News

By Dan Moffett

    Briny Breezes Town Council members have interviewed three finalists for the newly created town manager position and hope to have it filled by the end of the year.
     In all, seven candidates applied for the part-time job with an annual salary of about $50,000. After two hours of interviews on Nov. 17, council members said they were pleasantly surprised with the qualifications of the finalists.
    “People said we’d have a hard time getting good candidates because we’re a small town,” said Alderman Bobby Jurovaty. “These are good candidates.”
    Alderwoman Christina Adams also wants the council to consider a fourth option: Special District Services, Inc. With an office in Palm Beach Gardens, SDS creates and manages special taxing districts throughout the state. The company was among the original seven applicants and says it can handle management of a town, using a team approach with its staff of specialists.
    Council President Sue Thaler is seeking legal advice from Town Attorney John Skrandel to determine whether the council can consider the company’s application or whether the position must be filled by an individual.
    Thaler said the council planned to discuss the next steps in the manager’s hiring at the town meeting Nov. 30.
    The three finalists are:
    • Annmarie Burke: Originally from Brooklyn, Burke had a 24-year career with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office during which she rose to rank of captain supervisor. She was the first woman in the department to run a patrol district.
    Burke told the council that, as an emergency responder, she gained experience dealing with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She also helped negotiate collective bargaining agreements for the sheriff’s office.
 As a sheriff’s supervisor at Palm Beach International Airport, she wrote a federal grant that enabled the Transportation Security Administration to acquire explosive detection dogs.
    “The budget will be my No. 1 priority,” Burke told the council, saying she believes Briny can cut spending.
    She has a bachelor’s degree and doctorate in criminology from Barry University. A marathon runner, Burke owned and operated the Delray Beach Running Store until selling it recently.
    • Dale Sugerman: With 40 years’ experience in municipal management and 29 years of it in Florida, Sugerman told the council there isn’t much about running a town’s business that he hasn’t seen before: “Nothing will take me by surprise.”
    He was the town manager in Highland Beach from 2005 to 2011 and an assistant city manager in Boynton Beach and Delray Beach. In 1989, he became the first manager in Sunrise’s history, taking the job after the Broward County city changed its form of government.
    Sugerman has an extensive record of working with FEMA, holding 13 certificates for training courses. He said he will try to promote a culture that is “appreciative of the differences” to diminish the discord between Briny’s corporation and the town.
    He holds a doctorate in global leadership from Lynn University and bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati.
    • Dan Winters: Over the last 30 years, Winters has helped develop parks and recreation systems in Palm Beach and Broward counties. He was director of leisure services in Greenacres for a decade beginning in 1987 and helped develop a park system from scratch. He also has worked in the private sector as a consultant for Pompano Beach.
    Winters said he has forged working relationships with county officials over the years and will draw on those to benefit Briny Breezes. He told the council that he knows how to deal with government budgets (“like shooting fish in a barrel”) and write grants. But he said his priority is to improve relations between the town and corporation.
    “It’s almost like ‘them’ and ‘us’ now,” he said. “My goal would be to make it ‘we.’”
    Winters has a bachelor’s degree from Wittenberg University and did post-graduate work at the University of Georgia.