Indian River Shores is once again searching for a new town manager after the Town Council and former Melbourne Beach town manager Tim Day agreed to terminate Day’s employment agreement.
Day was set to begin work on Sept. 17 after the council executed a contract with him to manage the Shores for $125,000 per year. He would have replaced Robbie Stabe, who announced his retirement this summer for health reasons.
Day, who from 2016 to 2017 was town manager in Melbourne Beach, and one other candidate had emerged as finalists from a field of more than 20 applicants. Since Day had resigned from his Melbourne Beach post because his family would not be relocating from the Cape Coral area, the Shores had made him promise to move his primary residence to the local area within 90 days of commencing employment.
The Aug. 23 employment contract had been executed by Day and the council prior to receiving results of a routine pre-employment background check.
In a special call meeting on Sept. 11, the Town Council agreed upon a $15,000 settlement to cancel the contract with Day. When asked how the $15,000 figure was arrived at, Stabe said “because he (Day) had already given notice to his current employer and was going to be unemployed, he incurred some expenses. He was asked what he felt was a fair settlement. He offered to settle for half the available settlement included in his employment contract and the Town Council agreed to the $15,000 settlement.”
The Shores had not employed a search firm to find Day, but had cast a wide net via job posting services through the Florida League of Cities and an international professional association of municipal managers. This time around, the town has engaged The Mercer Group, which specializes in head-hunting to fill government and nonprofit management and executive positions.