Atlantic Beach Mayor Curtis Ford tried to push City Manager Kevin Hogencamp out the door without cause this week, but the move collapsed when he couldn't get his fellow commissioners on board. Hogencamp, who had already announced plans to retire next year, will stay in the job after all.
Ford's proposal to immediately terminate Hogencamp failed to gain City Commission support Monday night, according to JaxToday. Commissioner Thomas Grant offered a separate motion to remove Hogencamp immediately with full compensation, but that also failed without commission support, the outlet reported. Ford said his termination push was not personal, telling colleagues he was simply uncomfortable with the current city manager, per the same report.
Ford had someone else in mind for the job: former Atlantic Beach City Manager Joe Gerrity, who previously served as a past mayor and city manager of Fernandina Beach and once served as Atlantic Beach's interim city manager before Bill Killingsworth, the station notes. Ford said he had already contacted Gerrity about taking the position. But Commissioner Bruce Bole pushed back hard, saying Gerrity had cost the city more than the budgeted amount during his earlier tenure as manager, according to the same account. Bole instead praised Hogencamp's performance and the city's momentum, calling him the best city manager he had personally worked with in six, going on seven, years, the report states.
A Career Built Inside City Hall and the Newsroom
Hogencamp's path to the top job wound through both journalism and local government. He worked as a newspaper publisher, editor and reporter during a 20-year journalism career, according to the City of Atlantic Beach. Before arriving in Atlantic Beach, he spent more than six years in municipal government administration and communications for the City of Albany, Georgia, the city's website states.
He was hired as Atlantic Beach's deputy city manager in mid-2017 and served in that role, per the city, from June 2017 to January 2026. When Killingsworth stepped down as city manager in January 2026, Hogencamp was serving as assistant city manager and moved into the interim role, the city's biography notes. The commission voted 4-1 to appoint him as permanent city manager that June, JaxToday reported, though the city's own website lists June 8, 2026, as his appointment date, while a separate account from the Beach Gazette states he was hired as city manager on June 22 — the two sources do not agree on the exact date.
Retirement Timing Collides With Budget Season
Hogencamp announced his retirement in October, with plans to leave on his 65th birthday, Aug. 14, 2027, the Gazette reported. The city said the advance retirement notice would give officials time to recruit an administrative leader and manage a smooth transition, according to JaxToday's reporting. Ford, however, argued that the August 2027 departure would coincide awkwardly with the city handling its next budget cycle and replacing three department heads, the outlet noted.
Commissioner Jessica Ring agreed the timing was less than ideal, saying Hogencamp's retirement date fell awkwardly during city budget discussions, per the same report. Rather than pushing for an immediate ouster, Ring proposed hiring a consultant to provide candidate options before the start of the next budget session, JaxToday reported. The commission also rejected various proposals for how Hogencamp might be compensated if he were terminated, the station said.
Vacancies Pile Up Across City Departments
The leadership churn extends beyond the manager's office. Atlantic Beach's finance and public works director positions were already vacant, and Amanda Askew, director of neighborhoods, submitted her resignation on Nov. 6, according to the Beach Gazette. Commissioners also discussed hiring a new assistant city manager, though a motion to recruit a deputy city manager with a starting salary range of $135,000 to $165,000 failed 3-2, the Gazette reported. A follow-up amendment from Ring to narrow that range to $125,000 to $135,000 also failed by the same 3-2 margin, per the Gazette.
Ford said he did not believe the current manager should be the one to choose the next deputy city manager, instead supporting a process where the next or interim city manager would make that hire, the Gazette reported. If Hogencamp is eventually replaced, it would mark Atlantic Beach's third city manager search since 2023, the Gazette noted — following the February 2023 resignation of former City Manager Shane Corbin, who left to become New Smyrna Beach's director of development services.
Sixth Manager in Six Years
Hogencamp is now described as Atlantic Beach's sixth city manager in the past six years, JaxToday reported, in a 13-square-mile beaches city that has struggled to keep leadership stable. He did not respond to the station's requests for comment on the commission's actions this week. But he previously told the outlet he would work to ensure the next city manager's success, and said the commission discussion would not deter him from continuing to work with his colleagues and the community.
Atlantic Beach's adopted FY 2026-27 budget totals $57.83 million across all funds, including a $21.95 million General Fund, according to the City of Atlantic Beach. The city has also established a restricted $500,000 contingency reserve to absorb potential revenue impacts from Amendment 3, with projections estimating ad valorem revenue losses of $1.06 million in FY 2027-28 and $1.84 million in FY 2028-29 as expanded homestead exemptions phase in, per the city's own figures. For now, Hogencamp remains on the job, with his planned retirement still set for next August.
