News

By Rich Pollack

    Highland Beach is looking for a new town manager again, just not right away.
    Town commissioners agreed last month to accept Town Manager Beverly Brown’s letter announcing her retirement, but surprised her by deciding to make it effective that day, Sept. 6.
    Brown, who was on a long-planned vacation and was not at the meeting, had offered to postpone her retirement until Dec. 2 to help complete a smooth transition.
    But in a 4-1 vote, commissioners said it would be in the best interest of the town not to delay the retirement for three months.
    “There’s no punishment here,” Vice Mayor Bill Weitz said. “The issue is I think the town needs to move forward. We need to move forward with a search committee, we need to move forward with a positive and fair selection process, and I think any delay in terms of a lame-duck period and a lame-duck session will produce dissension and difficulty for our town.”
    Commissioner Lou Stern, who cast the dissenting vote, disagreed.
    “I think you’re doing the town harm by not having a town manager in place until we find a replacement,” he said.
    The commission appointed Town Clerk Valerie Oakes to fill in as interim town manager and agreed to pay her an annual salary of $115,000 while she serves in the interim position. The salary and a $600 a month car allowance were retroactive to Sept. 6, and will be in place for as long she is in the position.
    Citing scheduling and holiday issues, commissioners agreed to delay the search for a new town manager until the beginning of next year.  
    In accepting Brown’s retirement letter, commissioners agreed to continue paying her salary and providing her with benefits until Dec. 2. Commissioners also agreed to give her a longevity bonus equal to about 2 percent of her $130,400 annual salary.  
    In addition, the commission agreed to give Brown compensation for 10 weeks of accumulated leave time, as well as the iPad she used in her position.
    Brown said she was notified of the commission’s decision by phone while she was in Alaska, and was taken aback by the decision to make her retirement effective that day.
    “It took me by surprise,” she said. “It was just a shock.”
    She said she would have liked to complete some projects, but is optimistic the town will continue to operate effectively and efficiently under a new town manager.
    “We have great supervisors and I’m sure they’ll work well with whomever the commission brings in,” she said.
    Brown’s retirement marks the second time in less than two years the Town Commission has had to replace a town manager.
    Brown, 72, was serving as town clerk in January 2015 when she was named interim town manager following the mutually agreed-upon departure of former Town Manager Kathleen Weiser. Brown was promoted to the position permanently in April of that year.
    In August, Brown took heat from commissioners, who said she needed to communicate with them better after she received a letter from a Fraternal Order of Police representative explaining that civilian town employees were in the planning stages of forming a union.
    As the search for a new town manager begins, the focus will be on finding a candidate with experience in town operations, according to Commissioner Carl Feldman.  
    “We’re looking for someone with municipal knowledge,” he said.

Correction
An article in the September edition of The Coastal Star about Highland Beach Town Manager Beverly Brown’s decision to retire incorrectly reported her age. Brown is 72.