Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
July 17, 2020
Fernandina Beach City Manager Dale Martin has announced the appointment of Denise K. Matson to the position of City Human Resources Director. Matson replaces Robin Marley, who retired from the position of Human Resources Director earlier this year.
Matson comes to the City from the City of Naples, FL, where she has worked in municipal government since 1986. There she led, directed and managed a 470 employee workforce in the areas of labor relations/collectie bargaining; classification and compensation; recruitment and selection; employee relations; employee/retiree benefits; training and development; safety, workers compensation and risk management. She served as Naples Human Resources Director from 2002 to the present.
From 2016-2018 Matson also served as Adjunct Professor at Barry University in the School of Professional and Career Education, where she taught professonal students seeking undergraduate degrees in Public Administration or Business Administration.
She holds both a Bachelor of Professional Studies, Human Resource Administration, and Master of Arts in Administration. Both Degrees were earned at Barry University.
Matson holds professional certifications in the fields of Human Resource Management and Florida public sector labor relations. Additionally, she is an active professional member of many human resource and labor relations related organizations.
When contacted for comment, Matson wrote, “I am very excited to join the City of Fernandina Beach, with its professional and dedicated team! Having been a Southwest Florida resident for over forty years, I am looking forward to relocating to Northeast Florida to work and live in this beautiful community. The charm and character of Fernandina Beach is second to none! And, hopefully you have cooler weather!”
She will officially report for duty on September 8, 2020.
Welcome aboard Ms. Matson!
I must say I am quite impressed with her career history, as she is obviously over qualified for this position. I wish I could say that for other city employees, as I feel quite a few are under qualified, w/o mentioning names.