Edgewater council terminates city manager, appoints Jeff Thurman as interim

The Edgewater City Council voted on Sept. 20 to terminate the city manager and to appoint Jeff Thurman as interim city manager.

Mayor DePue opened the meeting and the council considered motions to remove the city manager both "for cause" and, ultimately, "without cause." After discussion the council approved termination without cause in a roll-call vote; Councilwoman Bennington opposed while the mayor and a majority of council supported the motion. The mayor then asked staff to allow the manager time to collect personal items and discussed steps for recovering city property such as a city vehicle.

Thurman, who introduced himself to the council as a public-works professional with more than three decades of experience, accepted the interim post: "I humbly accept," he said. The council directed staff to negotiate an interim contract and return the agreement for formal council approval at a subsequent meeting. The mayor said the interim manager would be offered compensation comparable to the prior manager on a temporary basis while the city conducts a search.

The council also instructed the city attorney and interim management to examine next steps on staffing and to present options for recruiting a permanent city manager, including the option to piggyback a national search contract used by other Florida cities. No disciplinary findings or personnel details beyond the motions were recorded in the meeting transcript.