A contract agreement between Islamorada and another interim manager was tabled to a March 18 meeting after the council appeared to be locked in a 2-2 vote.
With then-village manager Rob Cole’s departure via a resignation-for-severance-pay in January, the council appointed chief building official Sheila Denoncourt as acting manager. To help the village transition, Mayor Sharon Mahoney contacted the Florida League of Cities for interim manager assistance. She received a list of names; Fort Lauderdale’s Alan Cohen was a candidate who expressed interest.
During a special Jan. 30 meeting, the village council voted 4-0 to proceed with contract negotiations with Cohen, who previously worked as assistant administrator in Broward County and manager for the cities of Sunny Isles and Sunrise. The contract came back to the council at its Feb. 11 meeting. Cohen’s contact detailed a $16,666.67 monthly salary, full family health insurance, a $5,310.78 contribution to his retirement fund and other benefits.
Vice Mayor Don Horton said he had concerns regarding the cost associated with Cohen’s proposed contract. Horton also said the village currently has a manager in Sheila Denoncourt who’s “completely capable and competent” to do the fill-in job until a permanent manager is selected by the council.
“It would take away staff time to try to bring someone else up to speed and to get them to even know how to be interim manager in Islamorada,” Horton said. “My position at this point is I’d like to keep Sheila where she’s at. I’d like to not have disruption for the staff.”
A remote work agreement was also attached with Cohen’s contract agreement. It set the terms for Cohen when he needed to perform the village manager duties outside village hall. Mahoney said she was concerned not only with the cost of Cohen’s contract, but also the remote work.
“I want somebody who’s physically here,” she said.
Cohen responded to a misconception he said was floating around of him wanting to do the job remotely.
“That is not the case, and I’m sorry I was responsible for any miscommunication. I spoke to legal, my intent is to be there as close to full time as I can. There are weeks my wife travels for business and I’m limited in my physical presence. But my intent and desire is to be on site,” he said.
Councilwoman Deb Gillis said she was comfortable moving forward with Cohen as interim manager. She also noted Cohen wasn’t looking for a housing allowance.
“He’s trying to work with us on this,” she said. “I don’t think the manager’s search is going to be as short as we’d like it to be. And I would just be more comfortable with Mr. Cohen.”
Councilman Steve Friedman, too, believed going with Cohen would best serve the village in the short term.
“At this stage, it’s important to get in someone who does this for a living to help us through this process, and have someone who can really concentrate on that work and let Sheila do the work that she does in her department,” Friedman said. “I think her being there is the most important position for her.”
Denoncourt said she intended to volunteer as acting village manager to bridge the gap until a permanent manager was picked by council.
“I weighed all options on how and where I could spend my time. My staff is fully capable. I will still be here for the maybe very hard decisions that may need to be made on building department staff, but it runs pretty smoothly,” she said.
Council members voted 4-0 at a Feb. 11 meeting to select Anna Richards after Greg Dully withdrew his name for the seat, which was vacated by former Councilman Buddy Pinder in January. Richards wasn’t sworn in until after the council worked through its agenda. The council ultimately agreed to push the contract agreement to March to give Richards a say in the matter.
Denoncourt said the village received applications from three candidates who were prequalified by village human resources for the permanent manager position. At the same time, a request for proposals for a headhunting firm closes at the end of the month.
