Marco Island meet Tony Shoemaker.

Shoemaker, who has 36 years of city management experience, will likely be the city’s interim manager, starting Dec. 1.

On 6-1 vote Monday night, the Marco Island City Council authorized council Chairman Mike Minozzi to negotiate a contract with Shoemaker. Councilman Chuck Kiester dissented, saying he wanted to see more candidates for the job. Shoemaker introduced himself to the council Monday with a strong recommendation from outgoing Manager Bill Moss, who took the top job in the City of Naples on Oct. 24. Shoemaker was the only candidate the council interviewed.

“I’ve been very impressed by Marco Island,” Shoemaker said.

Minozzi said he planned to negotiate Shoemaker’s contract on Tuesday.

Shoemaker, 67, worked as interim city manager for the City of Fort Myers from 2006 until this year, as the city transformed from a strong mayor to council-manager form of government. Shoemaker also served as interim city manager in Mount Dora in 2005 and has worked as assistant county manager for Hillsborough County and city manager in Clearwater.

Shoemaker said he wanted to serve for a maximum of six months, staying through June. He is not interested in position full time, he said. Moss will leave Marco for Naples on Jan. 2 and will overlap with Shoemaker during December.

Minozzi, Moss and Shoemaker had already discussed what Minozzi called “broad strokes” of Shoemaker’s contract prior to Monday’s meeting, Minozzi said.

Minozzi said the initial dollar figure discussed was based on an annual salary of $150,000. Details over potential benefits, including city housing for Shoemaker, who planned to move from his home in Clearwater, had yet to be determined, Minozzi said. Moss’s annual salary is $161,000 plus benefits. He will be making $177,000 a year, plus benefits in Naples.

Minozzi interviewed one of Shoemaker’s former employers, Fort Myers Mayor Jim Humphrey over the telephone for 15 minutes.

“He felt he did an excellent job,” Minozzi said.

Moss planned to bring Shoemaker’s negotiated contract and final amendments to his contract at next week’s special-called meeting on capital infrastructure.

In terms of finding a permanent manager, the council agreed to interview two search firms, The Mercer Group and Colin Baenzinger and Associates, at its Dec. 3 meeting. The Mercer Group assisted the City of Naples in its recent search.

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