Town Manager Tim Day gave the Melbourne Beach Town Council his two weeks’ notice last Thursday morning, resigning after only 18 months on the job, citing family reasons.
In an email sent simultaneously to the five council members, the town clerk and the finance department, Day said, “It has become apparent that my family will not be coming to Melbourne Beach in a full-time capacity to reside with me. Therefore, it is imperative that I return to Lee County to be with my family as soon as possible,” Day wrote, adding that his last day would be Aug. 11. “But I will certainly be available by phone and email should any questions or concerns arise.”
Before being hired by Melbourne Beach in December 2015 to run the town for $89,000 per year, Day served as town manager of the small, rural town of Greenvile, Fla. just north of Tallahassee. A retired law enforcement officer, he also came with experience as an elected official, spending nine years on the Cape Coral City Council – Cape Coral being the home in Lee County to which Day refers in his resignation letter.
The town council has been notoriously hard to please and tough to work for, creating a seemingly endless turnover of managers. After nearly four years on the job, the council dismissed veteran municipal manager James Bursick in August 2010. Then came Bill Hoskovec, who resigned in April 2014, to avoid being fired and losing his four months of severance pay. Then Jamie Titcomb was hired, but he only stayed 17 months before leaving to accept a town management post in Palm Beach County.
Day took over for Titcomb.