North Miami Beach commission narrows city manager search, advances five finalists

The North Miami Beach City Commission voted to advance five finalists in its search for a new city manager and authorized full background checks, including social-media screening, after lengthy public comment pressing for transparency and vetting.

Residents urged the commission to slow the process and publish nominators and background-check results. ‘‘We deserve a process, a process that is completely transparent, professional and fair,’’ Mara Hawk said, asking commissioners not to appoint a preselected candidate and requesting at least one public interview.

The debate moved from public comment into a detailed discussion among commissioners about how many names each member could submit. Commissioner Smith emphasized the stakes of the hire and public access to the interview process: "This is the most important decision we make," she said, and called for police reports and a chance for the public to hear the questions the commission will ask candidates.

Vice Mayor Jean said she consulted human resources and interpreted the procedural guidance as allowing more than three nominations; Jean said she submitted five names and urged public interviews so residents could observe candidates. Several commissioners echoed calls for rigorous FDLE checks and an expanded vetting window, with the HR director estimating an "extensive" background check would take about seven to 10 days.

After debate over whether to interview three, four or five candidates, Commissioner Smuggler moved that the commission "pick the first five" nominees; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The commission authorized staff to run full background checks, including social-media reviews, on the five candidates the commission identified.

HR announced the five nominees the commission will move forward to interviews: Marlene Monastin, Rasha Kamu, Darvin Williams, Ricardo Mendez and Hamid Nikhvan. The mayor said the list of each commissioner’s nominations would be emailed to the commission, and commissioners agreed to set an interview and selection date at the next meeting.

Not all concerns were resolved in the meeting. Former Commissioner Barbara Kramer and other residents had requested that the record show who nominated which candidates and questioned whether some commissioners exceeded a three-name guideline; commissioners said the memo that suggested a three-name limit had not been formally adopted. The city attorney cautioned that detailed background-check reports are personnel records and "should not be released routinely," advising care on what is published.

Next steps: staff will initiate background checks on the five nominees; the commission will set a public interview and selection date at its next meeting, and the HR director and city attorney will coordinate the logistics and privacy considerations for any disclosures.

(Reporting based solely on the city commission meeting transcript.)