Community meets new Fort Myers Beach Manager
After spending nearly his entire career in the military, Town of Fort Myers Beach Manager Will McKannay said the skills he picked up that he believes will help him most in his new role in local government are his “leadership and people skills.”
This past Friday, McKannay attended a meet and greet event with the public organized in partnership with the Town of Fort Myers Beach and Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce at the DiamondHead Beach Resort where he heard from residents and members of the town’s business community about their hopes and visions of the future during an informal setting.
McKannay said the meet and greet went well. “I was really excited by the format. It was a very large group, very diverse group of residents, developers and businessowners. It was great to be able to share my interest in helping to rebuild the island to a place where people want to live, work and want to vacation,” he said.
Local residents and businessowners Dawn and Mike Miller spoke with McKannay about upcoming business events, their visions of the town and concerns about flooding.
McKannay told Mr. Miller that building resilience on the beach was one of his priorities. “It’s important that we incorporate ideas for resilience for everything we do,” McKannay said.
McKannay just started on the job last week, taking over from former Manager Andy Hyatt. The new manager said he has been struck by the “excitement that a lot of people have to bring back these essential services and businesses.”
One of the common themes he heard during the meet and greet was desire to bring back businesses and bring in new business to the town. “Everybody’s ready and excited to bring that back,” McKannay said.
The former U.S. Army garrison Commander said he has been impressed with the town staff “and their professionalism and their knowledge.” He has also been impressed by the island community and the “diversity of the people who are here, who live here and visit, who have a common sense of purpose.”
The top priority McKannay heard from those he spoke with on Friday is the need to “responsibly develop,” he said.
While he spent most of his career in the military and the last few months as an emergency services consultant, McKannay believes his work overseeing the U.S. Army base in Fort Riley, Kansas will be similar in some ways to his duties here. At Fort Riley, McKannay was in charged of the base operations for more than 60,000 active duty servicemembers, civilian employees, their families and contractors. “The major difference is the aspects of a municipality and the following of the ordinances,” McKannay said.
Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce President Jacki Liszak is hopeful that McKannay will “guide us forward collaboratively, thoughtfully, with integrity and grace.”
Liszak said she was excited for McKannay to start.
“He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our town,” Liszak said. Liszak said McKannay’s tasks will include “understanding who Fort Myers Beach is as a community.”