This conversation is the first in a new monthly Q&A series that highlights
Sarasota’s diverse population. “In Their Own Words” is brought to you by
Gulf Coast Community Foundation. 

When Marlon Brown moved to Sarasota in 2009 to accept a position as deputy city manager, he’d already built a legacy for himself in municipal governance. In Tallahassee, he led the city’s transportation department before becoming assistant city manager. Six years later, he moved to nearby Gadsen County to become the county’s administrator. Three years after that, the City of Sarasota came calling, and Brown answered.

As deputy city manager, Brown worked to help the region recover from the collapse of the housing market in 2008. In 2020, he encountered his biggest challenge yet: aiding the city’s  response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Then, in 2021, he accepted an offer to become Sarasota’s city manager, a role in which he tried to act as a voice of reason during a time of unrest, thanks to the ongoing effects of Covid and a rapid influx of transplants from around the country. He also implored the city commission to act on the area’s affordable housing crisis. In 2024, he stepped down as city manager, and today, he’s the director of government affairs at the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce.

Brown, 61, attributes much of his success to his aunts Lillian and Iris, who raised him in Trinidad and Tobago, where he was born. He says that being raised by women and mentored by female leaders throughout his career helped him “understand how to deal with people, how to be empathetic, how to handle individuals with tough love—as mothers do with their own kids.”

Brown recently spoke with Sarasota Magazine about his upbringing, his career in local government and what the future holds. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What drew you to rural Gadsen County early in your career?

“I was young in Gadsen, and when we’re young, we’re very ambitious. We want to get things done. So when I took the job in Gadsden County, which was a primarily minority-populated, underserved small town, I went in with guns blazing. I wanted to get things done fast. We were doing so much that an individual who ran for office against an incumbent said, ‘Marlon, I’ve got to share something with you. You’re moving too fast for our way of life.’ That’s not to say I was doing anything wrong, or that they were. They just were not accustomed to what I was doing.”

What made you leave for Sarasota?

“Someone told me that if I ever got the opportunity for a job in Sarasota, to take it, because it is one of the most beautiful places in Florida. When I came here to interview and drove around, I was wowed.

“I know we think things close early here, but compared to where I was, seeing people out past 7 p.m. was amazing.”

In 2009, Sarasota was not known as a diverse place. Did that concern you?

“I wouldn’t say so. If you look at who was on the commission when I came, you had Fredd Atkins on there, and it was starting to change. We were getting a mix [of people] on the commission. I knew that hiring me, someone of Caribbean descent, meant that Sarasota had started to embrace diversity.”

How else have you seen Sarasota become more diverse? 

“The creation of the Newtown Community Redevelopment Area in 2008. Here’s a city that realizes we have an African American community that was historically economically vibrant and that has lost some of that economic advantage. We wanted to put our dollars back into Newtown to see how we could inject some light into it. The creation of the Newtown CRA was a big plus for the city. Creating a board that understood what the community needs were, and starting to study those needs, was big.”

When you moved into the city manager position, you stayed for just a few years. Why?

“I’d been in public service for 31 years. When I started, I always said it was only going to be for 30 years. So really, I gave it one more year. One reason I stayed was continuation. I wanted someone who came up through the organization to lead it, and not create a situation with a lot of change right away. I value the organization. I value those employees. I could be hard on them, but empathetic as well. I wanted to make sure that there was stability.

“I also knew that there were some things I wanted to get done. I thought the commission at the time was visionary, and we were aligned. I knew that in order to have an impact on getting certain policies implemented, I had to be at the helm.

“So I stayed for stability in the organization, the love for the organization and my employees, and then being in a position where policies could be implemented.

“There’s somebody on the commission now who says they don’t know whether the tail was wagging the dog or the dog was wagging the tail. True leadership is not about who’s wagging what. True leadership is taking tough policy decisions to the policymakers and making sure the policymakers understand what the impacts of those policies are before they make an informed decision.”

What accomplishments are you most proud of during your time with the city?

“There are so many projects to be proud of over the years, but the
Bobby Jones golf course and nature park restoration, The Bay and the affordable housing density bonus program stand out the most. And, of course, the 2024 response to the hurricanes and tropical storms was second to none. Our city has deserved the many, many ‘best of’ accolades that have been bestowed upon us year after year. I’m so darn proud of the more than 800 amazing employees who, day in and day out, continue to give their best to make Sarasota’s quality of life treasured by those who live, work and visit here.”

Shortly after stepping down as city manager, you took a new job with the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce. Are you ever going to slow down?

“One of the things that retirement afforded me was three months of quiet. That was time I needed to divest myself of everything city-centric.

“The amount of work at the chamber is different by comparison—it’s not easier or harder. There’s a very small staff. It’s intense, but in a good way. If you walk in there, it has a relaxed, jovial, embracing work environment. I think [president and chief executive officer] Heather Kasten’s leadership cultivates that. There’s no need to slow down when you enjoy doing what you do.”

What do you want your legacy to be?

“My only hope is that I did a damn good job. I just want to get things done. However many hours I ended up in the office, I didn’t care about anything else but just making sure that every day I saw people walking the street, enjoying the city and laughing.”