Council to interview Town Manager finalists Friday
Public has opportunity to submit questions ahead of time that may be asked of candidates
The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council will be interviewing the finalists for the Town Manager position this Friday during a special town council meeting at the Town Council Chambers inside the town’s temporary Town Hall trailer at 2731 Oak Street next to the Bay Oaks Recreational Campus.
The five candidates will meet with the public for a half-hour from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. After that, town councilmembers will meet individually with the candidates.
“This will give community members the opportunity to speak to candidates face to face prior to interviews with Council,” Fort Myers Beach Communications Director Nicole Berzin said.
At 1 p.m., the town councilmembers will return to an open session of the special town council meeting. Councilmembers will then interview candidates one at a time publicly.
Berzin said this will be the time where any questions submitted by the public ahead of time may be asked.
All questions can be submitted online at the town’s website at the request tracker link located at https://www.fortmyersbeachfl.gov/requesttracker.aspx.
Town of Fort Myers Beach Human Resources Director Talissa Oliveria “will go through the questions submitted and select the most relevant to ask,” Berzin said. “There is only a certain amount of time per candidate, so there may not be enough time for all questions submitted to be asked. “
The finalists for the Town of Fort Myers Beach Manager position are:
Michael Brillhart, interim Manager of Crescent City, Florida
William Lawrence, Manager of the Town of Lady Lake, Florida
William McKannay, an emergency management consultant based in Texas
Scott Moye, former County Manager of Ware County, Georgia
Jeremy Shaffer, Village Administrator of Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio
Alternates:
Patrick Jordan, Ionia County Administrator in Michigan
John Trew, General Superintendent of Portage County Engineer’s Office in Ohio
The final group was narrowed down by town staff from a list of 66 candidates to replace outgoing Town Manager Andy Hyatt. Hyatt announced he will be stepping down at the end of April. Hyatt was hired by the town in 2023 to replace the town’s interim managers Chris Holley and Keith Wilkins that were hired by a new town council in November of 2022 after the town council parted ways with longtime Town Manager Roger Hernstadt.
The town council chose all of the finalists that were suggested by town staff though in their vote on the finalists, Councilmember Scott Safford did not endorse William Lawrence or John Trew. Councilmember Karen Woodson did not endorse Brillhart, Lawrence or Moye.
To reach Nathan Mayberg, please email nmayberg@breezenewspapers.com