Ed Brown appointed interim Opa-locka city manager

Less than 48 hours after Opa-locka’s city manager resigned, city commissioners appointed Ed Brown, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency executive director, to fill the interim city manager slot.

“We got to have somebody running the ship even if it’s a short time,” Commissioner Joseph Kelley said at Friday’s special meeting. “Someone has to make the decisions.”

Kelvin Baker, the former manager who served the city since 2012, stepped down during a commission meeting Wednesday, citing his frustration with the politics of the dais. He will receive approximately $75,000 as part of his separation agreement.

Kelley nominated Brown after commissioners rejected the nomination of former Homestead Mayor Steve Shiver for the position. The dais also declined to elevate David Chiverton, the city’s current assistant manager, or support the mayor’s recommendation of Roosevelt Bradley, who sat on her financial task force last month. Other nominations included Esin Daniel Abia, director of the city’s public works and building and licensing department.

“We need someone that is versed in money, not just someone to sit,” Mayor Myra Taylor said before the vote for Brown was taken.

The city passed the motion 4 to 1, appointing Brown, who previously filled Opa-locka’s assistant city manager position from 1999 to 2001 and again in 2011. Vice Mayor Timothy Holmes voted against the resolution.

“I felt like we could not leave that meeting without having someone in charge of the city, and he knows the community,” Kelley told the Miami Herald. “My first choice was Chiverton, but the commission voted not to support it.”

On whether Brown will keep the job in the future, Kelley added: “We’ll have to see what the commission as a whole decides going forward.”

This story was originally published July 24, 2015 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Ed Brown appointed interim Opa-locka city manager."