BY JENN SAMSEL
Special to the Monitor
Interim Keystone Heights City Manager Jamie Booth was sworn into office on Tuesday, July 22, by Mayor Nina Rodenroth during a ceremony at City Hall.
Booth takes over for Charlie Van Zant, who took the same position with the City of Treasure Island in Pinellas County on July 15.
“Thank you for your support and for me being appointed to the position with the team at Keystone Heights. As I’ve said before, it’s an absolutely amazing team,” Booth said. “We hated to see Charlie go, but I appreciate the support coming in, and being able to lead the team that Charlie put together, and that the council has supported so much.”
Booth has worked for the city as a project manager over the past eight months, following his retirement as the Jacksonville District Director for the Army Corps of Engineers.
During that time, he spearheaded the city’s effort to clear trees from the dry lakebed of Lake Geneva. He has also worked on the city’s strategic plan, comprehensive plan, community redevelopment plan, the Nightingale Street culvert repair project, and other initiatives.
Booth is a Florida native and 1997 graduate of Florida Tech with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He also holds a master’s degree in engineering management from Missouri University of Science and Technology and a master’s degree in strategic studies from the Army War College.
Col. Booth has served in various leadership capacities in the Army at Platoon, Company, Battalion, and Brigade levels. Over the last 25 years, he has deployed three times to Iraq and once to Afghanistan. He has spent the most recent 10 years serving in the Army Corps of Engineers as the Detroit District Deputy Commander, Albuquerque District Commander, Executive Officer to the Chief of Engineers, and the District Commander of the Jacksonville District with Civil Works, Military Programs, and Emergency Response responsibilities in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
