SURFSIDE, Fla. – There’s been a sudden shakeup in the Town of Surfside.
“I’m very disappointed and we’re all very shocked,” said former Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett.
In less than 24 hours the Town of Surfside lost a town manager, an assistant manager and a police chief.
“The way this was done is out of control,” said Burkett.
During Tuesday night’s commission meeting, current Surfside Mayor Shlomo Danzinger first announced that town manager Andy Hyatt was leaving immediately.
“He had some family issues,” the mayor said during the meeting. “(He) has submitted his resignation effective today.”
One Surfside commissioner, Nelly Velazquez, expressed shock.
“This is unbelievable,” she said. “He has to give two weeks’ notice. He can’t just resign like this and leave our town dumped like this, I don’t understand what’s going on here. I understand that maybe people are not getting along with each other.”
Wednesday, two more resignations were announced. Assistant Town Manager and CFO Jason Greene and Police Chief Rogelio Torres resigned, citing personal reasons.
Burkett says he doesn’t buy the resignation claims.
“Is that true?” Burkett wonders. “This team is the team that brought us through COVID, brought us through the Champlain Towers collapse.
“You may have differences of options but there are certain procedures for handling it.”
Local 10 News reached out to Danzinger for an interview. First he said he couldn’t because he was not in the city, and when asked for a phone interview, he said he had no comment.
Local 10 also reached out to every Surfside commissioner, only hearing back from Fred Landman, who said he had nothing to add.