Pascagoula hires new city manager from town in the Midwest

Pascagoula has named a new city manager after attempts to fill the position on an interim and permanent basis have made headlines in recent weeks.

The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to hire Michael Silverman of Caro, Michigan, a town of about 4,200 residents near Saginaw Bay in the Thumb region. He has been city manager there since July 2018, Acting Pascagoula City Manager Frank Corder said in a press release.

Before that, Corder said Silverman’s previous experience includes working as a management analyst for Lee County, North Carolina, from 2016-18, as a legislative intern for a North Carolina state representative in 2015, and a summer law clerk for the North Carolina Ethics Commission in 2015. He graduated from the University of North Carolina Wilmington with a bachelor of arts in history in 2014.

Silverman will start his job on the Coast on Jan. 1, 2020, with a salary of $98,000 with benefits.

Assistant City Manager Frank Corder will continue as acting city manager until January.

Also Tuesday, Ryan Frederic resigned effective Dec. 3. He had been serving a dual role as city attorney and city manager when in early October he abruptly announced plans to go on medical leave.

The city council initially approved longtime police chief Kenny Johnson as interim city manager, but Johnson had announced retirement plans just a week earlier, and after two weeks turned down the job.

The Meridian Star reported Oct. 31 that Meridian’s Chief Administrative Officer Richie McAlister had also turned the job.

With Frederic’s resignation, Corder said the Pascagoula council also approved an extension of an agreement for legal services with local attorney Michael Moore.