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Surfside is in the middle of a full-blown leadership crisis. Our Town employees are leaving in waves, and the silence from our elected officials is deafening.

Just last week, three key staff members abruptly resigned. Adrian Hernandez, who stepped in as Parks & Recreation's new Director after Tim Milian’s August departure, quit less than a month into the job. Deputy Public Works Director Frantza Duval resigned shortly after her Director, Randy Stokes, walked away earlier this year. In perhaps the most shocking move, former Police Chief Henry Doce, who was hired, fired, re-hired, and then demoted to Assistant Chief without a pay cut, quietly packed up his car and left Town without notice.

​This exodus is not an accident. It is the predictable result of Town Manager Mark Blumstien’s reckless mismanagement. Blumstien has been running rampant, making unilateral changes without Commission approval, issuing directives that violate our Charter, including ordering staff not to speak to Commissioners without his consent, and driving out the very institutional knowledge our Town depends on.​

​Meanwhile, our so-called leadership watches in silence. Mayor Burkett is focused on his political ambitions, first Governor and now County Commission, while his ally and “future mayor,” Vice Mayor Tina Paul, has shown no leadership capabilities at all. Instead, she has treated taxpayer-funded trips to Tallahassee and Orlando as personal vacations with her life-partner, using resident dollars to subsidize her travel while Surfside falls apart.

Yes, they raised the Pride flag, and they celebrated as if Surfside’s problems were solved. The reality is far bleaker. With a failed ex-judge running the administration, a psychopathic mayor consumed by personal politics, and four unemployed commissioners who are content to sit silently, while Surfside is being hollowed out from within.

The Human Cost of Failed Leadership

Below is a partial list of employees who have resigned or been forced out since this Commission took power. Each name represents lost knowledge, weakened services, and a Town pushed further into decline.

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Town Managers

• Hector Gomez, Town Manager
• Marisol Vargas, Town Manager
• Peter Jankowski, Town Manager
• Irina Mocanu, Executive Assistant​
• Pricilla Krutules, Asst Town Clerk

Police Department

• Antonio Marciante, Chief of Police
• Enrique (Henry) Doce, Chief of Police
• Wayne Holbrook, Chief of Police
• Elinor Joseph, Director of Parking Enforcement
• Dina Golstien, Executive Assistant
• Michell Sanchez, Executive Assistant
• Alain Acosta, Parking Enforcement
• David Gaspart, Parking Enforcement
• Henry Popoteur, Community Service Aid

Building and Planning

• James McGuinness, Building Official
• Judith Frankel, Town Planner
• Clara Riveron
• Darlene Martinat
• Laken Garcia
• Lauren Felder​

Human Resources

• Yamileth Slate-McCloud, Director
• Marisol Vargas, Director

Public Works

• Randy Stokes, Director
• Frantza Duval, Assistant Director
• Luiza Garcia
• Jhon Escobar
• Kenny Chaviano
• Curtan Turner

Finance

• Javier Collazo, Chief Financial Officer
• Mayte D. Gamiotea
• Angie Sofia Bernal​

Parks and Recreation

• Tim Milian, Director
• Adrian Hernandez, Director
• Gretel Alpizar Alvarez
• Mauro Avila Mesa
• Laura Baglietto
• Emiliano De Napoli
• Denlos Denis
• David Flores
• Alexis Henrik
• Matteo Morais
• Rodny Napoles
• Tomas Perdomo
• Hilda Rodriguez Lozano
• Magalys Quintero

​This staggering list speaks for itself. Surfside is hemorrhaging talent, and the blame lies squarely with the current administration’s toxic culture, poor judgment, and lack of accountability.

​Our Town deserves leaders who prioritize Surfside, not themselves. Until we demand better, we will continue to watch our community erode, one resignation, one bad decision, and one silence at a time.