Palm Bay Narrows Down City Manager Search to Eight Finalists After Heated Council Debate
Palm Bay, FL – After a lengthy and occasionally tense meeting on March 20, the Palm Bay City Council voted unanimously to invite eight finalists to participate in public interviews for the city’s next permanent City Manager. The decision followed a spirited debate among council members over how many candidates should advance, with Mayor Rob Medina initially advocating for a much smaller shortlist.
The eight candidates moving forward to the March 29 public interviews are:
- Jason Brian Davis
- Matthew Thomas Morton
- Mark Sohaney
- Gregg Lynk
- Ricardo J. Mendez
- William R. Lawrence
- Howard W. Brown
- Sonia A. Alves-Viveiros
Mayor Medina initially recommended narrowing the list to just three candidates whom he believed had the broadest support: Davis, Morton, and Sohaney. “I don’t like going backwards,” he said, signaling reluctance to consider former City Manager Greg Lynk, who was fired in 2018.
However, other council members expressed concern with limiting the list prematurely. Councilman Michael Hammer Jr. suggested, “If two council members think somebody is good enough to be on this list, they should be invited.”
Eventually, the council moved to expand the shortlist to eight names, which passed in a 5-0 vote.
One of the most debated additions to the list was Greg Lynk, the city’s former city manager. Councilman Kenny Johnson spoke about his decision to support Lynk’s return to the candidate pool, despite having voted to terminate him in 2018.
“I had a call from former Councilman Brian Anderson… we shared much discussion over 30 minutes where he cleared the air on a lot of accusations made about Mr. Lynk,” Johnson said. “Our God is a God of second chances. I know so much more now than I did six years ago.”
Tensions escalated during the public comment period when one speaker accused Mayor Medina of making unilateral decisions in the selection process.
“We started this process where everybody said their top five—and you, sir, elected three without consulting anyone. How dare you,” he said.
The speaker also criticized past leadership, claiming: “Suzanne Sherman botched a billion dollars in economic development under Greg Lynk. He [Lynk] put that together. He helped put together the entirety of the Heritage Parkway connection as a privatized deal to make it happen.”
Throughout the meeting, each council member shared their top choices:
- Mayor Medina: Michael Brillhart, Howard Brown, Jason Davis, Matthew Morton, Brian Bulthuis
- Deputy Mayor Jaffe: Gregg Lynk, Sonia Alves-Viveiros, Brian Davis, Matthew Morton, Ricardo Mendez
- Councilman Langevin: Mark Sohaney, Gregg Lynk, Scott Moye, William Lawrence, Howard Brown
- Councilman Johnson: Mark Sohaney, Gregg Lynk, Ricardo Mendez
- Councilman Hammer: Jason Davis, Matthew Morton, Mark Sohaney, Nate Somers, William Lawrence
Interim City Manager Scott Morgan confirmed all eight candidates will be contacted and asked to authorize background checks ahead of interviews.
The public interviews will take place at a special council meeting on March 29, where department heads may also interact with the candidates. Following the interviews, the council hopes to identify a final candidate and make a formal job offer by their April 17 meeting.
Palm Bay Live will be publishing individual candidate profiles on all eight contenders in the coming week to help the public get to know the finalists ahead of the interviews.
Watch the recorded council meeting here:
