Noted cheerleader moves on

Plant City in east Hillsborough County, amid a development renaissance, is losing one of its biggest cheerleaders.

Mike Herr, city manager of Plant City since September 2014, is leaving his post to become city manager in nearby Winter Haven, in Polk County. The move is a return to familiar turf: Herr was the town manager of Dundee in Polk County from 1980 to 1985; director of public works for Lakeland from 1992 to 1998; Polk County director of transportation from 1998 to 2003; and Polk County Administrator from 2003 to 2010.

Herr has been an outspoken advocate of a proactive move in Plant City to be more business friendly. “Part of our mission is to be the best place to do business in Central Florida,” Herr said in a February Business Observer story on the strategy to grow in Plant City. “We're very motivated. We're very ambitious. Our business community is ready to rock and roll.”