Hoffman And Cool Leave Mighty Big Shoes To Fill

We've all heard the phrase "no one is irreplaceable," and it's true. It's also true that some people carry so much institutional knowledge of an operation that while they may be replaceable, it's going to hurt. Sometimes the pain subsides quickly, and sometimes it lasts a long time, but either way, it hurts.

When Sebring City Manager Bob Hoffman and Highlands County Administrator Carl Cool call it a career in a few weeks, we're losing important resources for one of our cities and county. The good news is that they are being replaced by extremely capable people, but the loss still is there.

Hoffman and Cool have been on the job a long time around here. It's unusual for people in their professions to last so long in one place. Industry wide, city managers and county administrators often make enough enemies over the course of five years or so that they move on. The decisions they have to make ruffle feathers, no matter how well they do their jobs. It says a lot that they held their positions for so long.

All of that said, change is good. New blood can reinvigorate and re-chart the course for upcoming years. It also can be a mess if the wrong people are put into positions of power, but that doesn't appear to be the case when Scott Noethlich takes over for Hoffman and Michael Wright assumes control of Cool's office.

There are, no doubt, people anxious to see one or both of these people leave. The same sentiments are probably held for anyone in a prominent position. It goes with the territory. But even their harshest critics must pay Cool and Hoffman their dues. They have served long and done a good job, or they would have been out of there a decade or two ago.

Noethlich and Wright have mighty big shoes to fill. We're confident they'll do just fine, and hope it will be another 20-plus years before changes are necessary. We will, however, miss these fixtures in our local governing bodies and wish them well for the good work they've done for the public they serve.