Palm Coast City Manager Mike McGlothlin today announced the appointment of Fire Chief Kyle Berryhill as the interim deputy city manager, replacing Lauren Johnston, who is taking a job as the school district’s chief of operations starting in April. Berryhill’s appointment is effective Monday.
The appointment is not a surprise. Berryhill, like his predecessor Jerry Forte, has been the city administration’s right hand when called upon in transition periods or in the absence of the city manager: he filled in for Johnston several times.
“I’ve done really short windows as kind of the person on duty, and had a role where I had some administrative authority during federally declared situations,” Berryhill said. “I’ve done this interim stint several times in my career, but this is a new version of a process for me that I’m kind of familiar with.”
The new version entails Berryhill moving into an office at City Hall and leaving the fire department in the charge of Bradd Clark, himself an habitué of interim responsibilities–including a stint as Flagler County’s interim fire chief, before the county hired Fire Chief Michael Tucker. The fire department will announce an interim deputy fire chief shortly.
Just as importantly, if Johnston’s departure is costing the city a bounty of institutional memory, Berryhill has even more of it: his tenure at the city predates that of Johnston by a few years. Berryhill started a $7.95-an-hour job as a firefighter-EMT in 2005, rising through the ranks since. He was appointed chief almost four years ago.
Berryhill’s salary has risen somewhat since: $153,600 as fire chief (the base pay includes $10,000 in paramedic pay). He will be paid $175,000 as interim manager, with the paramedic supplement paused. Johnston was paid $196,000.
When the school district revealed Johnston’s appointment earlier this week, McGlothlin said he would move quickly to appoint an interim, and would then hire a permanent replacement, looking within the city’s ranks first, but possibly hiring from outside the city. Berryhill could be among the applicants for the permanent job, but it’s only a distant possibility for now.
“The fact that I’m saying yes to a version of it says that I have interest,” Berryhill said this afternoon. “But I’m very interested in having the best team in Palm Coast. The Berryhills haven’t made a decision on whether I’ll apply for this position. We’re very far from this at this point.”
Characteristically, Berryhill framed the response, as he does most responses to questions that have a bearing on his personal life, in the context of his family: he always puts his wife Danielle and his daughter Claire and son James first, so those factors will influence his decision (as they very much did Johnston’s decisions–first, not to apply for the city manager’s job when she had the chance, even though the job would likely have been hers to take, and second, to switch to a district job on the assumption that the immense pressures she’s been under for the last few years will let up some.)
For the young McGlothlin administration, now in its fourth month, Berryhill’s appointment provides some continuity for a staff and council that has full trust in Berryhill, and that very likely were shaken by Johnston departure, while also nodding toward a future McGlothlin will be reshaping in his image: the first part of McGlothlin’s career was in public safety and emergency management. He was a division commander of a patrol and investigative division in Zebulon, a city of 7,000 in North Carolina, and police chief and emergency management director in Columbia City, the town of 2,000 in Oregon where he became city administrator.
Berryhill, who always refers to McGlothlin as “Mr. McGlothlin,” said he would have no problems disagreeing with the city manager, if the situation calls for it. “I feel very comfortable with that mostly because Mr. McGlothlin is asking for that kind of voice, not just me, but the whole team,” Berryhill said. Similarly, McGlothlin himself said he would have no qualms about disagreeing with a council position, or with a councilman, if he thought his analysis warranted it.
The city administration issued a release about Berryhill’s appointment early this afternoon, prefacing the details on the fire chief with praise for Johnston’s tenure with the city. “Lauren stepped up when our organization needed her most, and her leadership helped carry us forward during an important time for Palm Coast,” McGlothlin was quoted as saying. “We are grateful for her many contributions and wish her continued success in her next chapter.”
In the release, McGlothlin, who has brought a relaxed, down-home type approach to City Hall, referred to Berryhill neither as “Mr.” nor as “Chief.”
“Kyle’s leadership, experience, and ability to perform under pressure make him exceptionally well-suited for this role,” McGlothlin said. “He has a proven track record of leading through critical situations and a deep understanding of our organization. I am confident in his ability to help guide our team as we continue moving forward.”
Berryhill was not quoted in the release, but he said he intends to use his tenure to “help us become the city we want to be in the future.” A compulsive and serious reader, Berryhill was reading Graham Greene’s The Quiet American when he was elevated to fire chief four years ago. These days (and not counting every Harry Potter book he listened to with his son on the way to and back from baseball games and practices and tournaments), he is immersed in Philip Roth’s American Pastoral. Both books are reflections of an America in one of its most unsettled, and unsettling, times.
Geoffrey Hicks says
Is there a reason that we need a six-figure “deputy” city manager? Let the real city manager do their job…
BYE Theresa and Leann says
I guess the FAFO Audit meant nothing?! This is why everyone who has a seat, whether it is city or county who is up for reelection or a new seat with the County MUST GO.