Islamorada council members crammed the village supervisor emptiness — at the least for the very quick time period — on Jan. 9 by voting 5-0 to nominate chief constructing official Sheila Denoncourt.
Two days earlier than Denoncourt’s appointment, the council heard then-Village Supervisor Rob Cole’s resignation. It was adopted up by the council’s 4-1 vote on a severance package deal; councilman Steve Friedman was the lone “no” vote as he expressed help for Cole.
With Cole now not performing the day-to-day duties inside village corridor as of Jan. 7, Islamorada went for a full day with out a supervisor.
“I crossed my fingers, held my nostril hoping that nothing of an emergency nature occurred,” Village Lawyer John Fast informed council members.
The council finally selected Denoncourt out of some names talked about on the Founders Park Group Middle on Jan. 9. Denoncourt expressed curiosity to the council through a letter. A village worker since 2017, Denoncourt will function the council seeks interim supervisor assist by the Florida League of Cities — an thought introduced ahead by Mayor Sharon Mahoney. She handed out a listing of 16 names the village has a possibility to fulfill and choose. Fellow council members have been amenable to the concept.
Whereas the village has succesful workers like Denoncourt to fill the place on a short-term foundation, Mahoney acknowledged that she needs to keep away from mixing workers and village supervisor duties. Mahoney added the supervisor fill-ins by the League of Cities journey Florida to assist in conditions just like the one Islamorada is presently in.
Some individuals felt Fast may function supervisor. Fast stated whereas he appreciated being talked about, he couldn’t serve within the place.
“It actually isn’t acceptable underneath the constitution and the regulation to have the identical individual saying ‘That is how I execute the imaginative and prescient’ after which additionally I’m going to log out on the legalities of it. They’re two separate divisions,” Fast stated.
Denoncourt and Jennifer DeBoisbriand, village planning director, have been among the many division heads who expressed curiosity in serving as supervisor. DeBoisbriand, in her letter, acknowledged her need to hunt the full-time place.
Friedman talked about a number of names concerned with serving as interim supervisor, together with Ted Blackburn and former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
With Denoncourt accredited as performing supervisor, the council directed her to comply with up on managers from the League of Cities listing to gauge curiosity and doubtlessly schedule a particular assembly. Council members additionally directed workers to guide the seek for a everlasting supervisor, just like the method which led to the hiring of Cole in February 2024. The village’s human sources division will launch a job posting. From there, candidates will likely be examined based mostly on their credentials and expertise.
On the similar time, the village will put together a request for proposals for a head-hunting agency ought to the village want a greater pool of candidates.