Parkland chooses new boss

Ex-Miramar manager faced controversies

Parkland city commissioners knew Robert Payton faced controversies in his last job, but still consider him an experienced leader.

They voted Friday afternoon to hire him as Parkland’s new city manager.

As Miramar’s city manager years ago, he oversaw a city during a period of high growth, was “fiscally responsible” and “seemed to be a good leader for his staff,” Mayor Christine Hunschofsky said.

“I always [wanted] somebody who was a seasoned and experienced city manager who understands Broward County,” she said. “He had very good recommendations from people who worked with him and for him previously.”

Payton grew up in Miramar and started his 36-year career with the city as a garbage man, working his way up to city manager in 2001. Payton retired in 2013, with a total benefits package worth $2.4 million.

Miramar drew headlines before Payton left and also when he departed:

In 2010, former Commissioner Fitzroy Salesman was convicted of bribery and extortion for taking $3,340 from undercover agents in exchange for steering Miramar contracts to them. Payton, who was secretly recorded in 2006 when Salesman introduced him to one of the agents, testified in federal court he was scared and hired a criminal defense attorney. His lawyer told him he did nothing illegal, and prosecutors didn’t charge Payton with any crime.

As Payton retired, city employees complained that Payton hired his brother and favored other relatives. It drew an outcry from residents who said the city should avoid nepotism.

In the years before he retired, Paynton had retained support from commission-

ers. During his tenure, the city grew from 65,000 residents to more than 123,000 residents, his resume said.

In an interview Friday, Payton said, “There were hundreds of accomplishments but there were miscues. Not everything was perfect and I shared that with the commissioners, and I take full responsibility for all of it.”

Hunschofsky said the commission was aware of the controversies, but “his strengths outweighed anything else,” she said.

Payton replaces Parkland City Manager Caryn Gardner-Young, who asked for a separation agreement in October. The Parkland commission didn’t like any of the 88 choices when it asked for applicants and sent its recruiter back for a second round, which included 68 names, such as Daniel Alfonso, the city manager of Miami.

Payton, now 58, said he was ready to retire from Miramar, spurred in part by a home video he was watching at the time that had been taken about seven years earlier.

His daughter, then about 7, narrated into the camera: “This is my dad, it’s dad’s birthday but he’s on the phone with work.”

Payton gets choked up when he talks about it.

“There I was in the background, talking on the phone. It stuck with me. It was beyond time” to retire, he said.

But he said now was the right time to get back into city management after his hiatus. His two children are older and he wants back into City Hall.

“Service is in my blood,” he said. “I have a passion,” and Parkland is the right city to start anew, he said.

Payton moved to Parkland about three years ago, a home in “the middle of nowhere” where his sales agent took him.

“My entire career has been focused on managing development,” he said. “When I was here, it was [like a] garden getting ready to blossom. I saw the cranes, it was like a fresh start for me.”

He will now begin contract discussion with the Parkland city attorney. Gardner-Young’s annual salary was $203,643.96. In Miramar, Payton earned $208,000 a year, and he now receives an annual pension benefit of $110,593.72.

“There were hundreds of accomplishments but there were miscues.” Robert Payton, Parkland’s new city manager