For the first time since the termination of former City Manager George Garrett in February, the Marathon City Council will publicly discuss finalists in the search for a new manager on Tuesday, July 28 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
Marathon received 69 applications for the city’s top post, interim City Manager Steve Williams told the council last month. All applicants were scored and ranked accordingly by an internal staff team before turning applications over to city council members for review.
Earlier this month, HR Director Evie Engelmeyer asked council members to submit their top five to 10 qualified candidates for in-person interviews, conducted individually with council members on July 23.
In Tuesday’s session, council members will discuss their choices in an open meeting, and may direct staff to begin contract negotiations with a majority vote. In a July 21 budget discussion, councilman Lynn Landry suggested that the council should prepare for a vote by the close of the special session, while others like Vice Mayor Debbie Struyf did not yet commit to offering the position.
The Keys Weekly requested and received the application materials for Tuesday’s five finalists, listed here in alphabetical order:
- Marathon’s current City Clerk Diane Clavier, employed by the city from 2003 to 2005 and again from 2006 to present. Clavier began as an executive assistant under then-City Managers Scott Janke and Mike Puto before a one-year stint as a Cape Coral real estate agent. In her current post, Clavier directs official records and legislative documents as well as preparing and managing agenda materials for city council meetings. She serves as the city’s chief elections official, oversees contract execution and serves in the city’s Emergency Operations Center during disaster events.
- Ted Lozier, Marathon’s code director since July 2021. Prior to his move to Marathon, Lozier served as an assistant city manager and eventually city manager from 2019 to 2021 in Gallipolis, Ohio. Prior to his city leadership, he served as the chief of conservation for the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District and held multiple posts with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and MBA in international business and marketing, both from Ohio State University. He graduated in 2001 from the Ohio Certified Public Managers Program.
- Michael Null, the interim city manager for Green Grove Springs, Florida. He has worked for the city since 2003, rising through roles as an assistant water utilities director, public works director and assistant city manager before assuming the top post for the staff of 130 in November 2025. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Jacksonville University and master’s degree in public administration from Barry University. He lists a certification as an International City/County Management Association credentialed manager.
- Former Marathon City Manager and Monroe County Commissioner Mike Puto, who held the city’s top post from 2005 to 2008 and again from 2014 to 2016. Puto served as a county commissioner from 1986 to 1990 along with more than four decades with Marathon’s volunteer fire rescue department, including 15 years as its chief. He currently serves on a litany of nonprofit and civic organization boards. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from St. Leo University and is a certified emergency manager from FEMA, according to his application materials.
- Ada Mayte Santamaria, a former senior director of planning and environmental resources and senior planning policy adviser for Monroe County. She serves as the deputy county administrator for St. Lucie County after departing the Keys in 2022 to become St. Lucie County’s director of planning and development services, overseeing a $912 million budget and 900 employees. Before her work with Monroe County, she worked as an environmental administrator with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and a community planner for the Area of Critical State Concern program. She holds a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in management from UF’s Warrington College of Business.
In emails from four of five council members to Engelmeyer, Santamaria and Null each received three requests for interviews, followed by two for Clavier and Lozier and one for Puto.
Should the council decide to take any official action in Tuesday’s session, a public comment period would be required before the vote, interim City Manager Steve Williams told the Weekly.
