Miami Shores Village has a new interim city manager: former North Miami Beach City Manager Esmond Scott.
Scott, 62, replaces Tom Benton, 65, who retired in May after 22 years as manager and nearly half a century of service to the village, from teenage golf course worker to public works director to manager.
Benton announced his retirement before the newly-elected council’s first meeting May 4. At that meeting, the council signaled disapproval of Police Chief Kevin Lystad’s outside work and said they would forward the query to the ethics commission. Lystad resigned shortly thereafter,
As the city conducts a search for a permanent manager, Scott faces three major priorities: shepherding through the village’s 2021-22 budget, now at $20 million; hiring a new police chief, and determining the best use for the $4 million the village is receiving through the American Rescue Plan.
“I’m about consensus building,” Scott told the council in accepting the position. “You have a fine history and great tradition and I look forward to participating.” Scott said his intention is to come in as an interim rather than a permanent manager, but under questioning did not foreclose the possibility of considering the permanent post in the future.
The salary was not determined, but Scott said he expected it to at least match Tom Benton’s annual salary of approximately $179,000, Council members make $1 a year.
In recent years, the village, like many other communities, has been scarred by conflicts and controversies amplified by social media. Scott said that he looked forward to lowering the temperature.
“I’m looking forward to bridging gaps and to reducing uncertainties,” Scott said in an interview after the vote.
Voters elected a new, and historic, council on April 20. Sandra Harris, a retired public administrator, was elected the second Black woman mayor of Miami Shores, following Crystal Wagar, who remains as a councilwoman. She was joined by Katia Saint Fleur, a journalist, communications who is the first Haitian-American on the council, and attorney Daniel Marinberg as vice mayor.
Former Mayor Alice Burch remains on the council, where she has served since 2015.
Scott’s hiring completes a three-way game of musical chairs with the cities of North Miami, North Miami Beach, and Miami Shores.
Scott retired from the City of North Miami Beach, where he had served as city manager since 2018, on February 23 when the new City Commission signaled its intention to replace him with North Miami Deputy City Manager Arthur H. Sorey, III, who went to work in North Miami Beach immediately after the commission hired him April 20.
At the May 25 meeting, the council voted for Scott 3-2 after two tied anonymous ballots. The council then voted him in with unanimous assent and applause.
Scott was among four finalists. The others were Albert Childress, former Coral Springs City Manager Erdal Donmez, and Christopher Rose, former City of Miami Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and former Doral City Manager Albert Childress.