Campbell accepts City Manager contract

Orange Park Town Manager Sarah Campbell has signed her employment agreement as Fernandina Beach city manager paying her a starting salary of $205,000.

The contract will be voted on by the city commission at its Oct. 1 regular meeting.

Campbell currently earns $150,000 as town manager.

City Attorney Tammi Bach disclosed the details of the draft contract at Tuesday's city commission meeting but omitted the detail that Campbell had signed the document.

If approved by the city commission, Campbell becomes the first woman city manager in the history of Fernandina Beach.

She was selected as city manager by a divided commission 3-2. Campbell will begin as city manager having to earn the trust of some city residents because of employment conflicts with the Bean family.

Campbell's husband is the district director for U.S. Congressman Aaron Bean, father of Mayor Bradley Bean. If Bradley Bean is re-elected as commissioner on Nov. 5, he becomes Campbell's supervisor along with the four other commissioners.

"Campbell carries the baggage that there's a large amount of the community who perceive there's a sense of impropriety with her connections to a member of this commission. It's a large perception. No matter what Ms. Campbell does, she will always be followed by that and that will be a problem for her," said Commissioner Chip Ross during the city manager selection meeting.

The majority of city manager applicants seek a unanimous vote in taking the position, so they are assured they have the full support of commissioners.

"It's not ideal (a 3-2 vote). You always want a unanimous vote," Campbell told The Observer shortly after she was selected. "I'll have to go back and listen to their comments and see what their perspective was and see if there is any room to win them over. If somebody doesn't want me to work for them, I need to understand their perspective."

Campbell has been with Orange Park, Florida (population 9,089) since 2008 and the town manager since 2017.

If the contract is approved, Campbell has a 45-day notice with Orange Park that would mean her first day as Fernandina Beach city manager would be Nov. 18.

"Ms. Campbell’s start date is blank because she would like to discuss what is best start date for the City.  Earliest start date could be Monday, November 18, 2024 which is the Monday after Ms. Campbell would have her last day at Town of Orange Park or Monday, December 2, 2024 which is the Monday after Thanksgiving," Bach said in an email to city commissioners.

Bach said she initially offered Campbell a salary of $190,000.

"She came back at $225,000, the top of the range," Bach said. "I had some conversations with some individual commissioners to see what your appetite was. What Ms. Campbell and I settled on was a starting salary of $205,000."

Bach said there are benchmarks in the first year.

"At six months there's a commission evaluation. So, for salary, pending a successful evaluation by the city commission, she is entitled to a $10,000 raise after six months which would put her at $215,000. At one year, around Oct. 1, the city commission will do an annual evaluation of the city manager. Pending another satisfactory evaluation, she would get another $10,000 putting her at $225,000."

For severance in the event Campbell is terminated, Bach said state law allows for 20 weeks, and Campbell is seeking 20 weeks in the contract.

Also included is a $5,000 relocation stipend, a $500 per month stipend for a take-home vehicle and a $50 per month cell phone allowance.