Other Proposed Search Advisor is a Mystery Man from 2012 On

By Mike Lednovich

Not much was known about the city commission's appointment of Richard Sala as one of two advisors assisting the Citizens City Manager Search Committee as they begin the task of finding a new city manager.

Vice Mayor David Sturges boasted that Sala had 40 years of experience as city manager of the city of Ft. Lauderdale in his introduction of the candidate. That was grossly overstated. Sala lists four years as city manager of North Lauderdale, a city one-fifth the size of Ft. Lauderdale. None of the other commissioners probed Sala's background.

Sala's complete employment history is a mystery. The Fernandina Observer has left voice messages on a cellphone number believed to be Sala's and has not had a response in five days of trying. A landline listed to him also goes unanswered.

His employment record ends in 2012 in the available online records. But what the public record does show is that what Sala brings to the table is a proven record of bringing hotels, malls and retail businesses to the cities for which he worked. For many years, Sala's focus has been on redevelopment efforts in mostly beach cities.

A city's redevelopment executive is responsible for leading the revitalization and redevelopment of urban areas. Their number one goal is to identify opportunities for development and then create and implement plans to revitalize those areas that have fallen into disuse.

In Fernandina Beach, for example, that would be the city's riverfront and historic downtown areas.

In 2004, as executive director of beach redevelopment in North Lauderdale Sala brokered a deal for a $30 million Marriott supported by a $23 million bond issued by the city for street improvements, sewer lines and landscaping.

In 2005, as city manager, he visited Turkey in hopes of attracting Turkish olive oil, textiles and marble to the city.

Sala got positive press in 2008 when North Lauderdale was picked by noted marine life artist Robert Wyland for his 99th wall mural, thanks to Sala's efforts. Then Sala was fired in 2009.

The public record for Sala falls off a cliff after 2012. After being fired as city manager of North Lauderdale, Sala went to work as a urban redevelopment consultant for the firm of Calvin Giordano & Associates in Ft. Lauderdale.

The firm touted Sala's expertise in a contract bid in 2012 with the city of Parkland, Fl. GC&A wrote in the application that Sala had served as its contract manager in projects for the city of Miami Springs, Pompano Beach and Dania Beach focusing on urban design, streetscapes and infrastructure.

Sala no longer works for that firm. When contacted by the Fernandina Observer, no one at GC&A could remember or at least was willing to talk about Sala’s tenure with the firm.

No one but Sala can fill in the blanks for the last nine years of his career. And after hours of effort to find him by several Fernandina Observer staff members, there’s no evidence that he wants to be found.