board overseeing the homeless shelter currently under construction that has run into controversy for repeated delays to its opening, and that has seen two board members resign in recent weeks.
When the board hired its first executive director in the spring of 2018, the top candidates for the job all went through a public interview process during the nonprofit’s board meetings.
One person from out of town was interviewed via Skype during a meeting, but everyone else interested in the adult homeless shelter’s top job underwent questioning during a meeting with the full board. Dozens of local residents were in the room listening to and watching the interviews.
The last executive director, Mark Geallis, resigned in June. The board has six finalists now to replace him.
The candidates’ names are available to anyone who requests the public records that include their resumes. But that’s all the public might see of some of the candidates: names, education and experience listed on sheets of paper.