After a five-month process that included a trolley tour of the historic City Beautiful and the wining and dining of five finalists, Coral Gables made history by naming its first black city manager. Whoops. Nevermind.
Some people are calling it the curse of Pat Salerno.
After a long and excruciatingly public process bungled by a bad background check, Coral Gables is back to the drawing board in its search for a new city manager to replace Salerno, who resigned abruptly in April after he was caught fudging the numbers he presented to commissioners on accident statistics.
Read related story: Coral Gables begins anew sans paranoid Pat Salerno
James Beard, the chief financial officer in the city of Atlanta, who worked in Miami in the private sector — and with former city of Miami manager Howard Gary — apparently fulfilled all the city’s needs and commissioners desires when they picked him from a pool of five candidates earlier this month. They chose him after he was screened by the advisory committee, given a trolley tour of the city, done a speed-dating tour of mini interviews with administrative staff and passed the dog and pony show at the Biltmore Hotel where candidates were — I am not making this up — observed as they interacted with the public.
A week later last Tuesday they dumped him faster than a Sunday morning mistake after a background check turned up a child abuse allegation that Beard said was bogus, malicious and, most importantly, dismissed.
Furthermore, Beard told Ladra that some if not all of the commissioners knew about his battle in court with the mother of his son because he was open and transparent about it with the recruiter Colin Beazinger and the screening committee that pre-interviewed the candidates and shortlisted five.
I think he thinks that there is another reason. Namely, that this has been a political sabotage. Other political observers have said that there is something, or someone rather, causing this circus of a search. Las malas lenguas say someone else wants the job that didn’t get selected or even on the shortlist, perhaps because they acted too late.
Read related story: James Beard finds bump on road to Gables city manager
Because, is it really so difficult to find the right person for a job overseeing a budget of $156 million and a workforce of 800 employees in a city that has long been a model for other municipalities?
“It’s so embarrassing,” said one administrator.
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Coral Gables city manager search circus act enters part II added by Ladra on
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