BRADENTON BEACH – A new building official has been hired following the Dec. 15 retirement of Steve Gilbert.
Commissioners approved a contract for Darin Cushing on Jan. 18 as city building official for an initial probationary six-month period.
“I have been a licensed building official since 2005,” Cushing told the commission. “I started doing this in Bradenton for five years, and was a building official in Longboat Key. I worked at Manatee County and was a construction project manager at Coquina, the pavilions and concession stands.”
Cushing worked for SAFE-Built inspection services throughout Pinellas County as well as Palmetto for the past year.
When Gilbert was getting close to retirement, he expressed interest in the position.
“I look forward to serving the city as well as Steve did,” Cushing said. “If it was just building code, it’s the same throughout the state. All these little municipalities I work with are all different. I’ll learn it as I go along.”
“Since he has a contract with SAFE-Built, he is not an employee,” Mayor John Chappie said. “So we have to go through another step to grant him the ability to sign some things and do some things that Steve did for us.”
SAFE-Built provides building department services nationwide.
“The city found it was more cost-effective to go with an independent contractor situation,” City Attorney Ricinda Perry said.
Perry said Cushing will have supervisory duties over the department.
The commissioners unanimously approved a motion to “Direct Cushing to supervise the building department and its personnel in the same capacity as the former building official on a probationary period for six months and to authorize the mayor to take any action necessary to effectively administer building department services, including any modification of the probationary period up to and including making the supervision permanent.”
Cushing introduced new permit technician Annabre Veal to the commissioners.
“She’s doing a great job,” Cushing said.
Veal is a Manatee County native and has been with the city since September 2022.
Commissioners Jan Vosburgh and Ralph Cole were in attendance at the Jan. 18 meeting. Commissioner Marilyn Maro attended by telephone.
