jamie titcomb - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T07:32:19Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/jamie+titcombObituary: Carol Titcombhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/obituary-carol-titcomb-lantana2023-11-29T18:00:29.000Z2023-11-29T18:00:29.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Brian Biggane</strong><br /> <br />LANTANA — Longtime Hypoluxo Island resident Carol Titcomb died surrounded by family on Nov. 23. She was 91.</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}12305324863,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12305324863,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}" width="104" alt="12305324863?profile=RESIZE_180x180" /></a>Born Carol L. Milemore in Northport, New York, on Jan. 14, 1932, Mrs. Titcomb planned to attend Cornell University to become a brain surgeon until she met Ray, who became her husband of 73 years. After a brief romance, the pair was married and headed to Bridgeport, Connecticut, where Ray studied to become an industrial engineer.</p>
<p>Not long after, Mrs. Titcomb became pregnant with the first of their four sons and became a full-time homemaker.</p>
<p>In 1952 the couple learned Woodbury Pewter in Connecticut was up for sale and decided to buy it and began selling reproductions of early American pewter.</p>
<p>“If Ray needed something shipped out at night,” Mrs. Titcomb told <em>The Coastal Star</em> earlier this year, “I would have the kids fed by 6 o’clock and go to the shop and help Ray pack until 12 or 1 o’clock.” The business remains in the family, now run by son Brooks.</p>
<p>Mrs. Titcomb became “very involved” with the Newtown (Connecticut) Town Players, producing a play, doing makeup, production and promotion.</p>
<p>In 1985 the couple took a trip to Florida and found a house on the water on Hypoluxo Island. Learning the “For Sale” sign was about to go up, they arrived early the next day to check it out.</p>
<p>“We looked out to the water and said, ‘This is fabulous,’” she said. “We made an offer, and they took it.”</p>
<p>In her nearly 40 years in south Palm Beach County she traveled extensively in the U.S. and Europe, particularly enjoying Italy; was a member of the Hospice Guild of South Palm Beach County; and enjoyed card games with the ladies at St. Andrews Club and The Little Club.</p>
<p>“We have gotten literally hundreds of messages pouring in from all over the place,” said son Jamie Titcomb, the town manager of South Palm Beach. “My mom was very influential in her effect on every person she met. </p>
<p>“Other people would call her ‘Mom.’ She had the ability to make everybody heard and listened to, give them sage advice, and everybody came away feeling enriched by the experience.”</p>
<p>Mrs. Titcomb is survived by husband, Ray, sisters Barbara and Lois, sons Jeffrey, Brooks, Jamie and Gordon, eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Per her wishes, there will be no funeral, but a celebration of life will be held on a date to be determined.</p>
<p>“If you knew her, you loved her … and she loved you too!” her son Gordon wrote in a Facebook post.</p></div>South Palm Beach: Town manager’s contract to be renegotiated to cover extra hourshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/south-palm-beach-town-manager-s-contract-to-be-renegotiated-to-co2023-08-30T15:22:31.000Z2023-08-30T15:22:31.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Mary Thurwachter</strong></p>
<p>Looks like a little more tinkering will be required for that unique contract Town Attorney Glen Torcivia negotiated for South Palm Beach’s new manager, Jamie Titcomb. </p>
<p>Titcomb’s two-year contract has him working 20-25 hours a week at $82 an hour. The hours are capped at 25 to avoid triggering the town’s health insurance plan, which is automatically given to employees who work at least 26 hours a week. He doesn’t get pension benefits or paid holidays.</p>
<p>The problem is that the transition hasn’t been running as smoothly as hoped and Titcomb, who came on board June 5, has been averaging 30-31 hours a week. The previous town manager, Robert Kellogg, was a full-time employee. His leaving on May 25 sparked the resignation of Beatrice Good, the town’s financial consultant. Since then, Donna Mitchell, who issued building permits, also left.</p>
<p>All those departures at the same time contributed to the mess Titcomb inherited.</p>
<p>“It’s an interesting and challenging job,” Titcomb said at the Aug. 8 Town Council meeting. “I’ve been dealing with a lot of things that probably wouldn’t have to be dealt with in another town. We’re trying to right the ship.”</p>
<p>From the start, Titcomb, who was town manager in Loxahatchee Groves until he retired a year ago, didn’t want another full-time job. He wants to stick to the terms of the contract.</p>
<p>“Nobody would like to reduce hours more than I would — except maybe my wife,” he said.</p>
<p>“We’ve had a really rough go in the last couple months,” said Mayor Bonnie Fischer. She suggested the manager’s position might be better salaried, rather than per hour. </p>
<p>“We’re still under what we budgeted for a full-time manager,” said council member Bill LeRoy. He said it wasn’t surprising that the new manager would need more time at the start, but he thought hours would naturally be reduced as time progressed.</p>
<p>The contract adjustments will be worked out by Torcivia and Titcomb.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the town has hired a new financial consultant, Ron Bennett, who appeared at the meeting and had worked with the town in the past.</p>
<p>“I don’t have the July financials yet,” he said, apologizing for the tardiness. “We’re playing catch-up here. We walked in behind the eight ball. Nobody left us a road map where all the records are.” </p>
<p>He said he hoped to have records all sorted out by the meeting in September.</p>
<p>Two new automated systems being initiated should be helpful, Titcomb said.</p>
<p>“One is MyGovernment-Online, which is a permitting process,” he said. “People will be able to fill out their own paperwork as well as pay for it on a web-face portal.” </p>
<p>The other program, CivicReady, is the replacement for BlackBoard, and is for emergency notifications “as well as other things going on in the town,” Titcomb said. “Both systems will increase the efficiency of staff through portals.”</p>
<p><strong>In other news, the town:</strong></p>
<p>• Heard from the Sheriff’s Office about the importance of keeping car doors locked and valuables out of sight to avoid vehicle burglaries. The topic came up after the council heard that burglars vandalized 17 cars at the Imperial House and across the street at South Palm Beach Villas on Aug. 3. The vandals, who broke car windows, came from Lantana Beach, which is open 24 hours a day. </p>
<p>• Heard from Ben Saver, the deputy town attorney, about a new state law, Bill 774, that requires mayors and council members to disclose their full net worth. Starting next year, they will have to disclose all assets over $1,000 with additional information about income. </p>
<p>“This is really a full financial disclosure compared to what you had to do in the past,” Saver said. “We can do a quick PowerPoint presentation for you at one of our meetings this year, and that way we can get a little bit deeper into what the requirements are and answer questions.” </p></div>South Palm Beach: Titcomb to start June 5 as part-time town managerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/south-palm-beach-titcomb-to-start-june-5-as-part-time-town-manage2023-05-03T15:20:34.000Z2023-05-03T15:20:34.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Joe Capozzi</strong></p>
<p>Jamie Titcomb has been hired as South Palm Beach’s new town manager under an unusual arrangement that will make him a part-time town employee. </p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}11063018287,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}11063018287,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}" width="101" alt="11063018287?profile=RESIZE_180x180" /></a>Titcomb will start June 5, replacing retiring manager Robert Kellogg, who since 2019 has held the position as a full-time employee, as had previous town managers in recent memory. </p>
<p>“This is new and different. We’ve never done this before,’’ Town Attorney Glen Torcivia said April 28 before the Town Council unanimously hired Titcomb.</p>
<p>Titcomb, who was town manager in Loxahatchee Groves until he retired last year, wanted to serve as South Palm Beach’s town manager as an independent contractor so he can spend more time with family. Torcivia said he should work as a town employee. </p>
<p>As a compromise, Titcomb agreed to a two-year arrangement in which he will work as a town employee for at least 20 hours a week, but no more than 25 hours per week, at $82 per hour.</p>
<p>He will receive no health insurance or pension benefits and he will not receive any paid holidays. He can be terminated without cause and without severance pay. </p>
<p>His weekly work hours are capped at 25 to avoid triggering the town’s health insurance plan, which is automatically given to employees who work at least 26 hours a week, Torcivia said. </p>
<p>“I appreciate the attorney’s attempt to create a hybrid agreement that meets the needs of a fiduciary full-time town manager at the same time trying to constrain your total costs,’’ said Titcomb, who served as Ocean Ridge town manager from October 2015 to March 2019.</p>
<p>“Think of this as an a la carte menu rather than a full-course menu in order to get there.’’ </p>
<p>If Titcomb works 20 hours a week, he’d get about $85,000 a year. If he works 25 hours a week, he’d get $106,000 a year. </p>
<p>Kellogg gets about $170,000 a year in salary ($110,250) and benefits, a total that equates to $82 an hour over a 40-hour work week. </p>
<p>Some Town Council members said they preferred to have the town manager at Town Hall five days a week, with Titcomb deciding how to divide his 25 hours over the full work week. </p>
<p>“I don’t care if you have me here for four days or five days. Most of you who know me long enough know I will be available as needed,’’ said Titcomb, who lives in Atlantis. </p>
<p>Torcivia said the arrangement “is a new concept. I’m hoping there won’t be bumps on the road. Don’t be surprised if there are a few little bumps, but I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of bumps.’’</p>
<p>Kellogg announced his retirement in November, a day after council member Ray McMillan made an unsuccessful motion to fire him. Kellogg wanted to retire at the end of March but has agreed to stay on until May 25.</p>
<p>“I want to thank Bob for all he has done. He will be missed,’’ Mayor Bonnie Fischer said. “Thank you, Jamie, for coming. We look forward to you being on board, a new chapter in government in South Palm Beach.’’ </p>
<p>Kellogg’s departure triggered the resignation of the town’s financial consultant, Beatrice Good. </p>
<p>“I firmly believe that the foundation of every successful administration is based on the mutual respect and trust of its staff,’’ Good, who did not attend the April council meeting, wrote in a resignation letter to Kellogg in March after the council started negotiating with Titcomb.</p>
<p>“Unfortunately with your pending departure, it seems this will all be lost. Having previously experienced a long period of instability and chaos with the town, I choose not to do so again,’’ she wrote.</p>
<p><strong>In other business,</strong> the Florida Department of Transportation has rejected a request by the Town Council to eliminate plans for a bicycle lane along a 1.7-mile stretch of South Ocean Boulevard north of South Palm Beach. </p>
<p>The council sent the letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis to support the town of Palm Beach, which thinks the bike lane would disrupt ingress and egress of condos along the road and would be counterproductive for bicyclists since there are no bike lanes at Sloan’s Curve just north of Ibis Way. </p>
<p>“The department is required to provide safe bicycle facilities where feasible when planning projects,’’ District Four DOT Secretary Gerry O’Reilly said in a letter to Fischer. </p></div>South Palm Beach: Council OKs negotiations with Titcomb to take town manager’s jobhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/south-palm-beach-council-oks-negotiations-with-titcomb-to-take-to2023-03-29T14:44:57.000Z2023-03-29T14:44:57.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Joe Capozzi</strong></p>
<p>Former Ocean Ridge Town Manager Jamie Titcomb has emerged as the Town Council’s choice to be South Palm Beach’s next manager. Now the council must decide whether to allow him to serve as an independent contractor or a full-time employee.<br /> Titcomb, the town manager in Loxahatchee Groves from 2019 until last June, wants to be South Palm Beach’s town manager as an independent contractor for $12,000 a month. <br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}11007367485,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}11007367485,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}" width="102" alt="11007367485?profile=RESIZE_180x180" /></a>Although he said he does not want a full-time position because of family obligations that led him to retire last summer, he suggested there could be a scenario that would satisfy the council. <br /> “I’m not necessarily your long-term solution,’’ he told the council at a special meeting on March 6. “I just retired last year. I’m kind of being pulled back out of the mothballs.’’ <br /> At the council’s direction, Town Attorney Glen Torcivia was expected to begin negotiations in late March with Titcomb, who would replace departing Robert Kellogg.<br /> Kellogg announced his retirement in November, a day after council member Ray McMillan made an unsuccessful motion to fire him. Kellogg wanted to retire at the end of March but has agreed to stay on until the council finds a replacement. <br /> Torcivia is expected to give the council an update on the negotiations on April 11. <br /> “The most recent conver-sation I had with the attorney is, he believes if I am going to come here and stay for any duration that I’ll probably need to be an employee of the town,’’ Titcomb said in an interview after the March 14 meeting. <br /> But Titcomb did not indicate this would necessarily be a deal-breaker.<br /> He told the council he could serve in “a transitional” capacity for a while, allowing the council to later seek “a long-term traditional manager.’’<br /> “I have a lot of energy and expertise left in me,’’ he said. “The longer term prospects of this has yet to be seen.’’ <br /> Under Titcomb’s proposal, he would make $144,000 a year, assuming he worked 12 months. And since he is a contractor, the town would not be responsible for paying him any benefits. <br /> Kellogg, who has served as a town manager and South Palm Beach employee since 2019, is making $110,250 a year. <br /> When the search process for a new town manager was first discussed at a special meeting Jan. 30, council members agreed it should be a full-time position. <br /> Titcomb attended that meeting and told the council he was not interested in a full-time job but was available to offer advice. But he said that in the days and weeks after that meeting, several council members reached out individually to him and encouraged him to apply. <br /> He also attended the March 6 meeting, which started out with council members preparing to discuss the search process. When McMillan suggested the town save time and negotiate with Titcomb, a majority of the council agreed. <br /> One resident said the town should conduct a general search. But council members, noting how they’re trying to expedite long-debated plans for a new Town Hall, directed Torcivia to negotiate with Titcomb.<br /> “I am more inclined to go with a work-agreement contract versus being a full-time employee of the town because of the flexibility and my circumstances at this time,’’ Titcomb said March 6. <br /> “I didn’t come forward thinking I am looking for a long-term assignment for years to come,’’ he said. “I know this is a full-time scenario in the sense that once you have the mantle and responsibility and the title, you’ve got to be there for the town as needed. But the details of how that plays out can well be articulated in the agreement to everyone’s satisfaction.’’ <br /> Mayor Bonnie Fischer, a South Palm Beach resident since 1976, said she can’t recall any time when the manager wasn’t a full-time town employee. <br /> Titcomb has applied for the South Palm Beach town manager’s job before, in 2015. But he wound up accepting the town manager post in Ocean Ridge, where he worked from October 2015 to March 2019. <br /> Titcomb lives in Atlantis. </p></div>Ocean Ridge: Titcomb to become first Lox Groves town managerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/ocean-ridge-titcomb-to-become-first-lox-groves-town-manager2019-01-30T17:02:39.000Z2019-01-30T17:02:39.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>By Dan Moffett</b></span></p>
<p class="p2">Ocean Ridge Town Manager Jamie Titcomb is resigning his position in March to become the first manager in the upstart town of Loxahatchee Groves.</p>
<p class="p3"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960836299,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960836299,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" alt="7960836299?profile=original" /></a>For Titcomb, the change is a return engagement of sorts. Thirteen years ago, when he was with the Palm Beach County League of Cities, he helped shepherd the fast-growing western community through the thorny process of incorporation.</p>
<p class="p3">“For me, this provides an opportunity to see through some unfinished business in the steps of creating a viable town from scratch, a professional challenge late in my career,” Titcomb said, “and the ability to make a difference assisting the community to grow to the next level of governance.”</p>
<p class="p3">Loxahatchee Groves, a town of roughly 3,500, was incorporated in 2006 and for the last seven years has hired a management services company to run its operations.</p>
<p class="p3">With the addition of Titcomb, the town intends to move toward a more traditional manager-council form of government.</p>
<p class="p3">Ocean Ridge Mayor Steve Coz scheduled a special Town Council meeting for 2 p.m. Jan. 30 to discuss finding Titcomb’s replacement.</p>
<p class="p3">Titcomb, 61, took over as Ocean Ridge’s manager in October 2015, leaving a similar position in Melbourne Beach.</p>
<p class="p3">He also has worked as the lead administrator in Lake Park and North Palm Beach. He was the executive director of the county League of Cities for 13 years and a former Boynton Beach city commissioner.</p>
<p class="p3">The Ocean Ridge commission hired Titcomb largely because he committed to handling the town’s budget preparation and finances. For roughly 25 years, former Town Clerk Karen Hancsak had performed those duties until she retired shortly after Titcomb’s arrival.</p>
<p class="p3">Titcomb and the commission clashed several times during his first year over difficulties preparing the 2016-2017 budget.</p>
<p class="p3">He attributed the problems to the town’s outdated computer software and to necessary changes in methodology to improve transparency.</p>
<p class="p3">Besides overhauling budgeting, Titcomb developed in-house building inspection services for the town, with a full-time inspector.</p>
<p class="p3">He helped oversee a review of building codes and a citizens review of the Ocean Ridge charter. Titcomb also put in place an aggressive maintenance program for the town’s aging drainage system.</p>
<p class="p3">“I’m proud of building a professional staff, implementing best-practices process, an issues-free budgeting and auditing program and making headway in the town toward high-level, concierge-service local government,” he said.</p>
<p class="p3">Titcomb’s annual salary in Ocean Ridge is $112,500. He said the salary details of his Loxahatchee Groves contract were still being negotiated. </p></div>Ocean Ridge: Titcomb moving to new Lox Groves town positionhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/ocean-ridge-titcomb-moving-to-new-lox-groves-town-position2019-01-24T20:46:48.000Z2019-01-24T20:46:48.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong></p>
<p> Ocean Ridge Town Manager Jamie Titcomb is resigning his position in March to become the first-ever manager in the upstart town of Loxahatchee Groves.</p>
<p> For Titcomb, the change is a return engagement of sorts. Thirteen years ago, when he was with the Palm Beach County League of Cities, he helped shepherd the fast-growing western community through the thorny process of incorporation.</p>
<p> “For me, this provides an opportunity to see through some unfinished business in the steps of creating a viable town from scratch, a professional challenge late in my career,” Titcomb said, “and the ability to make a difference assisting the community to grow to the next level of governance.”</p>
<p> Loxahatchee Groves, a town of roughly 3,500, was incorporated in 2006 and for the last seven years has hired a management services company to run its operations. With the addition of Titcomb, the town intends to move toward a more traditional manager-council form of government.</p>
<p> Ocean Ridge Mayor Steve Coz has scheduled a special Town Council meeting for 2 p.m. on Wed., Jan. 30, to discuss finding Titcomb’s replacement.</p>
<p> Titcomb, 61, took over as Ocean Ridge’s manager in October 2015, leaving a similar position in Melbourne Beach. He also has worked as the lead administrator in Lake Park and North Palm Beach. He was the executive director of the county League of Cities for 13 years and a former Boynton Beach city commissioner.</p>
<p> The Ocean Ridge commission hired Titcomb largely because he committed to handling the town’s budget preparation and finances. For roughly 25 years, former Town Clerk Karen Hancsak had performed those duties until retiring shortly after Titcomb’s arrival.</p>
<p> Titcomb and the commission clashed several times during his first year over difficulties preparing the 2016-2017 budget. He attributed the problems to the town’s outdated computer software and to necessary changes in methodology to improve transparency.</p>
<p> Besides overhauling budgeting, Titcomb developed in-house building inspection services for the town, with a full-time inspector. He helped oversee a review of building codes and also a citizens review of the Ocean Ridge charter. Titcomb also put in place an aggressive maintenance program for the town’s aging drainage system.</p>
<p> “I’m proud of building a professional staff, implementing best-practices process, an issues-free budgeting and auditing program and making headway in the town toward high-level, concierge-service local government,” he said.</p>
<p> Titcomb’s annual salary in Ocean Ridge is $112,500. He said the salary details of his Loxahatchee Groves contract are still being negotiated.</p></div>Ocean Ridge: Town working out agreement with new managerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/ocean-ridge-town-working-out-agreement-with-new-manager2015-09-30T20:10:10.000Z2015-09-30T20:10:10.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><span><b>By Dan Moffett</b></span></p>
<p>Ocean Ridge appears to have found its next town manager in Jamie Titcomb, the former Palm Beach County League of Cities executive director.</p>
<p><span class="Apple-tab-span"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960600501,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960600501,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="239" class="align-center" alt="7960600501?profile=original" /></a></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>Jamie Titcomb has been offered the town manager position in Ocean Ridge.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><b>Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</b></em></p>
<p>Titcomb, 58, and Town Attorney Ken Spillias have worked out details of an agreement that the town commissioners are expected to approve at their Oct. 5 meeting. Titcomb replaces the retiring Ken Schenck who has held the position since 2006.</p>
<p>After interviewing four other candidates, commissioners said they chose Titcomb because of his familiarity with Ocean Ridge and the county, his experience as a town manager in several other coastal communities, and perhaps most of all, his willingness to tackle the town’s budget work.</p>
<p>Karen Hancsak, who has overseen the town’s budget preparation for most of her 25 years as town clerk, is retiring later this year, and the commission wants to shift the financial duties to the next manager.</p>
<p>“We’re looking for a heavy hand in the financing,” Mayor Geoff Pugh said.</p>
<p>“The budget is a blueprint document,” Titcomb told commissioners. “It’s what we go by. I’m very comfortable dealing with that.”</p>
<p>Titcomb has been the town manager of Melbourne Beach since early 2014, and before that served as the interim town manager in Lake Park. In 2011, he had a contentious seven-month tenure as North Palm Beach manager that ended with his dismissal, without cause. Some Town Council members complained of morale problems with staff.</p>
<p>“I was never actually given a reason (for the firing),” Titcomb said, “other than I wasn’t a good fit.”</p>
<p>He deflected criticism about morale problems under his leadership: “I have a knack for putting very good teams of people together.”</p>
<p>Titcomb’s settlement agreement with North Palm Beach prohibits both sides from commenting about the reasons for his termination. </p>
<p>Ocean Ridge commissioners were impressed by the good reviews he got for his work in Melbourne Beach and Lake Park, and Commissioner James Bonfiglio thought the connections Titcomb made through his 13 years with the League of Cities would benefit the town.</p>
<p>“He knows all the people we have to work with,” Bonfiglio said.</p>
<p>Commissioner Richard Lucibella worried that Titcomb was “overqualified” for the job — he earned $135,000 with North Palm Beach and likely will receive about $30,000 less from Ocean Ridge — and that his recent history suggests he might not be willing to commit to the town for much longer than the short term.</p>
<p>“I don’t move by default,” Titcomb said of his job-changing. “I move by design.”</p>
<p>The other candidates commissioners interviewed were: David Harden, the former Delray Beach city manager; Mark Kutney, former town manager of Loxahatchee Groves; Violet (Lee) Leffingwell, former town manager of Mangonia Park; and Joseph Gerrity, the former Fernandina Beach city manager.</p>
<p>Gerrity was the choice of a majority of commissioners but after interviewing, he withdrew from consideration, telling town officials the Ocean Ridge area was “too urban” for him.<span>Ú</span></p></div>