MAHONING COUNTY Administrator seeks job in South Carolina

About 150 people applied for the job.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County Administrator Gary Kubic is among four finalists for a similar post in Beaufort County, S.C., home of the popular vacation spot Hilton Head Island.
Kubic, county administrator since September 1993, was recently interviewed by the 11-member Beaufort County Council about the post. About 150 people applied for the job. The county council, Beaufort's equivalent to a board of county commissioners, is expected to select an administrator in about a month.
"It's a beautiful place and a wonderful community," Kubic said of Beaufort County. "It's a different economic base, tourism-based, than what we have in Mahoning County. But some issues are similar, such as economic development."
Beaufort is one of the fastest-growing counties in South Carolina, nearly doubling its population in the past 20 years to about 125,000. Mahoning County has more than twice Beaufort's population but has been losing residents since the 1970s.
A salary hasn't been determined for the next administrator in Beaufort County, but John Kachmar, who resigned from the post in March, received about $134,000 annually. County Controller Tom Henrikson has served since then as interim administrator. Kubic makes about $82,000 annually.
The reasons
Kachmar resigned because of controversy surrounding his being charged with speeding in a county vehicle with a suspended driver's license, according to the Beaufort Gazette newspaper.
Last year, Kubic applied for the position of administrator of Franklin County, the home of his alma mater, Ohio State University. He was among 110 people who sought that post, which went to Mark A. Gibson. Kubic's contract to serve as Mahoning County administrator expires in 2005.
"I'm trying to improve my position and my family," Kubic said. "I'm not doing it because I don't like Mahoning County. I couldn't be a finalist for a position like this without my experiences in Mahoning County. I have mixed emotions about this. But it's a major move, and I'm trying to better myself."
If Kubic is hired in Beaufort County, he won't have to deal with the budgetary problems he's dealing with in Mahoning County, which is facing a financial shortfall and further layoffs.
Although half the size of Mahoning, Beaufort's annual general fund budget is $62 million. Mahoning's is about $50 million.
skolnick@vindy.com