On September 15, the Sanibel City Council narrowed their search for a new City Manager to five candidates, from the 96 who applied for the position. Two of the five finalists have withdrawn, leaving the council three to choose from to replace retiring City Manager Judy Zimomra. Here are the three finalists…
Jeffrey Durbin has over 25 years of local government experience. Most recently he was the Interim Town Manager for the town of Frisco, CO. Previously, he served as Town Manager for Fraser, CO, where he had been promoted from Community Development Director; Community Development Director for Plainfield, IL; Preservation Planner – State Historic Preservation Office, State of Michigan; Design/Drafting, Danckaert & Associates, Saint Clair Shores, MI; and Design/Drafting/Models, L Gale Abels and Associates, Boulder, CO.
Dana Souza has over 35 years of local government experience. Mr. Souza is currently the Interim City Manager in Naples, FL. In Naples, Mr. Souza previously held positions as Deputy City Manager and Community Services Director. Prior to serving in Naples, Mr. Souza served the City of Greenville, SC, as the Parks, Recreation, and Sustainability Director; Marco Island, FL, as Interim Manager and Parks & Recreation Director; City of Portland, ME, as Director of Parks & Recreation; Union, NY, as the Director of Parks & Recreation; and City of New Bedford, MA, as Director of Parks, Cemeteries and Forestry.
Keith Williams has over 13 years of local government experience. Mr. Willams is currently the Community Services Director/City Engineer for the City of Sanibel and previously held the position of Public Works Director/City Engineer for Sanibel. Prior to serving Sanibel, Mr. Williams served as City Engineer in Smyrna, GA; Project Manager – Long Engineering, Atlanta, GA; Project Engineer -LandPro Design LLC, Atlanta, GA; Site Development Engineer, Mays, Sudderth and Etheredge Inc (now Croy Engineering Inc.) Atlanta, GA.
Community members will have an opportunity to meet the three finalists at a community meet and greet Tuesday night from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation Bailey Homestead Pavilion located at 1300 Periwinkle Way.
One-on-one interviews with Council Members will be conducted on the morning of September 29th, with a public meeting at 1:30 p.m. in MacKenzie Hall (Sanibel City Hall, 800 Dunlop Road) for Council as a whole to interview the candidates. The Sanibel City Council will make its final selection during a special meeting at 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 30th.
Zimomra is retiring after 20 years as the manager for the City of Sanibel.