On Friday, July 14, 2023, former Fernandina Beach City Manager Dale Martin was hired on a unanimous vote of 6-0 to be the next city manager of Flagler Beach, a coastal Atlantic city located between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach. He will report to his new job — and new community — on July 31.
Flagler’s city commissioners seemed downright giddy at being able to hire Martin, who was in finalist interviews for two other Florida cities. On July 15, the news blog Spot On Florida reported: “The Flagler Beach City Commission today voted to hire Dale Martin, the city manager in Fernandina Beach for seven years until last March, as its next city manager. If each commissioner could vote twice for him, that’s what would have happened: he was that acclaimed.”
Another blog quoted City Commissioner Scott Spradley: “I feel this is an awesome step forward for Flagler Beach. Dale’s significant experience in Fernandina Beach with coastal community hurricane recovery efforts and with his successful track record with FEMA are but two strengths in his background that will benefit Flagler Beach. I am very excited for our community to have Dale on board.”
As many here have said, Fernandina’s loss is Flagler’s gain.
During my 29 years of residence in Fernandina Beach, I have seen many city managers come and go. Their departures were for the most part due to the political whims of the seated commissioners and their “kitchen cabinets.” In most cases the terminations were not a surprise. But that mold was broken with the firing of Dale Martin.
Martin holds the modern day record for length of time served. During his 8 years in Fernandina Beach, he served under several different city commissions. He hired excellent department directors. His persistence was key in getting the city a new general aviation airport terminal, which has attracted positive attention among members of the aviation community both locally and statewide.
That determination was even more evident in the protracted but ultimately successful negotiations with FEMA to reimburse the city for damages caused by Hurricane Matthew. Last year he brought to the commission a new salary plan that finally produced a living wage for employees who had been making less than fast food restaurant staff.
Martin took his direction from the city commission, which convened in a strategic planning session early each year. He ended the past practice of “ad hoc-ism” by revamping the manner in which commission agendas were addressed, requiring both commissioners and staff to avoid dumping issues on the commission at the last minute.
Work was undertaken to study and prioritize fixes and replacements of beach boardwalks and dune crossovers, a project that had been kicked down the road for many years. Long overdue work to construct a seawall along the Amelia River began. Work to open the Alachua Street rail crossing is imminent.
To show his commitment to getting things done, Martin kept a couple of rusty, dented tin cans on his desk. He was determined to end the can-kicking delays in facing the city’s many capital needs.
While citizens always had the opportunity to attend meetings or follow the city on social media (another Martin accomplishment) he engaged with the community by writing weekly columns that were published in both print and electronic media. In those columns he explained the intricacies of budgeting, the status of marina repairs and other ongoing city projects.
In his off time he instituted something he called a “Citizens Academy,” to help people understand how local government works, and who does what in the bureaucracy. These programs were generally over-subscribed. He was looking forward to another series this fall,
Dale was involved in the community outside of government, too. He initiated the custom of Community Christmas dinners, encouraging citizens to bring a dish while he provided turkey and ham. The dinners were held at the Nassau County Council on Aging (NCCOA) dining room, with leftovers being distributed to other agencies that serve residents. Dale was, and at this time remains, a faithful volunteer at the NCCOA.
He has been an active member of First Presbyterian Church, where he also sings in the choir.
And did I mention that he is also a member of a barbershop quartet?
At any special holiday or event honoring service members you could always spot Dale, usually wearing his American Legion cap. He was also the first to volunteer to help out on the city’s annual recycling day. He didn’t mind getting his hands dirty.
Dale was a city manager who loved his job and his city. And for the most part ,that feeling was reciprocated by the residents and businesses and non-profits in Fernandina Beach. His abrupt termination, instigated by three of the city’s five commissioners, sent shock waves through the community. Those three have never explained why that action was called for. And I doubt that they ever will.
Recruiting a new city manager for Fernandina Beach is underway, but Dale Martin left big shoes to fill. Time will tell, with an election coming up next year, whether the voters also want a commission change.
Best wishes for a long and productive tenure in Flagler Beach, Dale Martin! Sorry you couldn’t stay here in Fernandina Beach longer. Flagler Beach will benefit from Fernandina Beach’s folly.
I had an opportunity to say goodbye to Dale yesterday. He was smiling and looking forward to this great opportunity. He will be missed.
Dale Martin was very good at his job…his IMMEDIATE hiring in Flagler attests to that..they saw what he did and they KNEW he was good at it. Fernandina will miss him in more ways than one.
Fernandina Beach’s loss is Flagler’s gain. City Manager in Fernandina Beach is an extremely difficult job, with the City Commission changing every two years, and prioritizing different items. Unfortunately, it looks like we are entering a new era of “kicking the can down the road”. Looks like it will take a new commission to fix the delayed issues later.
As I mentioned in my first comments when this happened, ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES. You all elected Larry, Moe and Curly. They immediately came in with their “ready Shoot aim” agenda. If anyone still remembers they had zero plan for what happened next after firing Dale. In fact, one just flat out lied and another one said maybe someone from the community would come forward to do the job. The thing that bothers me now is that these three stooges will make the final decision on who the new manager will be. However, I do have a suggestion for them. After reading the resumes I noticed one that had a problem holding his alcohol, so hiring him would give us a town drunk and that would round out this circus. I only hope that when it’s time to vote next year we all remember that elections do have consequences.
Best wishes to Dale in Flagler Beach.
Wishing Dale and his family nothing but the best. Thanks for your service to Fernandina Beach.
The good ol’ boys met secretly (and probably illegally) to conspire to fire Mr. Martin. I wish him well in his new job and just cross my fingers that we can get someone as dedicated and capable as was he.
To be fair, I believe this was decided before the election and sunshine laws in place. Ayscue and Antun tag teaming campaign events, one of them being “mentored” by Sturges and the other entrenched with Bean. It’s why when Sturges brought it up in Commissioners comments, Ayscue, without hesitation seconded it. This has all been by design right down to the election interference. It doesn’t take to much work to tie the PACS that supported Antun and Ayscue to tie them back to Bean and developers.
Bean raised $30k in his Mayoral race, mostly from PACs and developers, against Sturges, who raised $0 – ZERO dollars because he knew there was no way he could beat Bean. A deeper look into Bean’s contributors, mostly the PACS and Developers are all the same names you see popping up in the more controversial projects.
That’s why Martin was expendable. He was an obstacle. He knew the implications of the “roll back” that was ahead. The fall out of which our City will surely face with the current agenda.
We’ll still be sifting through resume’s as Martin settles into his new role. Good for Dale and good for Flagler.
Not so much for Fernandina Beach.
Excellent tribute, Suanne! Dale was certainly right about the tendency to kick the can down the road. We need to invest in our future to avoid far greater expenses down the road in terms of our sustainability and resiliency. I congratulate Dale on his new position and wish him the best. I am hopeful that we will hire a replacement who has equally strong credentials and a thorough understanding of the challenges we face in coastal Florida.
Mr. Sturges should be ashamed of himself and so should his puppeteer Mr. Erickson. His go alongs should also hang their heads.
This ignorant and self-centered city council ( with one exception) really screwed the City of FB by firing Mr. Martin. He will flourish and enjoy the challenges of his new post and Flagler is lucky to have him. This council threw away a diamond!
After I just bought a new house here, I wrote an email to Dale Martin to connect since I had been working in local government for nearly 30 years up in Maryland. He immediately replied with some good information and welcomed me to the community. I religiously read his weekly column, which was so useful for informing residents of what was happening in their government. His citizens academy, a venue for helping locals learn about their government in a participatory way, was a brilliant idea in community engagement. His unfortunate exit is a great loss for Fernandina Beach. Flagler Beach is so lucky to have someone of his caliber to lead their team. Best of luck to him!!