Candidate: W Kyle Green

Lifelong Highlands County resident W. "Kyle" Green is running for the next Highlands County Clerk of Courts and Comptroller. Kyle currently serves the citizens of Highlands County as the Road and Bridge Director, which is one of the County's highest supervisory positions. He started out as a Finish Equipment Operator in 2004 and rose through the ranks to his current position, which he's held for over 11 years.

In his present capacity, Kyle oversees an annual budget of over $14 million and supervises 107 employees. With assistance from a diverse staff, Kyle's responsible for maintenance of county roadways, bridges, sidewalks and multi-use paths. He also manages Fleet Maintenance and the County Warehouse facility, Invasive Plant Management, Natural Resources, the Highlands County Asphalt Plant and two county owned mining operations. It's a position that requires a great deal of interaction with the public solving problems and assisting them in whatever manner he can. His current position also requires a great deal of interaction and collaboration with several divisions of the Clerk's Office.

As the most tenured Senior Director on county staff, Kyle has a proven record of positive working relationships with both elected and appointed officials and their staff, as well as the public. On the technical side, he has extensive experience with internal and external auditing processes, business services functions, state and federal grant funding programs, all of which require a great deal of technical expertise in addition to his common sense approach to problem solving. On the financial side, Kyle has proven his ability as being a fiscally responsible and accountable public servant for many years. He has extensive budget preparation and management experience managing budgets totaling in excess of $140 million over the course of his career. 

It's this continued dedication to public service that led Kyle to seek the Clerk of Courts position replacing retiring Clerk Robert "Bob" Germaine. The activities in the Clerk's office touch almost everyone in Highlands County. It is the office that maintains all court records, property records, oversees internal auditing, serves as the finance arm of the Board of County Commissioners, keeps the minutes of public meetings and even issues jury summons.

Kyle graduated from Sebring High School and earned his Associate of Arts Degree from South Florida Community College in Avon Park. He served the agriculture community for many years before transitioning into utility and road construction and finally to public sector service with Highlands County. Kyle has successfully completed a number of leadership training and continuing education courses since working for the Board of County Commissioners. He is certified for the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and has coordinated pre and post disaster recovery events throughout his career with Highlands County. Kyle was a graduate of the 2010 Leadership Highlands Class. He participated in the Highlands County Sheriff's Office Citizens Academy and is a current member of the Highlands County Community Traffic Safety Team. Kyle also volunteers as a Mentor through the Highlands County School Boards Mentoring Program.