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Fernandina Beach commission approves Sarah Campbell as city manager in 3–2 vote
Summary
The City Commission approved an employment agreement for Sarah Campbell with a $205,000 starting salary and potential raises contingent on evaluations; the measure drew debate over incentives, severance and transparency and passed 3–2 after public comment.
The Fernandina Beach City Commission voted 3–2 to approve an employment agreement for Sarah Campbell to join the city as a full‑time city manager, with an initial salary of $205,000 and contract provisions that could raise pay to $215,000 after six months and $225,000 after one year if the commission finds performance satisfactory.
City staff described contract terms including a 10% deferred‑compensation contribution in lieu of participation in the city pension plan, a car and phone allowance, $5,000 in relocation reimbursement and paid time‑off accrual consistent with department directors. The agreement also provides up to 20 weeks of severance pay if the manager is terminated without cause; staff said 20 weeks is the statutory maximum.
Commissioners debated whether to structure compensation with performance incentives tied to specific deliverables. Commissioner Anton and Commissioner Ross argued for incentive‑based pay and clearer, written goals before granting higher increases; Commissioner Askew and Mayor Bradley Dean opposed linking base pay to specific project milestones, saying it would be unfair to impose conditions not used historically and could disadvantage the incoming manager. The contract defines a “satisfactory evaluation” as requiring the agreement of at least three commissioners to trigger the step increases.
Public comment included objections to the pay and severance. Sheila Cokie (public commenter) said the package resembled an excessively generous exit benefit: “This is a golden parachute for anybody coming in,” she said, and urged open public evaluations and clearer performance accountability. Joyce Tooten noted past city manager pay history and questioned the scale of the increase over recent years.
The roll‑call vote after debate was 3 in favor (Commissioner Askew, Vice Mayor Sturgis, Mayor Bradley Dean) and 2 opposed (Commissioner Anton and Commissioner Ross). The commission did not adopt a separate incentive schedule; commissioners who opposed incentives said they would support performance reviews and future goal‑setting but not link pay in this contract.
Under the approved terms the commission will revisit evaluations at six months and again at about one year to determine whether the salary step increases apply. No additional budget appropriation was recorded in this meeting beyond accepting the contract terms.
Next steps: the signed employment agreement will be finalized and posted as required by city procedures; the commission may later return with specific performance goals or incentive metrics if it chooses to modify the approach.
