Final Five
Town Council to Choose New Manager from Five Candidates 

Councilman Isaac Salver described the early candidates as “an amazing group of nine guys.”

Bay Harbor Islands Town Manager Greg Tindle will soon be calling it quits.

By Evan Berkowitz

Five finalists were named for the Bay Harbor Islands town manager position during a special Feb. 16 Bay Harbor Islands Town Council meeting.

The finalists were picked from as many as 60 contenders by Colin Baenziger, whose executive search firm has been seeking a replacement for Greg Tindle.

Last December, Tindle resigned from his town manager post after approximately three years on the job. The 48-year-old Tindle was hired in 2003 to replace Linda Karlsson, who was the town’s manager for 12 years. He currently makes $110,000 a year.

Colin Baenziger conducted the 2003 talent search that found Tindle for Bay Harbor at a cost of $15,000. At its Dec. 11 meeting, the council hired the firm to find his replacement for a fee of $17,500.

Baenziger said that after advertising for the position and doing extensive e-mailing, he had received between 50 and 60 responses. “We reached out to people we thought would be a good fit,” he told the SunPost. The firm recently narrowed the search from nine finalists to five by collecting ballots from the Town Council members. Councilman Isaac Salver described the early candidates as “an amazing group of nine guys.”

“This council is concerned about getting some of its infrastructure programs moving,” said Baenziger. According to him, some of the town’s current priorities are building its new municipal parking garage across the street from the expanding Ruth K. Broad elementary/ middle school at 1155 93rd St., and work on the roads and drainage system for the mostly residential west island.

The five finalists for the town manager position are:

*Bill Atkinson. The city manager of Sachse, Texas, from 1999 to 2006, Atkinson describes Sachse in his resume as a rapidly growing Dallas suburb that has experienced a nearly 100 percent increase in population over the past seven years. He described himself as a chief administrative officer responsible for day-to-day operations of a city with a $21 million budget and 118 full- and part-time employees. He was previously city manager of Dewey, Okla., from 1994 to 1999.       

*Paul C. Boyer Jr. He has been city manager of Lake Worth, Fla., from 2003 to 2007. On his resume Boyer descibes Lake Worth as a municipal corporation with 620 employees and a population of more than 35,000 in an incorporated area of 5.9 square miles. His resume states he managed an operating budget of $120 million coupled with a $14.4 million annual capital improvement program. He was previously city manager of Oak Ridge, Tenn., from 1986 to 2003.

*Michael J. Nagy. He has been city manager of Marine City, Mich., from 2002 to the present. Nagy decribes Marine City as a Detroit-metro (bedroom) community with a population of 5,000 that stands on an international river featuring a car/truck ferry and U.S. Customs Post. He was previously village administrator for Pioneer, Ohio, from 1996 to 2002.

*Jason Randall Nunemaker. Currently the city manager of Fellsmere, Fla., a post he has held since 2005, Nunemaker was previously town manager for Lake Park, Fla., from 2001 to 2003. He was the vice president of corporate development for the Gehring Group of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., a company that provides employee benefit, financial and risk management services to public sector entities; they also work with businesses, industries, labor and professional organizations. He held that position from 2003 to 2004.        

*Ronald Joseph Wasson. He is currently the village administrator/clerk treasurer for Rockville Centre, N.Y., a post Wasson has held since 2002. According to his resume Wasson is responsible for the daily operation of 12 village departments, with approximately 300 employees and 350 volunteers. He also acts as the village’s chief financial officer overseeing a general operating budget of $40 million and providing financial advice and recommendations to the mayor and the board of trustees. He is also responsible for the collection of taxes, fees and utility charges, and for signing and disbursing checks and payment of services. Wasson’s resume describes Rockville Centre as an affluent community of more than 25,000 residents. Wasson was also with the New York City Police Department from 1981 to 2002. He served as the highest ranking commanding officer of several New York City Police Department units commanding three patrol precincts as well as the Housing Department, the NYC Property Clerk Unit and the elite Emergency Services Unit.

Baenziger said a reception for the five candidates, their spouses, council members and members of the public will likely be held soon. He said this is normally done when filling a public position because it allows the finalists to “mingle” with local citizens.

“It’s a way to get to know the candidates, for people to meet them one-on-one,” he told the SunPost. Council members would interview candidates individually and a public meeting and decision on the subject would likely follow very soon after, Baenziger added.

According to the firm’s Web site, Colin Baenziger and Associates recently completed several significant executive search efforts for Florida local governments including, among others, Broward County, Miami Gardens, Doral, Palm Beach Gardens, North Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Manalapan, Lantana, Lake Park, Islamorada, Marathon, Palmetto Bay and Lauderdale Lakes. Other Florida search clients include the cities of West Palm Beach and Tamarac, the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority and Monroe and Nassau counties.

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