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Kenneth City council chooses Crystal Beach man as first town manager

 
Published Feb. 9, 2014

KENNETH CITY

Pinellas man picked as first town manager

Council members on Saturday chose Matthew Campbell to be Kenneth City's first town manager. Campbell, 42, of Crystal Beach is the former assistant to the Dunedin city manager. Campbell was the only one of the six finalists who lived and worked in Pinellas, factors that helped earn him the job.

"I like his vitality and the connections," Kenneth City council member Joanne DeSimone said. Campbell has a bachelor's in geography and management from Georgia State University in Atlanta and 17 years' experience in government and private sector jobs.

Details of the Kenneth City job, including salary and starting date, are being negotiated. If negotiations fall through, council members authorized their attorney to open negotiations with their second choice, Mell Smigielski, 57, who has been village administrator, budget director and deputy liquor commissioner of Mahomet, Ill., since 2006.

Kenneth City voters last year approved a change in their style of government to a council-manager format in which a professional manager runs the daily activities of the town while the council sets policy. The transition is expected to be complete in March.