The clock is running on this Town Council to find a new Town Manager after Andy Hyatt handed in his 100 day notice on Tuesday. Hyatt said after discussing it with his wife he’s decided to move back to North Florida and “enjoy the fruits of his labor.”
The 66-year old Hyatt has transformed the Town of Fort Myers Beach from a community unable to handle a serious hurricane to a community that was not only ready to deal with one, but a community of residents who trusted the government enough to evacuate.
Under Hyatt’s leadership, among other accomplishments, the broken permitting process was fixed, a new town hall, soon to open, was located and communication with the community was vastly improved. The town did lose its 25% National Flood Insurance Program discount which Hyatt, in addition to this Town Council, are responsible for.
Most importantly, the town staff was motivated, stable, and happy. As with any new administration, early changes needed to be made to fit Hyatt’s work ethic. Some employees were promoted, others were shown the door, unwilling to change their ways. Pre-Ian, Town Council meetings featured one staff member; the Town Manager. When Hyatt took over, every staff member started attending every council meeting and when there was a question for their area responsibility they were given the freedom to respond. Staff members were often seen in giant clusters at community events, something never seen in the previous administration. As one staff member told Hyatt, “you made coming to work fun again.”
It’s rare you have 100 percent of elected officials in any municipality praise a town or city manager. They are always at the mercy of the next election and often spend just a few years on the job. At his one-year review this town council praised Hyatt with nothing but gold stars. On Tuesday the council was hoping Hyatt would stay on for another year or two to continue to rebuild the island from Hurricane’s Ian, Helene and Milton. It wasn’t in the cards.
Since the Seagate approval the Fort Myers Beach community is a divided community. E-mails to Town Council members and Hyatt over that and other issues have gotten nasty and their have been reports of death threats to council members. Someone even took the time to find where Hyatt’s wife Susan worked in North Florida and send an e-mail to her workplace. That was most likely the last straw for the Town Manager. A Lee County Sheriff’s Deputy now sits in the audience of the Town Council meetings just in case.
The upheaval of a stable town staff two years into a major rebuild will be a challenge? Will a new Town Manager want to take on this job knowing part of the community is an angry mob? If so, how much will that cost taxpayers? Hyatt took the job for tens of thousands of dollars less than the previous manager was being paid. Will the town have to settle for a less experienced manager just to fill the chair? How much additional turnover will the town experience as this transition is made? It will all play out in the next 99 days as the town begins a search for their next administrator.
We will have additional coverage of this story in the coming days here on our website and on our social media platforms.
Very sad news to hear. We have several bullies who live on this island. People who think they are above the law, who have no intention of following building codes or applying for permits. We have a history of corruption pre Ian with town staff in positions they were not qualified for or being purposely overpaid. Now what shred we had with Andy building a real team within town staff is likely to erod quickly. We will be back to the double standard that has always plagued this town. Just another example of why the town should be handed back over to the county. Although I like the current mayor he hasn’t done much to pull the community together and move past the vote over Seagate. No plan announced of how to overcome the FEMA issue. Those of us who do not watch live whatever on FB really do not hear his message. Time to do some housekeeping and pull the community together with a plan or continue down this path of never ending change. Hurricane season starts in a few months and we will likely not have a Town Manager. Huge loss thank you Andy for dedicated work and bringing our town staff to a new level. You will be missed!
I would expect with death threats a criminal warrant would be issued.