Some more information from Florida Today (of all places) . Reading this reminded me of the alleged Federal investigation of the City a few years back. At that time the City had hired a mid level bureaucrat from the City of Daytona, it turned out he was a Federal plant (supposedly to collect incriminating information on the City and its operators); Lets hope the new guy isn't a mole. (I still have a lot of questions)
Palm Bay rejects Lynk, names Morton manager
Dave Berman
Florida Today USA TODAY NETWORK â FLORIDA
A divided Palm Bay City Council selected Matthew Morton to be the next city manager, after narrowly rejecting a bid by former City Manager Gregg Lynk to return to the former position that he was fired from in November 2018.
After interviewing six finalists for the city manager job during a six-hour special meeting on Saturday, the City Council vote 4-1 in favor of offering Morton the job, with Council Member Kenny Johnson voting no.
Minutes earlier, the council voted 3-2 against offering Lynk the job. Voting in favor of Lynk were Johnson and Chandler Langevin. Voting against were Mayor Rob Medina, Deputy Mayor Mike Jaffe and Mike Hammer.
If a contract agreement with Morton can be reached, Morton would succeed Suzanne Sherman, whom the council fired in November by a 3-2 vote. Sherman had been city manager since January 2021 and had a salary of $240,772 a year.
Former West Melbourne City Manager Scott Morgan has been serving since then as interim city manager of Palm Bay, which is Brevard Countyâs most populous city, with a population of more than 140,000.
Morton is a former city manager of Palm Coast, a city of more than 106,000 in Flagler County. He has more than 25 years of experience in the public and private sectors, and currently is executive for land acquisition and development for Perihelion Group Consulting in Flagler Beach.
During council debate, Medina said he did not want Palm Bay to go back to âour dark pastâ by rehiring Lynk as city manager. Although he didnât elaborate, Medina was referring in part to a political corruption probe, in which a former deputy city manager who worked under Lynk pleaded guilty to a felony charge of criminal conspiracy (extortion).
Lynk was not charged as part of the FBI and Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation.
Medina said the city âneeded to move forwardâ by hiring Morton as city manager.
âMr. Morton is truly the best candidate that we can haveâ to âpose our city for greatness,â Medina said, while adding that Lynk âhas proven to be a good man, a good citizen, and, moreover, a great man of faith in his place of worship, which I do consider and add value to that.â
Two council members support Lynkâs return
Johnson, however, had made a motion to hire Lynk as city manager, with a 90-day probationary period â even though Johnson was the deciding vote to oust Lynk in 2018.
Johnson said that vote in 2018 came during his first meeting as a council member, and was made under pressure from constituents, without Johnson knowing all the details about Lynkâs positive work as city manager.
More recently, Johnson said, he came to know Lynk, and said he was âblown awayâ by Lynkâs kindness and character.
Lynk had been Palm Bay city manager from April 2015 until his ouster in November 2018. Since 2019, Lynk has been working as an executive consultant.
In addition to his past experience as city manager, Lynk is the husband of Florida Rep. Monique Miller, who was elected in November to represent Florida House District 33 in South Brevard.
âI do not want to have distractionsâ
But other council members said it would be better to hire Morton.
Hammer said, even though he thought Lynk could âdo a great jobâ and âhit the ground runningâ as city manager, if the City Council brought Lynk back, âevery single thing that we do is going to be under a microscope. I do not want to have distractions.â
Hammer also noted that he has received more than 50 emails and text messages from residents on the issue, with a number of them urging the council to bring in someone new as city manager.
The six finalists for the city manager job also met privately Saturday with groups of Palm Bay department heads. Morgan told council members that Morton was the candidate who âimpressed the department head team the most, overwhelmingly.â
In his application cover letter, Morton said he has âconsistently demonstrated an exceptional approach to engagement, an innovative approach to problem- solving and sound municipal finance skills. I have proven my ability to develop and execute complicated work plans; create environments where employees may thrive; and organize and manage complex multilevel operations.â
In all, 114 people applied for the Palm Bay city manager job. Advisers from the Florida City-County Management Association examined their application packages, and culled the list to 33 people who met most or some of the job requirements the City Council was looking for. The council then chose eight to invite in for formal interviews, with two of the eight then withdrawing their applications.
âWe were provided with outstanding, quality candidates,â Medina said. âQuite frankly, Iâm excited. We get to choose our future leader here. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, and I believe in moving forward and moving the city forward.â
The council directed Morgan and Palm Bay City Attorney Patricia Smith to negotiate an employment contract for Morton.
Well, the City needs a Mgr. Given it still isn't clear why we fired the last one, I'm not sure I'm buying into this gushing adoration expressed here. Was this AI generated? I realize I'll need to watch the proceedings, but a friendly critique of this summary would be , what's the pay package? Cost to terminate? (since termination seems to happen frequently). Who was the dissenting vote? I'm all for growth, and apparently the new Mgr is too (ironic in that doesn't seem to be the sentiment of the public in the Council Meetings I watch)? Mandatory costly Utility connections and septic upgrades? Property rights? Lets hope this is the right decision (not just more polished bureaucrats) I'm sure there's more to come.
Some more information from Florida Today (of all places) . Reading this reminded me of the alleged Federal investigation of the City a few years back. At that time the City had hired a mid level bureaucrat from the City of Daytona, it turned out he was a Federal plant (supposedly to collect incriminating information on the City and its operators); Lets hope the new guy isn't a mole. (I still have a lot of questions)
Palm Bay rejects Lynk, names Morton manager
Dave Berman
Florida Today USA TODAY NETWORK â FLORIDA
A divided Palm Bay City Council selected Matthew Morton to be the next city manager, after narrowly rejecting a bid by former City Manager Gregg Lynk to return to the former position that he was fired from in November 2018.
After interviewing six finalists for the city manager job during a six-hour special meeting on Saturday, the City Council vote 4-1 in favor of offering Morton the job, with Council Member Kenny Johnson voting no.
Minutes earlier, the council voted 3-2 against offering Lynk the job. Voting in favor of Lynk were Johnson and Chandler Langevin. Voting against were Mayor Rob Medina, Deputy Mayor Mike Jaffe and Mike Hammer.
If a contract agreement with Morton can be reached, Morton would succeed Suzanne Sherman, whom the council fired in November by a 3-2 vote. Sherman had been city manager since January 2021 and had a salary of $240,772 a year.
Former West Melbourne City Manager Scott Morgan has been serving since then as interim city manager of Palm Bay, which is Brevard Countyâs most populous city, with a population of more than 140,000.
Morton is a former city manager of Palm Coast, a city of more than 106,000 in Flagler County. He has more than 25 years of experience in the public and private sectors, and currently is executive for land acquisition and development for Perihelion Group Consulting in Flagler Beach.
During council debate, Medina said he did not want Palm Bay to go back to âour dark pastâ by rehiring Lynk as city manager. Although he didnât elaborate, Medina was referring in part to a political corruption probe, in which a former deputy city manager who worked under Lynk pleaded guilty to a felony charge of criminal conspiracy (extortion).
Lynk was not charged as part of the FBI and Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation.
Medina said the city âneeded to move forwardâ by hiring Morton as city manager.
âMr. Morton is truly the best candidate that we can haveâ to âpose our city for greatness,â Medina said, while adding that Lynk âhas proven to be a good man, a good citizen, and, moreover, a great man of faith in his place of worship, which I do consider and add value to that.â
Two council members support Lynkâs return
Johnson, however, had made a motion to hire Lynk as city manager, with a 90-day probationary period â even though Johnson was the deciding vote to oust Lynk in 2018.
Johnson said that vote in 2018 came during his first meeting as a council member, and was made under pressure from constituents, without Johnson knowing all the details about Lynkâs positive work as city manager.
More recently, Johnson said, he came to know Lynk, and said he was âblown awayâ by Lynkâs kindness and character.
Lynk had been Palm Bay city manager from April 2015 until his ouster in November 2018. Since 2019, Lynk has been working as an executive consultant.
In addition to his past experience as city manager, Lynk is the husband of Florida Rep. Monique Miller, who was elected in November to represent Florida House District 33 in South Brevard.
âI do not want to have distractionsâ
But other council members said it would be better to hire Morton.
Hammer said, even though he thought Lynk could âdo a great jobâ and âhit the ground runningâ as city manager, if the City Council brought Lynk back, âevery single thing that we do is going to be under a microscope. I do not want to have distractions.â
Hammer also noted that he has received more than 50 emails and text messages from residents on the issue, with a number of them urging the council to bring in someone new as city manager.
The six finalists for the city manager job also met privately Saturday with groups of Palm Bay department heads. Morgan told council members that Morton was the candidate who âimpressed the department head team the most, overwhelmingly.â
In his application cover letter, Morton said he has âconsistently demonstrated an exceptional approach to engagement, an innovative approach to problem- solving and sound municipal finance skills. I have proven my ability to develop and execute complicated work plans; create environments where employees may thrive; and organize and manage complex multilevel operations.â
In all, 114 people applied for the Palm Bay city manager job. Advisers from the Florida City-County Management Association examined their application packages, and culled the list to 33 people who met most or some of the job requirements the City Council was looking for. The council then chose eight to invite in for formal interviews, with two of the eight then withdrawing their applications.
âWe were provided with outstanding, quality candidates,â Medina said. âQuite frankly, Iâm excited. We get to choose our future leader here. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, and I believe in moving forward and moving the city forward.â
The council directed Morgan and Palm Bay City Attorney Patricia Smith to negotiate an employment contract for Morton.
Who are the 2 people talking? What are their names?
Well, the City needs a Mgr. Given it still isn't clear why we fired the last one, I'm not sure I'm buying into this gushing adoration expressed here. Was this AI generated? I realize I'll need to watch the proceedings, but a friendly critique of this summary would be , what's the pay package? Cost to terminate? (since termination seems to happen frequently). Who was the dissenting vote? I'm all for growth, and apparently the new Mgr is too (ironic in that doesn't seem to be the sentiment of the public in the Council Meetings I watch)? Mandatory costly Utility connections and septic upgrades? Property rights? Lets hope this is the right decision (not just more polished bureaucrats) I'm sure there's more to come.