GREEN COVE SPRINGS – There were moments when Steve Kennedy had to pause to gather his emotions during his retirement ceremony on Monday, Nov. 10, at City Hall.

Friends and colleagues gathered at the City Council Chambers to tell their City Manager goodbye five days ahead of his announced retirement. And while he spent a little more than seven years at the helm, former and current members of the council, staff, and the community made it clear that he had a significant impact.

“I don't like a lot of attention,” Kennedy said. “I'm very humbled, and it’s a pleasure for all of you to be here, to hear your comments, knowing you during the seven years of different chapters and reliving those chapters of what we did and what was accomplished. We made better friendships.”

Mayor Matt Johnson said Kennedy was responsible for directing the redevelopment of Walnut Street, the construction of the Harbor Road Reclamation Facility, the reopening of the Augusta Savage Museum and Mentoring Center, the city’s first Community Redevelopment Agency, bringing the electric operations back in house, strengthening and modernizing the city’s IT department, bringing the city through the COVID 19 pandemic, which included the death of Police Chief Derek Asdot, implemented the storm water utility user fee to fund capital improvement projects, secure a load for $8.5 million for first track projects, oversaw improvements in electric reliability, oversaw the construction of the public safety boat dock, spearheaded the city’s 2045 comprehensive plan and improved intergovernmental relations among all Clay County entities.

All in a little more than seven years.

“Steve's been a great mentor to me. I've learned a great deal under his tutelage,” Johnson said. “So, I certainly do appreciate that the city is in a much better shape with him having been here – all the projects, all the initiatives, we're in much better shape, and we'll always be grateful for that.”

Everyone was invited to speak, and each had their own story about how Kennedy affected city life.

Police Chief Shawn Hines said his department grew from 23 full-time officers in 2018 when Kennedy was hired to a current level of 30 and an additional dispatcher.

” I don't know if everybody knows that one of the things he does on Food Truck Fridays is, religiously, he goes and he checks on every single police officer who's working a security post, and it's noticed,” he said.

All five city council members – Steven Kelly, Van Royal, Connie Butler, Mitch Timberlake, and Pam Lewis – who selected Kennedy from a field of 72 candidates attended the ceremony.

Kelley said Kennedy was one of the older candidates, and he certainly lacked the “pizzazz” of many of the others. But when he explored the challenges Green Cove Springs faced, he realized the city needed experience, not a “flash.”

“We needed a steady individual to navigate problems like we're never going to see, and we haven't seen in our past,” Kelley said. “And sure enough, we did. Right after you were hired, we went through the pandemic; we experienced staffing changes, and all the projects our mayor outlined earlier, you helped us navigate through them. I looked at Steve's [resume] video, and I was like, ‘Man, this guy sounds like he could be a professor of city management the way that he talks in his signature monotone voice.’ He’s probably not the most exciting pick, but we were going to be getting the right guy. And I'm so glad we selected you, because you brought in that experience and that expertise that took us through the projects that we had no idea how we were going to accomplish them.”

Henrietta Francis, President of the Friends of the Augusta Savage Arts and Community Center, praised Kennedy’s commitment to revitalizing the center and making it one of the city’s cornerstones.

“When I think of you, I think of integrity. I think of faithfulness. I think of honesty and transparency,” she said. “It's not often that you come in contact with someone, especially with a working relationship, that you click and you fit. We clicked. I knew that any decision that you made, whether it was full of color, I knew that decision was based on you taking a panoramic view of the entire situation.”

Kennedy thanked everyone. Overwhelmed by the outpouring of appreciation, he often struggled to stay on point.

“The city is in great shape for the opportunities that are coming down,” Kennedy said. “If I have to reach out and make a comment as to a strength I feel like I have, I think I would have to say team building, taking a situation and whatever it is, getting the right people in the right places. They'll be able to pick up the orders and keep on sailing and doing whatever is necessary. That's what's going to happen.

“I think they made me look good.”