Puto tight-lipped about reason for departure
BY TERRY SCHMIDA
Marathon City Manager Mike Puto is may be stepping down by the end of the year, but the exact reasons for his departure remain obscure.
Puto, who is also a former county commissioner announced weeks ago that he would be leaving the post by Dec. 31, or as soon as a replacement could be found, whichever comes first. He said that he had never planned to hold the job for more than two years, when he first signed on in January of last year.
But that was then, and two years is an eternity in politics. Contacted twice by Konk Life for comment, he didn’t return phone calls.
His announcement came at the prodding of Councilman Dan Zieg who probed Puto as to his intentions. Zieg also wondered aloud whether or not Puto should still be responsible for filling the position of deputy manager.
That job was originally created to bring Puto some relief as far as managing Marathon, however it was not budgeted for in the budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year, which ends in September. However, the city manager claimed in late March that nearly $80,000 was available for the hire. A call for resumes was posted on the city’s website, and Puto was then expected to submit to the city council resumes, and help whittle them down to five top contenders, but this was never done.
Some confusion remained over whose duty it actually was to make final decisions over the hiring of certain staff members.
At its last meeting the council expressed its wish to hire a “professional manager” after Puto’s final departure, while Puto concurred that he felt it was time for a “permanent” hire for the job.
“Let’s do this right,” Vice Mayor Mark Senmartin said at the meeting.
In other Marathon news, Zieg stated his intention to meet with senior staff at the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority to examine the feasibility of having the agency take over responsibility for the town’s two wastewater facilities, or whether it would merely act in an advisory capacity.
During the meeting the council okayed a pump station design contract with Wade Trim, for Service Area 3, to cost no more than $142,000. It was felt that developments such as the Ramada and Mariott hotels leave little margin for error as far as the new station’s size is concerned.
The council also agreed on the need to make design snafus, like saltwater intrusion, a major consideration, when going ahead with the station.
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