Jeffcoat formally named interim manager of City of Sarasota

Brown offers variety of remarks during final commission meeting

Doug Jeffcoat listens as Human Resources Director Stacie Mason addresses the commissioners on Oct. 21. News Leader image

On a unanimous vote, taken on Oct. 21, the Sarasota City Commission named Doug Jeffcoat, director of the city’s Public Works Department, to serve as interim city manager, with City Manager Marlon Brown stepping down that day following 15 years of city employment.

Commissioner Erik Arroyo made the motion. Mayor Liz Alpert said Vice Mayor Jen Ahearn-Koch and Commissioner Kyle Battie tied in seconding it.

Following the vote, Alpert told Jeffcoat, “Congratulations, I think,” prompting laughter.

“Mayor!” Deputy City Manager Patrick Robinson responded, teasing Alpert that she might have given Jeffcoat cause for alarm in seeking the position.

“Right,” Alpert said. “Don’t scare him yet,” prompting more laughter.

Brown had asked that the agenda item be the final act of business for the Oct. 21 regular meeting, City Auditor and Clerk Shayla Griggs announced after the opening of the session within City Hall. When Alpert asked why, Griggs indicated that all she knew was that it was Brown’s request to adjust the timing of that part of the day’s business.

As it turned out, following remarks that city Human Resources Director Stacie Mason made about Jeffcoat, Brown asked the board’s indulgence for some remarks he wanted to make.

Brown spent about 14 minutes, offering expressions of appreciation to the commissioners and members of the public, including a number of individuals he singled out for their support and engagement with city initiatives.

Commissioner Debbie Trice smiles at outgoing City Manager Marlon Brown as he offers his remarks on Oct. 21. At this point, Brown had paused, appearing to compose himself. News Leader image

“I hope I have served this community and this commission with dignity and pride,” Brown said. “I’ve never put myself first,” he continued and then repeated that statement.

“I’ve done things for the greater community good,” he added. “I’ve always put [the] employees above me. I don’t dig the trenches; I don’t landscape the medians. I don’t pave the roadways or fix the sidewalks,”
he noted. “There are individuals that, day in, day out, do the work that really makes this community what it is.”

Brown stressed that the commissioners make policy. He could not do anything without that direction, he continued. “As much as individuals may believe that I may be the sixth commissioner, [that] I may be a policymaker,” he added, “I can’t do anything without these commissioners making these policy decisions.”

He reminded those present that former City Manger Robert Bartolotta hired him to serve as deputy city manager. Then, after Bartolotta resigned in early 2012, Interim City Manager Terry Lewis kept Brown in that position because Lewis felt “this ship needed stability,” Brown told the commissioners.

Brown individually thanked a number of persons, including his sons, as well as female relatives who, he said, had mentored him through his life.

He also singled out Cathy Layton, a retired commercial real estate broker and former member of The Bay Park Conservancy board; former county Commissioner Jon Thaxton, senior vice president for community leadership with the Gulf Coast Community Foundation; Drayton Saunders, president of his family’s real estate firm, Michael Saunders & Co.; former county Commissioner and Argus Foundation Executive Director Christine Robinson; and Debra Jacobs, president and CEO of The Patterson Foundation, for meeting with him regularly over coffee to discuss city issues.

(From left) In 2021, AG Lafley, founding CEO of The Bay Park Conservancy; then-Conservancy Board Chair Cathy Layton; Debra Jacobs, president and CEO of The Patterson Foundation; and attorney Dan Bailey gather to celebrate The Patterson Foundation’s funding support for the downtown Sarasota park. Image from the Bay Park Conservancy 2021 Annual Report

Brown then addressed his staff members, noting, “I’m not a micro-manager … so I don’t get into the departments, but I trust [the directors] to do the jobs that they’ve been hired to do.”

He expressed his appreciation to Deputy City Manager Robinson, as well. Brown pointed out that Robinson had been with the city for nearly 25 years, “coming up through the ranks” as a member initially of the Sarasota Police Department. “I could not have picked a greater individual to be the deputy city manager.”

He also voiced his gratitude to the city commissioners for their “continued support,” and then he thanked City Auditor and Clerk Griggs and City Attorney Robert Fournier.

“Once I get up from this seat,” Brown said, “I’m headed to a new challenge and a new beginning.”

He added that he had shared his personal challenges with most of the commissioners. “With your grace and support,” he told them, “I’ve gotten through it.”

Brown acknowledged that some “individuals in the community … are happy to see me vacate the seat.” Nonetheless, he said, “I know there are many, many more who would like me to stay in the seat.”

“I would never, ever let anyone steal my joy,” Brown continued, “and this ride has been joyful.”

Before leaving the dais, Brown asked that the commissioners approve Jeffcoat as the interim city manager until an expected nationwide search results in a new, permanent city manager.

Each of the commissioners offered remarks to Brown, with Arroyo reading a long list of accolades the city has received since Brown became manager, including a variety of rankings on national lists.

A round of applause ensued before Brown departed the Commission Chambers in City Hall.

Jeffcoat’s contract

In presenting Jeffcoat to the commissioners as the proposed interim city manager, Human Resources Director Stacie Mason noted that he had been employed by the city for nearly 30 years.

A city news release distributed following the Oct. 21 meeting pointed out that Jeffcoat has been director of Public Works Director for the past 14 years, “overseeing streets and highways, capital improvement projects, engineering, transportation planning, fleet services and solid waste.”

Referencing sections of the draft agreement for his filling the city manager’s role on a temporary basis, Mason said that he would have the right to resume his job as Public Works director after a new city manager has been hired.

His pay and other compensation, she added, are “all within the budget” for the 2025 fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1.

His base salary will be $250,000 a year, the document says.

The agreement also granted Jeffcoat permission to remain living outside the city limits, though city policy requires the manager to be a city resident, Mason noted.

Vice Mayor Ahearn-Koch was the only board member with questions about the agreement. For example, she asked Mason what the phrase “special category employees” meant in one section.

“They are at the director level,” Mason replied, though some are managers who serve at the pleasure of the city manager.

Asked for the number of those employees, Mason responded that she believed it ranged between 10 and 12.

“Fourteen,” Deputy City Manager Robinson interjected.

In response to another question that Ahearn-Koch posed, Robinson said he anticipated that some overlap would occur with Jeffcoat as interim manager and the new city manager coming on board. Staff does not want Jeffcoat “summarily sent to the curb, as it were,” when the new manager arrives at City Hall, Robinson added.

Doug Jeffcoat (left) and Todd Kucharski address the City Commission during a May 9, 2023 workshop. File image

When Ahearn-Koch asked who would lead the Public Works Department in Jeffcoat’s absence, Jeffcoat told her that Todd Kucharski, general manager of the department, and City Engineer Nik Patel would split the responsibilities.

Jeffcoat’s employment as interim city manager officially began on Oct. 22, the agreement pointed out, so Deputy City Manager Robinson handled the administrative responsibilities for the remainder of the Oct. 21 meeting.

In the Oct. 21 city news release, Jeffcoat was quoted as follows: “It’s an honor to temporarily lead the City during this transition.” He added,  “We have a very strong, capable staff and during this time we’ll continue to work for the betterment of the Sarasota community.”

“A national search for a new City Manager is expected to begin soon and take four to six months,” the release noted.