North Bay Village Selects City Manager
Sweetwater Official Was Among 12 Finalists

“I’m not prepared to pay someone $150,000 a year.”

Jorge Forte, future North
Bay Village city manager

by Randy Abraham

The North Bay Village City Commission unanimously agreed to hold contract talks with a Sweetwater official selected to become NBV’s new city manager, during a meeting Tuesday.

Jorge Forte, the chief of staff for the city of Sweetwater, topped a short list of 12 finalists for the position of city manager. The commission also picked Vice Mayor George Kane to negotiate a contract with Forte.

“Thank you for your confidence,” said an elated Forte. “I will give you 110 percent every day.”

City officials hope to approve a contract within a week.

The mayor and commissioners have met with and interviewed 14 contenders for the position in the past two weeks. Two of the candidates have withdrawn from consideration: Pembroke Pines Assistant City Manager Gary P. Shimun, who recently accepted the position of town administrator for the town of Davie in Broward County; and Maria Davis, former city manager for the city of South Miami.

After some initial discussion on how to trim the list, commissioners then selected five front-runners for the position: Forte, West Miami City Manager Yolanda Aguilar, former Doral City Manager Yocelyn G. Gomez, management consultant Carlos McDonald and former Miami-Dade Fire Chief Charles Phillips.

Commissioners whittled the list down to three, then two candidates: Forte and Gomez, currently the chief administrative officer for the law firm Weiss Serota Helfman. Commissioners expressed some concern that Gomez makes considerably more than the $100,000-plus salary the city is prepared to offer. But Gomez said, “I’m making a conscious decision to take a pay cut.” She said that after working since March in the private sector, she realized she wants to get back into government service.

In contrast, Forte, who makes about $85,000 a year in Sweetwater, said, “I’m not here to take a pay cut. This would be a substantial opportunity.”

Commissioners discussed salary issues, and Mayor Joe Geller noted that the city had posted the salary range for the position as “about $100,000” and that there might be room to exceed that amount. He added that providing a competitive salary is necessary to retaining a qualified manager. “If you want the best, you have to pay for the best,” said Geller.

Kane, however, objected to boosting the salary. “That’s where we need to be. I’m not prepared to pay someone $150,000 a year.”

Local resident Ann Bakst suggested that elected officials postpone a hiring decision until Reinaldo Trujillo, elected without opposition to the seat Commissioner Tzvi Bogomilsky will vacate on Nov. 8, is sworn in. “He [Bogomilsky] has not been there for the interviews, and I wanted them to wait until after the new commission is installed in two weeks,” Bakst said afterward.

Bogomilsky reminded Bakst that he still serves the city and that he intended to take part in the selection process.

Geller said there was no need to wait since the seated commissioners and Trujillo were in such close agreement in their rankings of the candidates. “It’s not needed, considering we had such unanimity on the finalists,” he said. Trujillo told commissioners of his recommendations at the hearing.

Commissioners, who advertised both locally and nationally for the position, praised the quality of candidates who responded.

Forte will replace Charity Good, who was hired last year from the city of Hallandale Beach. Good early this year received the go-ahead to do consulting work to supplement her income, but this summer city officials were dismayed to discover Good’s name listed on the Web site of the Broward County city of Southwest Ranches as assistant city manager. Good resigned from Southwest Ranches, and agreed to stay in North Bay Village until her replacement is hired. Commissioners agreed to allow Good to stay on at least two weeks as a consultant after Forte’s arrival to ensure a smooth transition.

Forte, who has worked at Sweetwater for four years and was appointed to the city of Hialeah’s Planning and Zoning Board last year, said working for Sweetwater has prepared him well for his next assignment. Sweetwater features a strong mayor form of government where the mayor oversees the daily administration of the city. Forte worked as the mayor’s assistant. “The duties of city manager are really no different from what I do now,” said Forte.

John Canada, whose management firm services the city of Southwest Ranches and who hired Good this year, was recently terminated by elected officials of that Broward municipality because of a list of grievances, such as failure to communicate with commissioners, and for billing the city for unfilled staff positions.

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