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A bombshell email surfaced this week from Surfside’s overpaid and increasingly embattled Town Manager, Mark Blumstein — one that raises serious legal and ethical red flags.

In the message, sent directly to all town staff and department heads, Blumstein explicitly forbids employees from communicating with any elected officials unless they first receive his personal approval. That’s right: the unelected Town Manager is attempting to cut off your elected leaders from the very people they were elected to oversee.

Let’s be clear — this isn’t just improper. It’s illegal.

Blumstein’s gag order is in direct conflict of Surfside’s Town Charter, which serves as the legal foundation of our local government — and cannot be changed without a public referendum.

​Surfside Charter: Part 1, Article II, Section 11.1:​

​Surfside Charter: Part 1, Article II, Section 14:​

In plain English: elected official are allowed to speak to staff directly when making inquiries. The Charter explicitly grants that authority — and no manager, no matter how threatened he feels, has the authority to supersede this law.

​So why is Blumstein doing this?

​According to sources close to Town Hall, the Town Manager — Surfside’s fifth in just one year — has been losing control behind the scenes. His relationship with staff is reportedly fractured, and his credibility with the commission is slipping fast. And this latest power grab? It looks a lot like desperation from someone terrified of losing his $250,000 taxpayer-funded job.

To make matters worse, Blumstein sent this illegal directive behind the backs of Surfside’s elected officials. They weren’t consulted. They weren’t informed. In fact, they found out the same way the public just did — through this email!

Suspicious timing: just days before this email was exposed, Blumstein chose to skip Surfside’s annual Champlain Towers memorial event — one of the most solemn and important moments on the town calendar. While families, officials, and residents gathered to honor the 98 lives lost, Blumstein was on vacation.

​But guess who was there?

Former Town Manager Andy Hyatt — a Burkett loyalist who quietly returned to the scene and received warm recognition from Burkett and Tina Paul. Hyatt, a holdover from Burkett's previous term, was reportedly accused of stalling key commission projects during Shlomo Danzinger’s term — allegedly under instructions from Burkett himself. He was removed less than a year into Danzinger’s administration.

​So now we ask: is this a coordinated comeback effort?

​Is the illegal gag order a last-ditch effort by Blumstein to silence critics and tighten control while Burkett and his allies prepare to reinstall their loyal operator?

​And more importantly — will the commission do anything about it?

Surfside’s Town Charter has been violated. The chain of accountability is unraveling. If our elected officials fail to act — and act quickly — the damage to public trust will only deepen. At this pace, Surfside is on track to appoint its sixth Town Manager in just twelve months. That’s not just instability — it’s a direct result of the commission’s inability to govern.

This isn’t merely a political issue. It’s a systemic failure — one that highlights the urgent need for competent, responsible leadership in Surfside.

​Residents are watching. The clock is ticking.