Sunny Isles mayor resigns to focus on job leading blood bank. Special election to be held
Sunny Isles Beach Mayor George “Bud” Scholl is leaving office with more than a year left on his term, submitting a resignation letter Monday explaining how he will leave to focus on his full-time job as president and CEO of the OneBlood blood bank.
Scholl, whose last day is September 1, said he has been overwhelmed at times over the past year leading both the city and the blood-donation company during the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent surge in COVID cases, and the emergence of the Delta variant, convinced him he could not continue performing both roles.
OneBlood, which operates in five states providing hospitals with donated blood, has ramped up blood drives during the pandemic due to closures at schools and office buildings, Scholl said. A work commitment forced him to miss the city’s most recent commission meeting in July.
“With the Delta variant flaring up, I recognized that the constraints on my time are getting fairly overwhelming,” he told the Miami Herald.
Scholl was first elected mayor in 2014 after serving as a commissioner for seven years. He was reelected to a four-year term in 2018. He said he wanted to give the city 30 days to transition from his tenure and organize a special election to fill his position for the remainder of his term. The commission does not have any meetings in August.
He said the next month will be full of “thank you’s” and “goodbye’s.”
“It’s been a great experience at this stage of my life,” the 61-year-old mayor said. “I thank the residents and I thank my family for providing me the privilege to do it. It’s not easy but it’s certainly rewarding.”
Vice Mayor Larisa Svechin will succeed Scholl after he leaves office, as outlined in the city charter. She said she intends to run in the upcoming special election to decide who will serve the rest of his tenure.
Svechin, who was first elected to the commission in 2016, led the July meeting Scholl missed and said she is prepared to lead the city after his departure.
“It is going to be a seamless transition,” she told the Herald. “I’m all in, and I have been.”
She praised Scholl’s decision to leave office and said she noticed his job at OneBlood had begun to demand more of his time during the pandemic.
“I think what he did was very brave and very responsible because he understands that this is full-time job,” she said.
City Manager Christopher Russo said he will meet with the city attorney and clerk Tuesday to schedule the special election. He, too, supported Scholl’s decision to leave early.
“It didn’t come as any kind of total shock. Hes a pretty sharp guy and he’s got an intense job being the head of OneBlood,” he said. “It’s just incredible that he juggled this long.”
Scholl said he has been preparing Svechin to assume the mayor’s position by asking that she represent the city at meetings and in interviews with the media. He said he will endorse her when she formally runs for his position.
But for now, Svechin said she’s focused on working for her constituents — a job she said remains the same whether you’re a commissioner or the mayor.
“I’ve been here everyday, including Saturdays and Sundays, so for me not much changes,” she said.
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