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Blackmon resigns as Orange County manager

Posted on March 12, 2009 by Staff

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Orange County Manager Laura Blackmon has announced that she will resign as county manager on June 30.

Blackmon, who has served as county manager for a little more than two years, submitted her resignation to the Orange County Board of Commissioners on Friday and sent an email to county staff regarding the announcement on Monday. She said she is planning a move to Tennessee with her husband and gave no specific reasons for her departure other than it being a good time to leave.

Blackmon came to Orange County from Osceola County, Fla. in 2006 to replace John Link, who served as county manager for more than 18 years. She spoke highly of the county staff and said that while the county has struggled with the budget and other issues, she felt things had gone well through the challenges.

“I think we did a good job getting things accomplished and trying to narrow down our focus,” she said. Blackmon added that tightening focus will be a challenge this year as well.
“You try to help as many people out there as possible, but that makes the budget expand. We’re going to have to start saying no,” she said.

Bryant Colson, a member of several county task forces and commissions, said that he had worked with many county and city managers in different cities and that Blackmon was an excellent county administrator.

“Like most people in her position, she’s faced with making difficult and unpopular decisions during tough and unprecedented times, a lot of which are not popular or pleasing to many citizens or the local electorate,” he said. “I have no doubt that Laura has always had the best interest of Orange County in mind and at heart. She will be missed in Orange County.”

During Blackmon’s tenure, she dealt with several controversial county issues. Last summer, county library hours were sharply reduced after Blackmon and county staff reduced staff funding for county departments. The decision was strongly resisted by residents and some library staff. Hours were later reinstated.

Blackmon also recently met with stiff resistance to her plan to reorganize county departments. Commissioners rejected the plan last month.

Commissioner Barry Jacobs said the board will need to start looking for Blackmon’s replacement and expected the search to take at least six months.
“This was not something we anticipated,” he said.
Jacobs said that while a new county manager could start during the quieter summer months, the transition could still be difficult.
“No transitions are easy,” he said. “This is a particularly difficult time for local government, so coming in in the middle of a budget situation that borders on grim is not the easiest thing to do. On the other hand, a lot of the heavy lifting will have been done because we’re already doing the cutting and looking at reorganizing.”
The county budget will be approved by the time Blackmon leaves her position, as state law requires county budgets to be submitted by the end of June.

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