Juno Beach council interviews town manager finalists; special meeting set Friday to pick next manager

The Juno Beach Town Council on Dec. 4 interviewed finalists to fill the town manager vacancy and scheduled a special meeting for Friday at 10 a.m. to select the next manager.

Mayor opened the session by welcoming three finalists and asked Colin Basinger of Basinger and Associates to run the interviews. Basinger told council members each would have seven minutes for questions and that he would give a two-minute warning during answers.

Two candidates who spoke at the public session, Darren Caldwell and Patrick Kamisky, emphasized different priorities for managing a small coastal town. Darren Caldwell said his top short-term step would be helping the council work together: “The council needs to really spend some time together and figure out how do we succeed as a council,” he said, recommending mediation or League of Cities training to clarify roles so staff can carry out council priorities. Caldwell described a management routine of weekly director meetings and regular one-on-one check-ins with department heads to handle personnel and operations.

Caldwell also outlined his fiscal record and grant activity. He said his previous jurisdiction increased annual grant revenue from about $4 million to “over $13,000,000,” citing a $5,000,000 downtown revitalization grant and an application for roughly $8,500,000 to continue that work. He framed fiscal stewardship as central to his approach, saying he had cut roughly $4,000,000 from a budget during COVID and laid off 37 positions while preserving reserves.

On emergency management and coastal resilience, Caldwell said counties often handle emergency management but stressed the importance of local preparedness: “I do have my FEMA 101 certificate,” he said, and described evacuations and past catastrophic fire responses where residents were gone for more than two weeks.

Patrick Kamisky, who introduced himself as a University of Florida alumnus with 30-plus years of municipal experience, told the council he would begin by inventorying town assets and operations before proposing changes. On preserving community character, Kamisky described supporting a strong historical preservation commission in Cambridge, Maryland, and working through county agreements to influence nearby development.

Kamisky proposed practical steps on recurring local concerns: assemble parcels over time for weekend parking by setting aside about $1,000,000 annually; pursue phased partnerships with utilities or county/highway engineers for undergrounding power lines; and publish a short monthly bulletin or video updates to improve transparency and counter misinformation online.

Both candidates stressed communication and staff retention. Caldwell recommended flexible schedules and comp time for nonpublic-safety staff, which he said improved morale where he served. Kamisky said he would honor the town’s government structure and direct personnel concerns through supervisors and HR before council involvement.

Colin Basinger described the council’s selection plan: start with a straw ballot naming each member’s top choice; if there is no consensus the council will discuss second choices and attempt to converge. The mayor said council staff would circulate candidate contracts and compensation details prior to Friday’s meeting.

The council invited the public to attend the Friday selection meeting at 10 a.m.; the mayor adjourned the Dec. 4 session after asking staff to circulate the requested materials.

What's next: The council will hold a special meeting Friday at 10:00 a.m. to conduct a straw poll and move toward a final selection; council members asked staff to provide candidate contract and compensation information in advance.