STATE

Former Lake Helen administrator gets new job with city of North Port

Earle Kimel
earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com
Jason Yarborough

NORTH PORT — Jason Yarborough, the former city administrator for the city of Lake Helen, was hired Monday by North Port City Manager Peter Lear to serve as a second assistant city administrator.

Yarborough, who will start Nov. 5, with an annual salary of $113,274, joins Cari Branco, who was hired in April to replace longtime assistant city manager Daniel Schult.

As part of a reorganization planned when the second assistant spot was approved, Branco will oversee parks & recreation, information technology, social services, human resources and finance.

Yarborough will oversee neighborhood development services, public works and utilities.

“I’m excited about getting to work for a community with a great mix of development and established neighborhoods,” Yarborough said in a prepared statement. “I think my skill set is perfect fit. I look forward to serving residents and raising my family here as well.”

Yarborough first was appointed as interim city administrator for Lake Helen in October 2014 and got the job full time in March 2015. He resigned his position in September.

According to The News-Journal, Lake Helen Mayor Daisy Raisler said the city of roughly 2,800 people — between Orlando and Daytona Beach, off Interstate 4 — was financially healthier because of Yarborough’s work.

“Mr. Yarborough was instrumental in attracting and negotiating the I-4 Automall project which will double the city’s tax base,” Raisler said. “In addition, Mr. Yarborough stabilized the city’s finances with negotiating a favorable fire contract and creating a stable revenue structure with the fire assessment.”

According to the News-Journal, Yarborough decided it was time to move on after one-on-one discussions with members of the commission, following an Aug. 31 special meeting.

That meeting was called to discuss several months of underbilling for water by the city to Lake Helen Villa, a 55-and-older mobile home park. The park had been underbilled roughly $56,000 over several months because Lake Helen’s billing software incorrectly tabulated the water bill from the park’s master meter — charging the community for thousands of gallons on a quarterly basis, instead of millions of gallons.

Yarborough had been working to resolve the situation, but commissioners weren’t happy with his communication of the problem.

Yarborough has more than 20 years of municipal government experience.

Prior to Lake Helen, he was utilities director in Palm Bay — the same community where current Sarasota County Administrator Jonathan Lewis worked as a deputy city manager, before becoming the North Port City Manager in May 2011.

Yarborough holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of West Florida, and a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University in New Orleans.

“Jason has spent more than two decades in municipal government and comes to us with a wealth of knowledge which spans multiple departments,” Lear said.