It wasn’t all smooth sailing Monday for Andrew Hyatt the Fort Myers Beach Town Council’s choice for Town Manager. Town council member Karen Woodson dropped a bit of a bomb during public discussion about her private interview with Hyatt.
When the council was discussing the four finalists and who they though was the best person to lead Fort Myers Beach through its rebuild Woodson said Hyatt made a comment to her that she couldn’t accept. “I have to say, that I had a huge red flag when interviewing Mr. Hyatt. It was a diversity comment and I was done. And for that reason, I cannot go through with that candidate although he was my number one all the way through on the list.”
What made that situation even more odd was that none of the other council members asked Woodson to elaborate or seemed to even care what he said to her. They just let it pass. Monday night on Mondays With The Mayor, Mayor Dan Allers admitted that perhaps he or one of the other council members should have asked Woodson to specify what Hyatt said.
Woodson happened to be watching the show and posted an update to the situation. Here’s what she said: “To his credit, Mr. Hyatt sought me out because he also saw my comment during the meeting. When I mentioned my concern to him we were able to conclude that it was a total misinterpretation that we were able to talk through. I appreciate his concern in this matter and truly respected him to meet me head-on.”
Because of her extensive background in H.R. the council made Woodson the liason in the contract negotiations with Town Attorney John Herin and Hyatt. If all goes according to plan, Hyatt could be in place in 30 days or less and the transition from Chris Holly and Keith Wilkins to Holly will begin.
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