Madeira Beach city commissioners unanimously voted to give city manager Shane Crawford a nearly 10-percent raise beginning in 2015.

"He deserves every dime of it," said city commissioner Pat Shontz.

City leaders credit Crawford for a lot of the redevelopment over the past couple of years in Madeira Beach that includes a $1 million makeover at Archibald Park and the new $10 million City Center that's scheduled to be completed on time.

"He has put together a rock star staff here in the City of Madeira Beach... look how tourism is going," said Mayor Travis Palladeno. "If you drive up and down Gulf Boulevard you see all the reconstruction going on here."

Crawford said he's honored but didn't ask for the $12,000 raise that brings his annual salary up to $135,600.

"I wasn’t asking for it. In fact, I told them all I’d stay here for no increase," he said. "It was a humbling experience."

Palladeno said the city manager brought in a $1.3 million Swiftmud grant, lured the Bitcoin Beach Bash away from St. Pete Beach and deserves the raise for his loyalty.

"Certain other communities tried to recruit him as their city manager and he stayed loyal to the City of Madeira Beach," he said. "Good management is hard to find and you take care of your good employees."

The mayor said Crawford's also media savvy and was instrumental in getting a live Bay News 9 weather camera installed near John's Pass on the beach.

"We’re getting a lot of free media coverage, we’re showing off Madeira Beach and it’s bringing tourism in," Palladeno said. "ESPN has been out here for the last week doing a lot of shooting."

Shontz said the city manager is a hard worker who often puts in extra hours.

"Shane doesn’t just come to work 8-to-5," she said. "He comes to work sometimes at 5 o’clock in the morning. He might stay until 9 o’clock at night."

Crawford said he's getting credit for the hard work his team does and asked the city commission to give his department heads a raise too.

"Everywhere I’ve been, I think the people there appreciated me but I’ve never had something like this," he said. "Where they’re like we’re going to show you in a gesture publicly that we want you to stick around. So, that kind of brings tears to your eyes."

Crawford was hired in Madeira Beach from Wisconsin, in 2012, at a salary of $117,000.