BELLEAIR BEACH -- Belleair Beach's City Council has scheduled a special meeting at 5 p.m. today at which it is expected to approve a contract with Reid Silverboard, who will become the city manager next month.
Also on tap is the discussion on scheduling a special executive session meeting with Paul Marino, the city attorney, on a matter believed to be the city's law suit with the Clearwater Gazette & Beach Views.
Silverboard, whose wife, Jill, is the city manager of Treasure Island, was chosen by the council January 13 in a special meeting. He was one of two choices available in what was called a "photo finish."
Silverboard and city officials have been negotiating the final terms of his contract for the past several weeks.
Most recently, Silverboard has been the city manager in Carrollton, Georgia, a city that had a budget of some $22 million, far more than Belleair Beach's modest budget of less than $3 million.
Before that, he was city manager at Fort Walton Beach, up in the Panhandle, Hallandale Beach, Florida, where he was deputy city manager, and prior to that jobs in Naples; Aiken, S.C.; Oxford, Miss., and Lexington, Ky.
In his contract here, Silverboard will be paid $60,000, a cut from the $110,000 he was receiving in Carrolton, Ga. He will also have a $350 a month automobile allowance along with pension and health and life insurance benefits.
He will go to work immediately, serving as "administrative officer" between now and March 9 when the new form of government takes place following the March 8 election.
Ironically, the council originally opposed any change in Belleair Beach's form of government. A citizen initiative got the change on the ballot last year.
And that initiative was sparked by unhappiness with the performance of the council in levying an exorbitant sewer fee on residents along with other dissatisfactions.