By Mary Hladky
Boca Raton City Manager Mark Sohaney, who announced his resignation on Oct. 16 after leading the city for 14 months, said he was leaving “to pursue a new professional opportunity that will allow him to return to serving the military community.”
The details have now been filled in by his new employer, the University of Maryland Global Campus, which said Oct. 19 that it has appointed Sohaney as its new senior vice president of Global Military Operations, effective Nov 30.
Sohaney will oversee the university’s worldwide military operations and serve as its senior leader for military and veterans affairs. UMGC, based in Adelphi, Maryland, serves working adults and military service members through online and hybrid courses.
UMGC is part of the University System of Maryland, but operates separately from the University of Maryland in College Park, Md.
“I am honored and excited to join the University of Maryland Global Campus and contribute to its distinguished legacy of serving our military community…,” Sohaney said in a statement. “I look forward to working alongside UMGC’s talented faculty and staff to expand educational opportunities for servicemembers, veterans, and their families, wherever their service takes them.”
His departure date from the city has not yet been announced.
Sohaney is a retired U.S. Navy captain who served for nearly four decades. His positions included commanding officer of the Naval Air Station in Key West and at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii.
“Serving as City Manager of Boca Raton has been an honor, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to work alongside an exceptional team of dedicated public servants,” Sohaney said in a statement.
“While this was not an easy decision, the opportunity to return to a mission that has been central to my professional life is especially meaningful to me.”
“We appreciate his leadership and the work he has done alongside our employees, and we wish him and his family the very best as he returns to serving the military community,’” Mayor Andy Thomson said in a statement.
The City Council will determine interim leadership arrangements and the process for selecting the next city manager, the city said.
In selecting Sohaney as city manager, the council jettisoned Boca Raton’s longstanding practice of promoting from within its ranks. His council supporters said he would bring fresh eyes to the position.
Sohaney actively sought a city manager job in Florida after retiring ftom the Navy. He was selected as a finalist in five cities, including Boca Raton. He lost out in three cities and withdrew from consideration from the fourth. He also lost out on a bid to become Palm Beach County’s top administrator.
Since joining Boca Raton, he has been actively involved in decisions concerning where a new police headquarters should be built and has advanced initiatives to deal with homeless persons in the city while also making services available to them.
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