Islamorada council members filled the village manager vacancy — at least for the very short term — on Jan. 9 by voting 5-0 to appoint chief building official Sheila Denoncourt.
Two days before Denoncourt’s appointment, the council heard then-Village Manager Rob Cole’s resignation. It was followed up by the council’s 4-1 vote on a severance package; councilman Steve Friedman was the lone “no” vote as he expressed support for Cole.
With Cole no longer performing the day-to-day duties inside village hall as of Jan. 7, Islamorada went for a full day without a manager.
“I crossed my fingers, held my nose hoping that nothing of an emergency nature took place,” Village Attorney John Quick told council members.
The council eventually chose Denoncourt out of a few names mentioned at the Founders Park Community Center on Jan. 9. Denoncourt expressed interest to the council via a letter. A village employee since 2017, Denoncourt will serve as the council seeks interim manager help through the Florida League of Cities — an idea brought forward by Mayor Sharon Mahoney. She passed out a list of 16 names the village has an opportunity to meet and pick. Fellow council members were amenable to the idea.
While the village has capable staff like Denoncourt to fill the position on a short-term basis, Mahoney acknowledged that she wants to avoid mixing staff and village manager duties. Mahoney added the manager fill-ins through the League of Cities travel Florida to help in situations similar to the one Islamorada is currently in.
Some people felt Quick could serve as manager. Quick said while he appreciated being mentioned, he could not serve in the position.
“It really isn’t appropriate under the charter and the law to have the same person saying ‘This is how I execute the vision’ and then also I’m going to sign off on the legalities of it. They are two separate divisions,” Quick said.
Denoncourt and Jennifer DeBoisbriand, village planning director, were among the department heads who expressed interest in serving as manager. DeBoisbriand, in her letter, acknowledged her desire to seek the full-time position.
Friedman mentioned several names interested in serving as interim manager, including Ted Blackburn and former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
With Denoncourt approved as acting manager, the council directed her to follow up on managers from the League of Cities list to gauge interest and potentially schedule a special meeting. Council members also directed staff to lead the search for a permanent manager, similar to the process which led to the hiring of Cole in February 2024. The village’s human resources department will release a job posting. From there, candidates will be examined based on their credentials and experience.
At the same time, the village will prepare a request for proposals for a head-hunting firm should the village need a better pool of candidates.
