Melbourne Council Chooses McNees As City Manager
By Space Coast Daily // December 1, 2012
Veteran Administrator Ready To Lead
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Former USA Track & Field Chief Operating Officer Michael McNees has been selected by the Melbourne City Council as the new city manager.
He succeeds Jack Schluckebier, who will retire early in 2013 after serving 10 years as Melbourne’s city manager.
McNees joined USA Track & Field in 2009 as Chief Operating Officer. He was named the organization’s Interim CEO in 2010 and served in that capacity until April.
A former County Administrator for Blaine County, Idaho, McNees, 56, also served as the city manager of Sarasota.
In five years as Sarasota city manager, McNees led 800 employees at the height of Sarasota’s rapid growth and expansion.
He also spent 17 years as an employee of Collier County in Southwest Florida, rising to the position of assistant county manager where he was involved in developing the county’s budget, overseeing its utilities division, directing its emergency medical services department and coordinating its transportation efforts.
McNees also is a champion for local arts in the community, having served as president of the Naples Players Inc., a large community theater group.
He’s a native of Indiana, where he was a three-time varsity letterman for the Indiana University track team. He was a Big Ten team champion as well as a member of Indiana’s and Big Ten meet record-setting 4 x 400 meter relay.
At Indiana University, he majored in chemistry and later earned a Master of Business degree at Louisiana Tech University.
McNees was chosen from a field of five finalists for the position including Matt Benoit (former assistant city manager of Farmers Branch, Texas), Louie Chapman, Jr. (town manager of Bloomfield, Conn.), Richard Starks (management consultant and former county administrator for Florence, S.C.) and Stockton Whitten (assistant county manager for Brevard County).
