published: Friday, December 14, 2012

Hinote picked to lead CRA in Sebring

By SAMANTHA GHOLAR

sgholar@newssun.com

SEBRING -- Longtime Sebring Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) member and acting director for the past eight months Robin Hinote has been officially named Executive Director.

After many months of deliberation, the title comes as a breath of fresh air to the board and the entire agency.

Hinote became involved with the CRA 10 years ago when she was hired by retired CRA director Pete Pollard.

"It's been my goal since day one. I asked Pete Pollard when I came on board with my first interview in 2002 what it would take to fill his shoes. He's been training me since I started out to take his position," Hinote said Thursday morning.

Eight of the nine finalists were Florida residents. Each of the applicants were interviewed by the CRA board members before the final, unanimous decision was made at Monday night's meeting.

"I found out because I was at the meeting," Hinote said with a laugh. "I'm required to be at all the meetings so that's how I knew I had the position."

Hinote's experience with the CRA makes her a comfortable and logical choice for the future of the agency.

"The CRA Board is excited about Robin taking the position of executive director on a permanent basis," said Kelly Cosgrave, CRA board chair. "With 10 years experience in the CRA office, we are pleased to have someone with a tremendous amount of knowledge and dedication to downtown Sebring lead us into the future."

Hinote's mission is to continue the work of the CRA and to make the CRA district a lively, exciting area for residents and visitors to enjoy.

"First and foremost is the redevelopment plan, we must get it done and in place. I'm just excited to move forward and to continue to bring attention (and) more traffic downtown," Hinote said.

Hinote's first order of business was the contract extension of Grey Dog Communications' Casey Wohl for another year. Hinote described Wohl as "fantastic" and hopes to continue to use Wohl's skills to get advertising and attention for downtown.