City manager hires new DCD director
City Manager John Szerlag has hired Vince Cautero as the new director for the city’s Department of Community Development. The DCD director position has remained vacant for several years, although the city’s Building Official Paul Dickson has helped fill the void and been overseeing the department’s operations. Cautero’s hire will allow Dickson to return to his full-time duties as Building Official.
“Mr. Cautero has a strong background in planning, permitting and management, most of which has been in the state of Florida,” said Szerlag. “His experience in city and rural planning in both the public and private sectors will be an asset to our organization as we move forward in our efforts to improve our processes.”
Cautero has more than 30 years experience in the planning field and has been working in the state of Florida since 1985. He served as the Planning and Development director for Citrus County since 2010. As director, he had oversight over the building, code compliance, land development and geographic resources and community planning divisions. He also chaired the County Enterprise Zone Development Authority. Prior to his employment in Citrus County, he was the community development director for Hendry County government.
He holds a bachelor’s of science in urban-regional analysis and planning from Buffalo State College and a master’s of urban planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and has served a term as district governor of Rotary International District 6960. He is currently a member of the Rotary Club of Inverness and serves as vice chair of the advisory board of the Citrus County of Corps of the Salvation Army.
Cautero will start with the city Oct. 22. His starting salary is $122,500.