By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Bronson Town Council members Monday took a big step when they voted to hire a professional administrator to operate Town Hall and transition the town into an efficient and well managed 21st Century municipality.
Susan Beaudet, an academically talented woman who has worked in the private sector for her entire professional life, hasn’t accepted the $70,000 per year position as Town Manager.
She will be offered the job tomorrow when Interim Town Clerk Melisa Thompson calls her. The council asked candidates for the job not to attend the meeting. They were told they would get a call.
The vote was 3-1 to hire Beaudet with Mayor Beatrice Roberts casting the lone vote in opposition. Roberts preferred to hire Rodney D. Lucas, community development director for Bunnell, Fla.
Beaudet holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of New Hampshire where she graduated with a grade point average of 3.89 out of perfect 4.0
She earned a Bachelor of Science from Boston University’s School of Management with a 3.10 grade point average in business administration with a focus on international management.
Beaudet currently works for Sutton Inspection Bureau in St. Petersburg as a district account manager. Sutton is a commercial real estate inspection company.
Bronson’s vice mayor, Councilman Jason Hunt, won support for his motion to hire Beaudet. He was impressed by the research she had done about Bronson town government in preparation for her interview by the council last Saturday.
“She came in and spoke about fixing our foundation like Mr. (Councilman Aaron) Edmondson was speaking about. She went over our charter. It’s outdated. This is one of the first things she’s going to get started fixing. I feel that’s a key thing that needs to be done,” Hunt said.
Roberts responded that she was personally opposed to hiring Beaudet. She said Lucas had received the most votes and was the most qualified due to his experience in municipal government.
“And that’s why I oppose. I think…no I won’t say that, I’ll let that one go,” Roberts said.
Hunt responded that Lucas wasn’t as prepared for the interview as Beaudet.
“I feel Mr. Lucas did not do the background work that Ms. Susan (Beaudet) did. I mean, she came in and she pointed out things about the budget. He didn’t even notice that we have an almost $2 million fire house project. He asked if we have a fire department. He didn’t do the research I felt was appropriate for the job,” Hunt said.
Edmondson suggested that Roberts move on and accept the vote. He said if anything comes up, “then we can deal with it.”
Beaudet would start work in a month if she accepts the job of Town Manager.
The town hired a city manager a number of years ago but he reportedly lasted only about a month and a half.
Bronson has a small work force. In the recent past, the staff consisted of a clerk, deputy clerk, utilities clerk and public works director along with his hired help for outside chores.
The town manager would essentially take on the duties of clerk and would also manage the town and supervise its employees. Beaudet would be asked to stay in communication with council members, but the council members would no longer be giving orders to town employees or parking themselves in Town Hall to practice politics from the back seat, as one council member reportedly does.
Council members are interested in growing the town economically and repairing all the broken parts of town administration that have tarnished the town’s image and hampered its ability to progress.
Beaudet’s academic training appears to give her a good foundation for administering a small town. The bachelor’s degree in business administration gives her a solid foundation for the working with the town’s budget and with the business community.
Her Master’s in public administration offers her insights into how both government and the private sector are managed. Public administration is often considered the ideal university degree for someone that has their sights set on working as an administrator in government.
Beaudet’s lack of hands on experience in town government is her only weak point, but she won’t be the first of Bronson’s top administrators with zero experience in managing the town. She has been preceded by a long line of clerks that learned how to be the town administrator on the job.
As town manager, however, Beaudet will have a much higher rank than any of the clerks that preceded her and greater administrative power, and she will come to the job with a great deal more education.
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Town of Bronson Regular Meeting December 21, 2020; Posted December 21, 2020
