Soup's On!

Orange Park Manager Offered Fernandina Job Despite ‘Conflict'

Bradley Bean is the mayor of Fernandina Beach. Sarah Campbell is city manager of Orange Park. His father is a congressman. That congressman employs her husband. Mix it all together—with a pay raise—and what do we have?

By SHELBIE GRAHAM

Sarah Campbell is considering leaving her role as Orange Park’s town manager after being offered the job of Fernandina Beach city manager earlier this week. If she accepts, she’ll start November 5—election day.

However, residents have scrutinized the Fernandina Beach City Commission’s 3-2 vote that extended the job offer to Campbell from among over 40 other applicants. The Fernandina Observer reported the decision was likely a “conflict of interest” for one city commissioner in particular, one who has a familiar last name.

(A familiar first name, too, I might add).

His name is Bradley Bean, the 20-something mayor of Fernandina Beach. His father is Republican U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean, who represents Clay County, Nassau and parts of Duval.

Bean—the congressman—employs Bryan Campbell as his district aide, and who is also Sarah’s husband. And Bean—the mayor—was the deciding vote in a contested 3-2 decision that granted Sarah her new job at Fernandina Beach.

The soupy mix of professional and personal relationships between the Campbells and Beans hasn't led to outright accusations of nepotism, but it has been aptly noted as a certain source of confounding bias.

Regardless of the optics of the decision, Sarah Campbell actually does have a commendable resume. She has served as Orange Park’s town manager since 2017 and has been a town employee even longer than that. She has a master of Public Administration degree from the University of North Florida. She is often the voice of reason during town meetings. The general consensus among Orange Park residents is that she’s done a pretty good job, and her leaving would be the town’s loss.

Before the vote, Mayor Bean asked the city attorney if voting would constitute a conflict of interest. The city attorney said no. At least, not based on state ethics statutes.

Campbell, herself, denied any conflict of interest. When she submitted her application to Fernandina Beach this past summer, she had this to say:

In the spirit of transparency, I want to point out that my spouse is employed by the U.S. House of Representatives as Congressman Bean's District Director. Congressman Bean has a connection to your commission, through Mayor Bean. I have had no contact, direct or indirect, with either of these gentlemen about this role. While there is no conflict of interest, I did want to point out the connection in case of any inquiries.

However, in politics, optics is everything.

"Campbell carries the baggage that there's a large amount of the community who perceive there's a sense of impropriety with her connections to a member of this commission. It's a large perception. No matter what Ms. Campbell does, she will always be followed by that and that will be a problem for her," one Fernandina Beach commissioner was quoted by the Fernandina Observer.

A Facebook post by the City of Fernandina Beach Government was swarmed ambivalently by comments: some offering congratulatory praise, others retaining a dose of skepticism.

“It’s unfortunate that a seemingly qualified candidate’s position will always be tainted by her proximity to the Beans,” one commenter wrote. Another described the Bean family as a “mafia family taking over a neighborhood.” However, the funniest and perhaps most cautionary, is one reading: “Tell her to keep her resume updated because being city manager of Fernandina Beach is a short term position!”

This is of course referring to how six different people have acted as city manager since City Manager Dale Martin was fired early last year.

As Orange Park’s town manager, Campbell’s starting salary was $110,000 and her departing salary will be $150,118 which included vehicle and phone allowances. Before he was fired, Martin was making $157,110 as Fernandina Beach’s city manager.

Campbell. Bean. Bringing home the bacon. Soup’s on!