Is there any more damage Hillsborough County government can wreak on itself? The back-to-back resignations in the past week of two top managers are the latest episodes in this soap opera of egomaniacal political intrigue. We now have a county administrator on the ropes, a county attorney under state investigation, her office manager seeking whistle-blower protection and numerous commissioners and lower-level staff seeking to clear their sullied names.
This pointless turmoil has to stop. Commission Chairman Tom Scott needs to do whatever it takes - whether bringing aboard new leadership or acting forcefully with his board - to bring the focus back to serious issues.
The turmoil is rooted in a long-running competition between County Administrator Dan Kleman and Emmy Acton, the county attorney. Under the charter, the attorney has power the administrator cannot touch. Indeed, in some circumstances, the attorney and the administrator are near-equals. This blurring of authority has divided the senior staff into camps. Commissioners have long recognized the problem but refuse to address it. After all, tiptoeing around it is easier than engaging in the messy job of replacing one or both of the two top executives of a multibillion-dollar institution.
But the public must wonder what's going on. Why did the commission proceed with an investigation of Acton's management style and practices, and then prematurely end it? How could the board express surprise at the staff infighting, when the rancor was evident for years? Why did the board not follow through on its request for Kleman to clean up his shop? All this hand-wringing is late and self-serving. And Commissioner Ronda Storms hasn't helped, going off half-cocked with her public accusations.
Some commissioners have instinctively flirted with the idea of firings, which is typical, for this board is better at destroying things than building them up. A leadership change may be in order. But first the commission needs to find the point of all this internal bloodletting. The board should have completed the Acton probe for the sake of thoroughness.
Whatever happens with Acton, or Kleman for that matter, the commission needs to address chain-of-command problems inherent in a structure where the county attorney and administrator compete. Scott has made some encouraging noise that he might become more involved. His leadership is needed. Only a board chairman has the clout to confront such sharp personality conflicts among the senior staff and among his own board.
