Engineering veteran Jenni Lamb appointed as Melbourne's next permanent city manager
Jenni Lamb, a 23½-year Melbourne City Hall veteran who boasts an engineering background, is now in contract negotiations to become the new city manager.
Tuesday, the Melbourne City Council voted unanimously to appoint Lamb to the post on a permanent basis. She has served as interim city manager since Jan. 20 after former city manager Shannon Lewis resigned to take a private-sector job. Lewis earned $223,039 per year.
“I greatly appreciate this opportunity. I know when I took the role as interim, I said I was not sure. And now that I have been in the role for four months, I am sure it's something that I want to do," Lamb told council members.
"It's something my family supports me in. And I'm very honored that you have selected me,” she said.
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Lewis was the first female city manager in Melbourne history, including the days preceding the city's 1969 merger with Eau Gallie.
Next, Lamb and Mayor Paul Alfrey will settle on details of her employment contract, which will return to City Council for a future vote.
After earning a bachelor's degree in environmental engineering from the University of Florida, Lamb worked as a project engineer with a Gainesville firm from 1994-97 before landing a job with the Palm Bay Engineering Division from 1997-99.
Lamb was hired by neighboring Melbourne's engineering department in September 1999. She was promoted to city engineer in 2005 and deputy city manager in 2019. She has overseen major infrastructure and development projects, including design and construction of the City Hall building, road resurfacing projects and stormwater pollution-reduction projects benefiting the Indian River Lagoon.
“I have full faith in Miss Lamb. I think she's done an amazing job. I think she's really done an amazing job," Alfrey said during Tuesday's meeting.
Vice Mayor Mark LaRusso attended the April 6 press conference at Melbourne Orlando International Airport where Avelo Airlines announced it will launch service on the Space Coast. He said Greg Donovan, airport executive director, came over to him and said of Lamb: "Hire her."
Council Member Julie Sanders concurred.
"I think the institutional knowledge that Miss Lamb has for the city of Melbourne, the experiences that she has, the relationships she's already built — it's invaluable," Sanders said.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Longtime engineer Jenni Lamb named Melbourne's permanent city manager
