HOLMES BEACH – Erica Augello’s tenure as the Holmes Beach city attorney is coming to an end and a familiar face, Randy Mora, is expected to succeed her.
On Tuesday, Dec. 16, Mayor Judy Titsworth will seek city commission authorization to appoint Mora as Augello’s successor, effective Jan. 1. The city charter requires city commission approval to hire a city attorney, city clerk, city treasurer or police chief.
Augello and Mora are both partners in the Clearwater-based Trask Daigneault law firm that requested the change. On Nov. 13, Augello sent Titsworth a memo that formally requested the proposed change she and the mayor previously discussed.
“It is with great sadness that I must inform you that due to the business needs of my firm, I will no longer be able to serve as the city of Holmes Beach’s appointed city attorney. That being said, I will not be stepping away from the city entirely and will continue to serve as the city’s primary attorney for all code enforcement matters and wherever else I may be needed,” Augello stated in her memo.
“Though I will no longer be the city’s appointed city attorney, I hope that you will appoint and welcome my esteemed partner, Randy Mora, into that role. You, most of the commission, and city staff are well acquainted with Mr. Mora and I have no doubt that he will serve the city well in this role,” Augello wrote.
In October, the Bradenton Beach Commission appointed Augello to serve as that city’s interim city attorney for at least the next six months due to Ricinda Perry’s sudden retirement in September.
When speaking to The Sun on Nov. 21, Augello was asked if the Bradenton Beach assignment played a role in her pending departure as Holmes Beach’s city attorney.
“No, absolutely not. It has everything to do with availability and conflicting schedules with some of our other clients in Pinellas County – specifically with the city of Pinellas Park,” Augello said. “That is the only reason and that’s why I’m staying as code enforcement attorney in Holmes Beach. I truly enjoy serving that community but we are a team at Trask Daigneault and this is something I needed to do for my team. I’ve truly enjoyed my time sitting at the dais and serving the Holmes Beach community,” Augello said.
“The quality of service is not going to go down. The city is familiar with Randy. He was an instrumental part of the team that helped with the (Bert) Harris Act cases. He was also an integral part in successfully bringing the treehouse case to a close for the city. Our firm will continue to serve the city of Holmes Beach in every way we can,” Augello said.
Titsworth expressed a similar sentiment when contacted by The Sun on Nov. 20 and asked if Augello’s departure was related to her new Bradenton Beach assignment.
“Absolutely not. I was perfectly fine with her representing both cities and I think she’ll be great for Bradenton Beach,” Titsworth said.
Regarding the conversations that occurred before Augello formally requested the attorney change in her memo, Titsworth said, “I said we’d OK with Randy. He’s been helping the city for a long time. He’s well known by the city. He was part of the treehouse lawsuit. He also does our ethics training, so most of the commissioners already know him.”
Regarding Augello’s tenure as city attorney, Titsworth said, “She has been a tremendous asset to us and she’ll be a tremendous asset for the city of Bradenton Beach. I wish her well and we’ll still see her representing us at special magistrate hearings.”
Titsworth will present Mora’s appointment to city commissioners on Dec. 16 and Augello and Mora are both expected to attend the commission’s last meeting of 2025.
Augello began her tenure as Holmes Beach city attorney on Jan. 1, 2022, succeeding Patricia Petruff in the role. At the time, Augello already served as the city’s code compliance attorney.
Mora’s background
According to the updated résumé that Mora provided to the city and The Sun on Nov. 20, Mora served as the Indian Rocks Beach city attorney for the past 10 years – an assignment he ended in June when he chose not to renew his contract with the city.
In recent years, Mora assisted the Indian Rocks Beach city commission with the adoption of an occupancy-based short-term vacation rental ordinance that prompted multiple lawsuits filed by vacation rental owners.
Mora served as the Pinellas Park city attorney from January of this year until November. He previously served as the Belleair Beach city attorney for three years and the Kenneth City town attorney for nearly eight years. He’s served as the town of Indian Shores’ special magistrate since 2020.
Rate increase
In her Nov. 13 memo to Titsworth, Augello also proposed increasing the hourly rate for city attorney services from $200 to $285 per hour.
“This rate not only meets with the current market but also reflects the value of the services that the city is receiving from the firm,” Augello stated in her memo.
