There were four candidates selected by four out of five members of council and one that got three votes of support. It was decided these five, highlighted in yellow would be invited to Islamorada as finalists. Click on the name of the candidate to read the full review by Baenziger and Associates. Their current salaries also are provided as public information.

Andrea Agha (4 votes): Most recently Village Manager for Key Biscayne, Miami-Dade County (3 years). Prior municipal management experience was as Deputy Town Manager for Miami Lakes for two years. She was the only woman of the twelve. Agha has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Boston University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Miami. Current salary: $208,000

David Baird (4 votes): Most recently District Conservation Coordinator for Sussex Conservation District (Delaware) for the last 9 years. Previous municipal management experience was as town manager for Milford, DE for five years and town manager for Georgetown, DE for 10 years. He has a bachelor’s degree from East Carolina University and a master’s degree in public administration from University of Baltimore. Current salary: $109,781

Guillermo Olmedillo (3 votes): Most recently the Town Manager of Surfside, FL, Miami-Dade County. No other municipal management experience, but worked for Miami-Dade County for 23 years, 7 years as Deputy Planning and Zoning Director for the city of Miami. He has a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Miami. Current salary: $117,000

Greg Oravec (4 votes): Mayor of Port St. Lucie, FL for the last seven years. Was previously Port St. Lucie city manager for one year. Previous experience included 3 years as CRA Director for Port St. Lucie and 5 years at South Miami. Oravec has a bachelor’s degree in marine environmental systems from the University of Miami. For a short time Oravec was a planner when Islamorada first incorporated. Current salary: $85,000

Terry Suggs (4 votes): Most recently the County Administrator for Putnam County, FL for the last 4 years. Prior municipal management experience includes two years as city manager for Palatka, FL and four years as city manager for Keystone Heights, FL. Other experience: public works supervisor for Alachua Co. FL for 6 years, Solid Waste inspector for six years and Zoning Inspector for two years. Current salary: $143,942

Colin Baenziger recommended selecting an alternate and three were suggested. Mark Gregg, David Webb and Pete Bacheler made suggestions as to possible alternates. One person from the public suggested that Julian Jackson would be an ideal alternate as he was the candidate who had significant support before Seth Lawless was eventually selected four years ago when the selection process involved a committee of local residents. The current process provides little involvement by the public.

Brief description of the three suggested alternates (no vote taken), extracted from Baenziger's cover letter descriptions (click on name):

Jeff Durbin  suggested Dave Webb. Current salary: $155,000

Julian Jackson suggested by Pete Bacheler. Current salary: $177,000

David Ritz suggested by Mark Gregg. Salary while at Ocean Reef 1992 - 2019:  confidential 

The Council chose to wait to see if an alternate is needed before making that decision.