Fruitland Park commissioners voted 5-0 Thursday evening to hire Clermont lawyer Anita Geraci Carver as City Attorney.
Scott Gerken, who submitted his resignation as city attorney six weeks ago, will have one last task to perform for commissioners: negotiating contract terms with Carver.
Carver, 45, earned her law degree at the University of Miami. She has served as city attorney in Groveland for the past 11 years and as Montverde’s city attorney for the past eight.
She will take over the city’s top legal job at an opportune time.
Fruitland Park has had more than its share of legal woes over the past three years, including Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) investigations of its mayor, police chief and community development director and lawsuits that cost more than $1 million to settle.
However, all those controversies were instigated by a former commissioner whom voters spurned in 2012 and who admitted last month he has finally exhausted his supply of sour grapes.
Commissioners will likely make Carver’s appointment official at their next meeting on May 14.
