Coral Gables does not have a new city manager pick.
As reported first by Political Cortadito, the man chosen by commissioners last week to replace former City Manager Pat 
Salerno will not be running the city in October, after all.
James Beard will stay in Atlanta, where he is chief financial officer, after he withdrew his application late Monday in the wake of a background check that turned up a bankruptcy and an old child abuse allegation that was dismissed and that Beard said was made up, but which apparently still made commissioners uneasy.
Beard told Ladra he withdrew because he and the city could not come to terms. “We could not reach an agreement that made both of us comfortable. I wanted a larger commitment,” he said, adding that he was seeking a contract that would keep him in the City Beautiful through 2017. “And the city would not go for the kind of security I need.”
But Beard did want the job bad enough Monday night to fly into Miami International Airport and meet Tuesday morning with commissioners in order to defend himself from the allegations that he said were bogus and which he also said at least some of them were made aware of during the interview process.
It seems that, in the end, commissioners were just not comfortable with the baggage.
Or, maybe, they just wanted an excuse to pick someone else.
That’s what some political observers are thinking, especially after Commissioner Frank Quesada told Ladra Monday night that he would like to go to the No. 2 pick, Miami Parking Authority CEO Art Noriega.
But Noriega told Lara on Tuesday that he was no longer interested in the job.
“It was a long process and at the end of it, I didn’t really feel like it was a good fit for me,” Noriega said. “They’ll figure it out, but I won’t be part of it.”
He said he had pretty much made up his mind last week, before commissioners selected Beard and Vice Mayor Bill Kerdyk all the candidates at the meeting, saying he didn’t think any one of them was qualified enough.
“It kind of was eye opening for me,” Noriega said.
Commissioner Pat Keon said Tuesday that she would prefer starting the process all over again because the list provided by Colin Baezinger and Associates was not sufficient. She said he simply collected resumes rather than actually researching and recruiting the right people. Others have said Baezinger simply brought his own clients to the table.
No decision has been made yet on the second step and commissioners said they would discuss it again at 5 p.m., when they reconvene for the budget hearing.
Back to the drawing board for Coral Gables manager search added by Ladra on
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