Lake Worth Beach picks recruiting firm for city manager search
City commissioners will vote Jan. 20 on contract for Sumter Local Government Consulting
Lake Worth Beach city commissioners have selected a recruiting firm to help find a full-time city manager.
Sitting on Jan. 15 as the Evaluation Commission, commissioners chose Sumter Local Government Consulting, an Atlanta-based firm that offered to find a city manager in 21 weeks for $21,000 plus travel expenses.
Commissioners are scheduled to vote on a contract for Sumter on Jan. 20, launching a nationwide search that could take at least three months.
Last month, commissioners ranked Sumter second and Tampa-based MGT Consulting first from a field of seven firms. MGT, which has been in business longer than Sumter, offered to find a candidate in 14 weeks for $34,000 plus travel expenses.
But after interviewing both firms in closed-door sessions Jan. 15, four commissioners were most impressed by Sumter.
“I thought the Sumter presentation was a lot more hungry for the business, I feel like we got a cookie cutter presentation from MGT,’’ Commissioner Anthony Segrich said.
“I just think we’re going to get the personalized attention from Sumter that we need and I think they are going to give our community that personalized attention that they need,’’ he said.
Finding solid candidates for the top job in a city that has had four city managers over the last four years could be challenging.
Michael Bornstein, Lake Worth Beach’s city manager since 2012, resigned in 2021. His assistant, Juan Ruiz, served as interim manager for five months until the commission hired Carmen Davis, the city’s most recent full-time manager. Davis was fired two weeks before Christmas 2023 by a divided commission.
Public Works Director Jamie Brown, who has served as interim city manager since January 2024, had support last year from three commissioners to take the full-time job. But in October, he withdrew his contract proposal because he sensed he didn’t have unanimous support from his five elected bosses.