A fractured Fernandina Beach city commission voted 3-2 Thursday to hire Orange Park Town Manager Sarah Campbell as city manager.
Campbell's hiring brings more controversy to the community because her husband works for U.S. Congressman Aaron Bean. Bean's son, Mayor Bradley Bean, cast the deciding vote to appoint Campbell to the job. Bean was joined by Vice Mayor David Sturges and Commissioner Darron Ayscue in favoring Campbell.
Commissioners James Antun and Chip Ross voted against the hire.
"Campbell carries the baggage that there's a large amount of the community who perceive there's a sense of impropriety with her connections to a member of this commission. It's a large perception. No matter what Ms. Campbell does, she will always be followed by that and that will be a problem for her," Ross said.
Antun and Ross favored William “Lee” Smith, who was most recently the county manager for Chatham County, Georgia (population 296,329) and he served in that role for eight years.
"It's not ideal (a 3-2 vote). You always want a unanimous vote," Campbell told The Observer. "I'll have to go back and listen to their comments and see what their perspective was and see if there is any room to win them over. If somebody doesn't want me to work for them, I need to understand their perspective."
"I take that very seriously and consulted with a number of people before I decided to apply. That was a concern I had as well, the perception of it," Campbell said. "There's not a connection, there's not a social relationship (with the Bean family), there's not a connectiveness in that way. I thought about it very seriously and I don't know if there's any amount of convincing that I could give someone other than through my actions and my behaviors about my ethical code of conduct and my integrity as a person."
The deciding factor to hire Campbell stated by Ayscue and Sturges was that Campbell had experience managing a city in Florida and therefore understands the workings of union negotiations and the state legislature better than an out-of-state candidate.
"Having someone with governmental experience in the state of Florida, it's invaluable," Ayscue said. "It is a huge difference in the state of Florida than it is in the state of Georgia or North Carolina."
Ayscue cited collective bargaining, right-to-work and the state legislature as reasons to hire Campbell.
Campbell's hiring comes nearly a year after the same city commission hired Ty Ross from Tennessee as city manager. Ross lasted seven weeks in the job before resigning.
Campbell told commissioners her current contract calls for a 45-day notice to the city of Orange Park before she begins her duties in Fernandina Beach. That timetable would mean Campbell would start the job just as the city commission elections take place -- when three commissioners will be elected on Nov. 5.
"I've worked for many, many elected officials, elections are part of what we do. I've met three of the four candidates, and I thought those were good and productive conversations. My message to all of them is the same, that I'm eager to work with any of you who are serving the city. That won't change because of what happens in the election."
On the bioethanol production plant proposed by Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) that an outside land use expert hired by the city said is prohibited by the Land Development Code, Campbell said she needed to fully understand the city's codes and ordinances.
"If it does come to the city, then my job is to abide by the rule of law. I don't have any gray area when it comes to that," she said. "We follow the local ordinances that have been set before us. If there's not an opportunity to approve it, we don't approve it. My job is to follow the rule of law."
The next step is for the city to negotiate a contract with Campbell. Until the contract is finalized, Campbell said her focus remains on being town manager of Orange Park.
"I cannot give up a good stable position in a community that I love if there's a chance in eight weeks that I would be terminated. So, we have to get through the negotiation process first," Campbell said. "I will see what they (the city) send me, and I have my own legal consultation that I do and just see how it plays out."
During the discussion on hiring Campbell, Bean spoke last in rating the candidates.
"What I would say about Sarah Campbell is that she comes endorsed by a lot of other people that I spoke to," Bean said. "People who work around Florida all know Orange Park has its act together and that's something I like to hear."
Campbell did not mention nor was asked by commissioners during the public interview regarding the connection that would exist that would have Mayor Bean as her boss, and Bean's father as her husband's boss.
Prior to voting, Bean asked City Attorney Tammi Bach if he had a conflict of interest in the hiring of Campbell. Bach said no state ethics statutes would be violated if he voted.
But for weeks, public speakers at city commission meetings have urged Bean to recuse himself due to the appearance of a conflict of interest regarding Campbell's connection to the Bean family.
Campbell has been with Orange Park, Florida (population 9,089) since 2008 and the town manager since 2017.
Antun asked Campbell to describe her biggest success in Orange Park.
She cited the creation of the city's stormwater program.
In the commission's executive summary of candidates, it was described as "Hurricane Irma had struck Florida ten days before she became the manager. In her new role, Campbell said she first strove to understand the flood devastation and meet with residents about their concerns.
"She quickly recognized the need for an improved stormwater system – a system whose weaknesses had not been addressed for 40 years. Using contracted engineering services, they assessed their stormwater system and developed a model of the ideal system.
"Once the list of maintenance and improvements was identified, they realized they would need a new stormwater fee. To make it less painful, they timed its introduction to coincide with a decrease in water and sewer rates (after paying off debts, a rate study showed that they were in good position to lower the rates). As a result, one fee went down and helped offset the new one. While funds are not unlimited, they have enough resources for a maintenance crew and some capital work.
"They then found grants to fund the major improvements. While the work can never be done fast enough, they have made major progress towards creating the model system in a fiscally responsible way."
Campbell has a bachelor’s degree in architectural studies from the University of Nebraska and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of North Florida. She is an ICMA-credentialed manager.