Arthur “Duke” Sorey III has a full plate as new NMB city manager

New North Miami Beach City Manager Arthur “Duke” Sorey III has been hired without the full support of the city council. The final vote was 5-2.

One of the dissenters was Mayor Anthony “Tony” DeFillipo, who said his opposition was not over Sorey's qualifications but over the contract length and high salary pushed by Commissioner McKenzie Fleurimond.

“We never extended a contract this long and with this high a pay,” DeFillipo said.

Sorey's final salary was approved at $240,000. His predecessors made in the vicinity of $200,000. Sorey had been making $209,433 a year as North Miami’s deputy city manager.

He said he is “humbled” and eager to “go ahead and develop a relationship with my coworkers and definitely with my bosses.”

Asked how he intends to gain the support of the entire City Commission, Sorey replied: “The way to win over individuals is just through your work. … I am very confident they will come to know my work ethic and it will go from there.”

Sorey was as an administrative analyst in Hallandale Beach and a program manager at the American Cancer Society before a career move took him to the City of North Miami in 2003, where his father was the first Black American on its council. Armed with a with a master’s degree in public administration from Florida International University, the younger Sorey became North Miami’s budget analyst, then budget administrator, budget director and coordinator of its community redevelopment agency, prior to his appointment as deputy city manager in July 2015.

Commissioner Michael Joseph said he pushed for Sorey’s hiring due to his long history in Northeast Miami-Dade.

“He is a local son does good,” Joseph said, and later added that Sorey will “increase transparency” in North Miami Beach’s city government and enhance “the quality of life for all [who live here].”

Sorey is coming into a politically charged environment, with a new majority pushing for change. In January, that majority nearly fired City Manager Esmond Scott, who ultimately resigned on Feb. 22, 2021. Joseph immediately pushed for Sorey to replace Scott on that very day. Although a subsequent search yielded 65 candidates, Sorey remained the favorite and ultimate victor.

Sorey said his top priority is getting a handle on the city’s water plant and sanitation department. Both were essentially privatized under the leadership of former Mayor George Vallejo prior to his arrest for campaign violations in 2018. Last August, the city retook management of its water plant, which also serves Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, Golden Beach and several unincorporated northeast Miami-Dade neighborhoods. The city also is considering bringing back its in-house sanitation department.