{"id":203390,"date":"2026-03-24T03:14:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T03:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/203390\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T03:14:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T03:14:06","slug":"stuart-hires-navy-veteran-airport-executive-michael-giardino-as-city-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/203390\/","title":{"rendered":"Stuart hires Navy veteran, airport executive Michael Giardino as city manager"},"content":{"rendered":"

STUART, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 After months of upheaval at City Hall, Stuart commissioners have selected a new city manager, turning to a longtime Navy veteran and airport executive to lead the city\u2019s day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n

Commissioners voted to hire Michael Giardino, who currently serves as deputy general manager at New York\u2019s LaGuardia Airport, as Stuart\u2019s next city manager. <\/p>\n

During the meeting, commissioners offered their support, saying, \u201cCongratulations Michael!\u201d as applause followed.<\/p>\n

See also: Florida man rams into 2 law enforcement vehicles, crashes in canal and kills passenger<\/a><\/p>\n

He brings a 26-year Navy career that included serving as a commander at Naval Air Station Key West. <\/p>\n

After his military service, he held leadership roles at multiple airports before taking his current position at LaGuardia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to be a city manager,\u201d Giardino told commissioners during Monday’s meeting.<\/p>\n

His employment contract sets his salary at $195,000, about $100,000 less than former City Manager Mike Mortell made.<\/p>\n

Mortell was abruptly fired in October after allegations that he abused his authority<\/a> and misled the board. Mortell has denied the claims.<\/p>\n

Giardino told residents he is looking forward to the job and the city\u2019s next chapter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful to be here, proud to be here, and I\u2019m ready to work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Comment with Bubbles<\/p>\n

BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT<\/p>\n

Giardino\u2019s first day is set for April 27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STUART, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 After months of upheaval at City Hall, Stuart commissioners have selected a new city…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-203390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}