It's Down To Wheeler, Gavarrete

SEBRING - Ramon Gavarrete, the Highlands County engineer, and Ken Wheeler, the county's director of solid waste, are the two finalists for the new position of director of the division of public works.

County Administrator Carol and two citizens panels picked the five finalists for the public works and public safety division director jobs on Thursday, after interviewing more than two dozen candidates.

Cool said he could not officially announce the names of the five finalists - three for public safety division director and only two for public works division director - until background checks for all five had been completed satisfactorily.

If any one of the five's background checks come back with an unsatisfactory rating, then the finalists' names wouldn't be released until the unsatisfactory candidate was replaced by one who did pass his or her background check, Cool said.

However, Cool said he could confirm that he and the five-member citizens panel which interviewed all of the public works division director candidates decided to recommend only two finalists, and that both are current employees of the county.

Only two Highlands County employees applied for the public works division director job, and those are Gavarrete and Wheeler.

Thus, by confirming that the two finalists for public works division director are county employees, Cool confirmed that Wheeler and Gavarrete are the only two who will go to the final round - interviews with, and a decision by, the five county commissioners.

Their Background

Cool said both Wheeler and Gavarrete passed their background checks when they were hired by the county and, while both have to go through new background checks now, the county probably would have known of any blemish on their records since they became county employees. Neither one has any negative blemish on their county employment records.

Gavarrete has been with the county longer than Wheeler. He began as an assistant in the county engineer's office with the title of "civil engineer one" on May 20, 1996. On April 22, 1998, Gavarrete was promoted to his current position of county engineer.

Since becoming a county employee, Gavarrete has won the most coveted county employee award, the Pride Award, twice. This award, which carries a financial reward, is given out to employees who have not only been nominated by their boss, but who also are approved for the award by an independent citizens panel.

Gavarrete, a native of Nicaragua, first won the Pride Award in 1997 and won it again in 2000. On Sept. 21, 2001, Gavarrete won a statewide award, the Rural Engineer of the Year Award, given by the Florida Association of County Engineers.

Wheeler came to Highlands County from upstate New York, where he worked as a county engineer and a paving/road superintendent engineer for several counties. He was hired July 5, 2005 as Highlands County solid waste director.

Wheeler, with Gavarrete's assistance, led the battle to get Highlands County commissioners to borrow $3.3 million to build and operate the state's first asphalt plant run by a local government.

Bringing Home The State's Money

Last month, Wheeler succeeded in winning a state environmental grant for $1.65 million to pay half the cost of the asphalt plant. He also secured a second environmental grant of $1.7 million to convert methane gas from the county landfill into a low-cost, clean-energy, alternative fuel for county cars, trucks and heavy equipment.

Together, the two grants total $3.35 million. Highlands County accounts for less than out of every 180 Floridians, or less than four-tenths of one percent of the state population. The two grants Wheeler secured will give Highlands County 32 percent of the state's green-energy grant money for 2008.

Cool said that both Gavarrete and Wheeler are excellent candidates and that no matter which one is chosen the county will have a top-notch person in the new public works division director position.

Cool, who was county public works director and then county engineer before he became the county's chief executive officer 17 years ago, also said that Wheeler and Gavarrete are consummate professionals in the engineering field, and that they work very well together.

No matter which one is chosen as division director, Cool added, he expects that Gavarrete and Wheeler will continue their tremendous professional cooperation on projects such as the asphalt plant.

Gavarrete publicly and totally supported Wheeler's proposal for the county asphalt plant even though the county commissioners split 3-2 in voting to approve it against heavy opposition from the state asphalt pavers association. One objection of the opponents was the cost, and now that is cut in half by the state grant.

Three Public Safety Finalists Still Not Named

Two of the three finalists recommended by Cool and another citizens panel of six people for director of the division of public safety are county employees. Since four county employees applied for this job, it is not known which two are among the three finalists who will be interviewed by the county commissioners.

Cool said he does not expect the commissioners to begin interviewing any of the five finalists for the two division director jobs on Tuesday, since the five background checks will not all be finished by that time.