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Leader of Pre-K says he fears for his job

Dr. Marc Yacht resigns over continuing strife between the director and board members of the Early Learning Coalition.

MASARYKTOWN - The head of the Pasco-Hernando Early Learning Coalition said Thursday that he has sold his home and moved his family out of state in order to "protect" himself.

Jim Garrett, director of the agency responsible for implementing state-funded prekindergarten, said recent rancor on the coalition board made him fear for his job. Asked whether he felt physically threatened, however, Garrett said no.

"When you have someone sitting in a board meeting calling for your head every time, you get into a protective stance," Garrett said following another contentious meeting Thursday.

Garrett has repeatedly bumped heads with members of the Pasco coalition who have questioned his leadership tactics in recent months, one even calling for his removal.

Dr. Marc Yacht, director of the Pasco County Health Department, resigned from the board Thursday afternoon, shortly after storming out of the Masaryktown Community Center meeting.

Yacht objected to charges that the Pasco Advisory Council he serves on created a hostile environment for coalition staff to work in.

"Hostile to who?" asked Yacht, who has publicly called for Garrett's resignation before.

The previous meeting of the Pasco Advisory Council was in early June.

Though Garrett was not in attendance then, his assistant Melissa Garrett and deputy executive director Jo-Ann Kay Fuller were. Garrett would not give specifics about their complaints.

Yacht said those who aren't willing to "rubber-stamp" Garrett's proposals are blackballed as troublemakers: "If I can't feel like I can go to a meeting and express my feelings, I want nothing to do with it."

Yacht and three other board members who have been critical of Garrett are being investigated by the state on complaints they violated open meetings laws.

Garrett countered that Yacht's "intractable" behavior during Thursday's meeting illustrated why he and his staff might feel threatened.

"I'm not going to leave unless I determine there is no solution," Garrett said when questioned whether the sale of his house meant he would be leaving.

"Unless the people on the board who are creating this problem either leave the board or start behaving professionally."

Garrett said he blames the St. Petersburg Times in part for his decision to move his family out of the state. He said he made the decision the day his daughter came to him with the newspaper and asked him why his photo was in there.

Board member Dave Marshall said he recalled Garrett telling him on at least one occasion that his wife didn't like Florida. Two other board members said the same.

Asked whether his wife's feelings about the area had something to do with the move, Garrett declined to respond.

"That's my personal life," he said.