ORANGE PARK – The Town Council decided Tuesday night to interview two candidates to serve as its interim town manager for six months to give it time to complete a national search for a full-time replacement.

It reviewed four resumes during its regularly scheduled meeting. It ranked former Hapeville, Georgia, City Manager William Whitson as the top choice and former Oakland interim Town Manager Jack Butler as its second choice.

The council said it would set up interviews with both “as soon as possible” with hopes of voting on a choice at its Nov. 12 meeting.

Orange Park had to start a search after Sarah Campbell resigned at the Oct. 1 meeting. She left to be the city manager at Fernandina Beach.

Council members were asked to rank the four candidates based on their resumes. All five members ranked Whitson the best.

Whitson has been in government management since 1993, serving in Milton, Pensacola, Port Orange and Panama City in Florida and Hapeville, encompassing the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Flagler Beach and as a Senior Advisor for the Long-Term Recovery Team in Aransas County, Texas, where Hurricane Harvey impacted the United States in 2017.

Whitson lives in Flagler Beach.

Butler was the interim Town Manager in Oakland, 20 miles west of Orlando. The city council terminated him in May, but the council said “it’s not for cause.”

Before that, he was the Director of Support Services and Capital Improvement Program Manager for the City of Ocoee and the director of the Public Works Division for Hamilton County, Tennessee.

The other two candidates who applied were former Orange Park Police Chief Gary Goble and Town of Orange Park Human Resources Manager Bill Merryman.

In other business, the council changed how it would select its full-time town manager. It initially decided to use its Merryman and a County Management Association Senior Advisor to identify the best prospect. Still, it changed course Tuesday by using an outside recruitment senior advisor.

The council meets on the first and third Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Town Hall Chambers.