Dale Martin the Unanimous First Choice for Flagler Beach Manager

By Mike Lednovich

Former Fernandina Beach City Manager Dale Martin was selected Friday as the new city manager for Flagler Beach, five months after being terminated without cause.

The Flagler Beach City Commission voted 6-0 to hire Martin and to begin contract negotiations.

Martin was among 37 applicants for the position. Earlier this month, the Flagler Beach commission narrowed the field to four finalists.

Martin was the first of the four finalists to be interviewed during a special meeting of the commission.

In a straw ballot, Martin was the top choice on all of the commissioner’s ballots. Then he was formally picked by a vote of the commission.

Martin was fired Feb. 21 after being blindsided by a motion two weeks earlier by Vice Mayor David Sturges at the end of a commission meeting to terminate him. The decision was delayed for two weeks and passed 3-2.

Martin had served as city manager in Fernandina Beach for eight years.

But now, he says, a new path has opened up for him. "It will be an exciting new chapter for me and my family," he said. "I look forward to using the skills that I was able to develop in one coastal Florida community to help another."