North Miami Beach holds city manager finalist interviews; candidates focus on budget fixes, ARPA and NMB Water

North Miami Beach commissioners spent a workshop Wednesday interviewing three finalists for city manager, agreeing on a standard interview format and scheduling a final selection for the Jan. 20 commission meeting.

The commission set a uniform process—up to a three-minute opening by each candidate, roughly 30 minutes per candidate with five-minute rounds of questions from commissioners, and an opportunity to reconvene for a second round. Legal counsel reminded the commission the workshop itself is not a hiring vote and advised placing the selection method and vote on the Jan. 20 agenda.

All three candidates emphasized fiscal discipline and improved operations. Interim assistant city manager Marlene Monastin, who said she has served in the manager’s office for about three years, highlighted immediate priorities including a budget amendment to stem reserve depletion, an organizational reassessment to reduce redundant positions and more automation, and strengthening code compliance and beautification programs. On ARPA funds, Monastin told commissioners she had asked consultants to recalculate the city’s revenue-loss allowance and said that review identified that the city’s $21,500,000 in ARPA funds “could be categorized” so “there’s no need to repay any funds,” adding the city must complete projects by the end of the year.

Former Opelika City Manager Darvin Williams, who described decades of municipal leadership and private-sector experience, said he would reopen steady communications with the commission—“I started off in the city of Opelika giving a weekly report,” he said—and focus his first 90 days on filling department-head vacancies and stabilizing organizational structure. Williams emphasized following GAAP and documenting any interfund loans as part of strategies to address the commission’s reported $5.5 million structural operating gap. On the utility, he called NMB Water “the jewel” of the city and urged exploring expanded customer sales and public–private partnerships to generate revenue while protecting capital-improvement priorities.

Rasha Kamau, who has prior experience in the manager’s office here and served as city manager in North Miami, stressed systems and customer service. She proposed using a project-management CRM and a public-engagement officer to speed responses to resident complaints and to provide commissioners with concise, one‑page fiscal summaries on agenda items. Kamau said she would perform a finance audit before recommending specific cuts or revenue changes and favor prioritizing grants and targeted reallocations over immediate tax increases.

Commissioners pressed candidates on specifics: how they would close the operational gap within 12 months, whether the manager’s $50,000 authority is sufficient, and how to execute narrowly decided commission directives without alienating dissenting members. Candidates generally proposed a mix of spending reductions, tighter bookkeeping of restricted versus unrestricted revenues, faster use of grants, and revenue-generation options tied to economic development or utility operations.

The commission agreed to discuss and put on the Jan. 20 agenda both the method for choosing the manager and the vote itself. The workshop ended after a motion to adjourn.