St. Augustine Beach Down to 6 Finalists in Search for New City Manager: Who Are They?

The St. Augustine Beach City Commission has identified finalists in its search for a new city manager.

The current city manager, 37-year veteran Max Royle, will retire once the city hires his replacement. The city announced the job opening last month and received 55 applications, which commissioners reviewed before the Oct. 5 city commission meeting.

Commissioner Undine George remarked that the hire could be one of the most consequential decisions the commission makes in years.

After consulting with Steve Kennedy of the Florida Association of County Managers, and more than an hour of discussion, commissioners identified seven finalists and three alternates. 

One finalist, St. Augustine Beach Chief of Police Daniel Carswell, has since withdrawn his application, according to Royle. At the meeting, some commissioners had argued Carswell was the strongest candidate because he is already local to the area.

Without him, that leaves six finalists. They are:

Shane Corbin, Director of Development Services for New Smyrna Beach, Fla. Corbin spent five years as City Manager of Atlantic Beach, which at 13,000 residents has roughly double the population of St. Augustine Beach, before relocating to New Smyrna Beach, which is nearly five times the size of St. Augustine Beach.

Thomas Ernharth has been the City Manager of Eagle Lake, Fla. (6,415 residents) since 2017. He reports 30 years of local government experience, including previously serving as the City Manager for Starke and the Township Manager for South Londonderry Township and Penn Township in Pennsylvania. 

Madeline Hanlon serves as Assistant County Administrator in Roanoke County, Va., a role she assumed less than a year ago, in November 2025. She previously served as deputy clerk and paralegal in Roanoke County, as well as clerk to the Board of Supervisors and public affairs manager in Franklin County.”

Tim Owens, who spent 11 years as Town Manager of Wrightsville Beach, N.C. (2,500 residents) and 6.5 years as Town Manager of Carolina Beach (6,500 residents). Owens most recently served as planning director of Pender County, N.C., but retired in June just two months after he was hired with an annual salary of $118,000.

Todd Grant, the former public works director for the city of St. Augustine who currently serves as vice chair of St. Augustine Beach’s Sustainability & Environmental Planning Advisory Committee. St. Johns County court records show Grant has a series of civil traffic infractions, including a September 2023 citation for possession of an open container in a vehicle for which he paid a $166 fine. 

Peggy Castano, who spent a decade in various leadership roles with the city of  Lauderdale Lakes, including two years as assistant city manager. Since December 2025, she has served as operations manager for Collier County EMS. Her public administration experience dates back to 2008.

Next Steps

There is no set timeline for replacing Royle, who has indicated he is in no hurry to retire and is happy to remain on the job as long as the commission needs to find a successor. His attitude has led some residents to accuse the commission of pushing Royle out and being ageist.

Revisiting concerns she has previously raised, George used the Oct. 5 meeting to again question the $160,000 to $200,000 proposed salary range the city is advertising for the commission, which she has argued is too high.

However, the rest of the commissioners reiterated their stance that the bottom of the salary range is only slightly higher than Royle’s current $157,000 annual salary and is needed to attract high-quality candidates. They also noted the final figure is subject to negotiation, and any candidate asking for the top of the range would be a “red flag.”

Commissioners have not yet decided whether job interviews will be conducted remotely or if the city will pay for applicants to travel to St. Augustine Beach for in-person interviews. With several candidates residing out-of-state, paying for travel and lodging for all six finalists could cost the city several thousand dollars.

The city also solicited two bids from private investigators to investigate the finalists. One firm quoted $750 per investigation plus $110 per hour and $110 for travel, while another would charge $6,000 per investigation. It is not clear how much the city plans to budget for private investigation services.

The next commission meeting is scheduled for Nov. 2 at 6 p.m.