In his first press conference as Doral’s newly hired city manager, Joe Carollo on Thursday sharply criticized interim city manager’s Merrett Stierheim’s abrupt departure from the city a day earlier.

Carollo, a former mayor of Miami known for his vocal views, said his suggestion to Mayor Luigi Boria to hire Stierheim as the interim city manager was a “regret.”

“I carry a very heavy weight on my shoulders,” said Carollo, whose nomination by Boria Wednesday was quickly ratified by the five-member City Council Wednesday evening. “I recommended this man. I brought this man here and I feel very responsible for what has happened here. So I felt I had a responsibility to come and help at this time.”

Carollo, speaking at Doral City Hall, said Stierheim had the ability to do the job but “simply did not keep his word in how he was going to conduct himself. Carollo has not held office since his failed reelection bid in 2001.

“He decided to be king,” said Carollo, to be paid $144,000 a year. “You can not do that. No city manager in America can do that.”

Stierheim was hired as the city’s interim city manager last month after Yvonne Soler-McKinley resigned. He was brought in to lead the search for a full-time manager and help with the transition.

He said Wednesday Doral’s decision to hire the bombastic former mayor was “a terrible decision.’’

In a telephone phone conversation Thursday, Stierheim, a 45-year veteran public sector administrator, said, “Joe Carollo’s comments speak more to his character than to mine. I think my life has been an open book. And that’s it.’’