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Worker rebuts call for his firing

Bud Wortendyke threatens to sue Pinellas Park if he is fired from his economic development director's job.

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published January 23, 2005

PINELLAS PARK - The city's annexation guru says he is innocent of wrongdoing and plans to sue if he is fired.

A decision on whether Bud Wortendyke will lose his job could come as early as the middle of the week.

"I have always carried out my duties as economic development director with the utmost integrity, professionalism and competence," Wortendyke wrote Thursday in a seven-page response to accusations that he made serious mistakes for which he should be fired.

"I have already been wrongly suspended without pay since Jan. 3, 2005," Wortendyke wrote.

He added, "If I am dismissed as a result of these pretextual reasons, I will seek legal redress, which will expose the citizens to compensatory damages, punitive damages, as well as damages for emotional distress, loss of dignity and attorneys' fees."

Wortendyke asked to be immediately reinstated.

City Manager Mike Gustafson, who will decide whether to fire Wortendyke, wrote his own letter Thursday. In it, he attempted to defuse rumors and accusations of poor management that have swirled around Pinellas Park since Wortendyke's unpaid suspension.

"The first time that I heard of a "hit list,' I was on it. Fortunately, it was a false rumor then and still is today," Gustafson wrote in a four-paragraph e-mail.

He added: "My commitment to you, whether you work here a short time or to make city employment a career, is that the only criteria we will use to make employment decisions is how well an employee performs his or her (job). Any other standard is contrary to the City's principles and simply cannot be tolerated."

Gustafson suspended Wortendyke in response to a request by Assistant City Manager Tom Shevlin. Shevlin, Wortendyke's current supervisor, had given him a job evaluation that ranked him as "below expectations," the second-lowest ranking on the Pinellas Park scale.

Shevlin alleged that, among other things, Wortendyke had misjudged the size of some land and told another employee to "lose the survey" that showed the correct size.

Wortendyke denied that in his response.

Wortendyke said his assistant, Chuck Webber, estimated the size of the city-owned property. Both the city and a prospective buyer ordered appraisals that gave the size as 100 square feet larger than Webber had estimated.

A later survey by the buyer does not show any size, Wortendyke said. But Webber later told him the survey showed the land was 1,200 square feet larger than he had estimated, Wortendyke said. Webber allegedly asked Wortendyke what to do with the survey.

Because the property was unbuildable and the change would not affect the land value, Wortendyke said he did not think the discrepancy was important. He said he told Webber to put it in the file "where it would become public record."

Wortendyke said Webber was uncomfortable with that and he suggested sending it back to the appraiser for reconsideration of the value.

"I said, "Sure, send it back,' " Wortendyke wrote. "At no time did I ever attempt to "cover up' my mistake as alleged. . . . I made no mistake."

Wortendyke also denied he had cost the city back taxes.

He agreed he had negotiated a lease on one piece of city-owned property on U.S. 19 N where the Waffle House was located. The lease, he said, required the Waffle House to pay the taxes.

When Waffle House moved last June, the city sold the land. The title search turned up the back taxes. Wortendyke said he called the Waffle House and had them pay the taxes.

"Once again, there was no mishandling on my part," Wortendyke said. "Nothing contained within this alleged offense constitutes incompetence, or inefficiency warranting reprimand, suspension and/or dismissal."

Wortendyke also pointed out that earlier evaluations rated him as "exceeds expectations," the next highest on the Pinellas Park scale. Those evaluations were made by Gustafson, when he was Wortendyke's supervisor.

The sixth, and most recent evaluation, started out as "outstanding," the highest on the Pinellas Park scale and had to be "corrected," Wortendyke said.

"These alleged . . . offenses that I have been wrongly accused of committing are nothing more than a vindictive attempt by the city to get rid of me because of my age," Wortendyke said.

Wortendyke, 60, has been with the city since December 1997. He will be eligible for retirement in December 2007. Wortendyke earns about $58,670 a year.

The charge of age bias by Wortendyke and some of his supporters, most notably former fire Chief Ken Cramer, helped spark talk of a "hit list." Part of the evidence, they said, was the rash of recent retirements among longtime city employees.

But Gustafson has said retirement is an expected part of an employee's working life. He repeated that in his letter to city employees:

"Employees come and go in all walks of life.

"In industry and in government, Americans have the right to choose how long to work for one company and when to leave.

"Stories circulating about the number of retirements from the city seem to imply that folks are being driven out or can't stand to work here. The opposite is true; most of the employees who have chosen to retire recently have done so after long distinguished careers with the city."

[Last modified January 23, 2005, 00:14:21]