Boca Raton City Council Special Meeting: City Manager Interviews (August 12, 2025)
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Boca Raton City Council Special Meeting: City Manager Candidate Interviews – August 12, 2025
On Tuesday, August 12, 2025, the Boca Raton City Council convened a special meeting at 8:45 AM (not 8:30 as listed on the agenda) to interview five finalists for the position of City Manager. The council deliberated through five individual interviews, each lasting approximately one hour, and concluded with a unanimous consensus to appoint Mark Sohaney as the next City Manager, subject to contract negotiations. The meeting adjourned at 3:44 PM. Mayor Scott Singer presided.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made during the allocated time for public requests at the beginning of the meeting.
Discussion Items
- The council established a standardized set of seven panel questions for all candidates: (1) Why do you want this job? (2) Defining experience preparing for the role. (3) Experience with large-scale infrastructure/redevelopment projects and prioritization. (4) Experience with disaster/crisis recovery. (5) Experience with public safety, including unions. (6) Maintaining world-class services under budget constraints and competitive labor market. (7) Communication style and fostering transparency/trust.
- Each candidate gave an opening statement, answered panel questions, and then responded to individual council member follow-ups.
- Jorge A. Camejo (Deputy City Manager): Emphasized his deep history with Boca Raton, development experience (e.g., Mizner Park), and leadership style focused on communication and respect. He addressed public safety, homelessness, and the importance of workforce housing.
- Mark Sohaney (former Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam commander): Highlighted 37 years of leadership, managing large-scale infrastructure (e.g., $1.2B wastewater plant, $750M water facility), handling a jet fuel contamination crisis, and union negotiations. He stressed a "people first, mission always" philosophy and expressed willingness to relocate to Boca Raton.
- Patrick S. Jordan (former Michigan Township Supervisor): Discussed union negotiations (police, fire), public safety crises (officer-involved shootings), and experience with snowstorms/ice storms. He emphasized building relationships and transparency, and acknowledged he had not managed a project the scale of Boca's government campus.
- James L. Zervis (Deputy City Manager/CFO): Described his financial acumen (CPA), experience as a county executive managing 8,500 employees, leading COVID-19 response, and negotiating multiple union contracts. He proposed reorganizing to separate CFO and city manager roles, and advocated for maintaining world-class services through prudent budgeting.
- Stan Morris (City Manager of Sunny Isles Beach): Noted his local South Florida expertise, work rebuilding a police department (adding 18 officers, drone/facial recognition tech), and experience with hurricane response and utility projects. He asked the council a hypothetical question about millage rates, demonstrating his direct engagement.
- During council deliberation, members expressed high regard for all candidates, particularly internal candidates Cameo and Zervis. Council Member Wigder proposed a "dream team" of Sohaney as city manager, with Zervis and Cameo remaining in senior roles. Council Member Thomson ranked Zervis first and Cameo second. Council Member Drucker and others favored Sohaney for his visionary, large-scale project experience. A consensus emerged to appoint Sohaney.
Key Outcomes
- Appointment Approved: The council voted 5-0 to appoint Mark Sohaney as City Manager, contingent on negotiating a contract. Mayor Singer was designated as contract talks facilitator to work with the City Attorney's office. All final terms must be approved by the full council in a public meeting.
- Residency Requirement: The council agreed that Sohaney must maintain a primary residence within five miles of Boca Raton city limits within one year of employment.
- Transition: Outgoing City Manager George Brown will remain employed until January 4, 2026, to ensure a smooth transition. The council discussed a possible overlap period where Brown could remain available as a consultant.
- Next Steps: The council expects to review a proposed employment agreement by the next regular council meeting on September 9, 2025. The mayor and city attorney will inform the other four candidates of the decision privately after adjournment.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning and welcome to a special meeting of the Boca Ratone City Council. It is Monday, August, excuse me, it is Tuesday, August 12th, 2025. The time is 845 a.m. Our first item of business is the Pledge of Allegiance. Well, everyone please rise and join in. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Ms. Siddons, will you please call the roll? Mayor Singer. Here. Deputy Mayor Knackless. Councilmember Drucker here. Councilmember Thompson. Thankful to be here. Councilmember Wigter. All present. Thank you. Today's special meeting is to conduct interviews for the position of City Manager. And before I turn it over to our city manager, I just wanted to say that we've got a great group of candidates, and the residents can feel proud about the choices we have, but can feel especially proud about the service of our outgoing city manager, George Brown. His dedicated service for nearly 50 years is a record that speaks for itself. It is unmatched in its variety, innovation, and commitment. And whoever succeeds, Mr. Brown, will have a very tall order. But we'll do our best to find out how we can move forward as a city as we always do, and appreciate Mr. Brown's commitment, not only in this role, but in all the roles. So thank you, Mr. Brown. And with that, you are recognized. Thank you, Mayor. I do appreciate your comments very much. As you indicated, the purpose of the special meeting is to interview finalists for the position of city manager, assess their qualifications, and identify whom the council feels is the individual best suited to lead the organization in the future. David Deutsch from Mercer Group Associates is here to walk over to go over the procedures we're going to follow today, and then what if we have any questions, we'll follow up with that. David? Mr. Woodge. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Brown. Council, I I have a few notes and they're sort of in random order of items that uh would apply as we go through the day. Um I would expect the mayor to make introductions of the council for the candidates, or the council can introduce themselves, whatever works best for you. As you know, as much as possible, each candidate should get the same questions from council. At the beginning, Mayor, in particular, you may want to tell the candidates what the questioning process is. I'm so used to saying he or she, but we have all mails today. And you may want to describe at the end of each interview what the council decision process and timing are expected to be. And those are my notes. I'm glad to respond if any questions uh arise. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmembers. Any questions about that? I'll just add a few things first.
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