Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Yet again, town loses a clerical employee

The assistant town clerk cites the Redington Beach commission's continuing debate over her hiring as a factor in her decision.

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published January 22, 2006

REDINGTON BEACH - The town again has a "clerk problem."

Assistant town clerk RayaSue Hallman resigned suddenly Wednesday amid continuing commission debate over how she was hired.

The resignation is just the latest in a long series of problems the town has experienced in hiring and keeping town clerks and assistant clerks.

It also comes at the same time Mayor Linda Wilson wrote a letter urging town commissioners to show more "respect" for town employees.

"We are experiencing work disruption and low morale among our staff, making it difficult for them to function effectively," said Wilson. "The employees are the backbone of this town and we cannot afford to lose them. It is up to the commission to change the working climate in this town. Without your cooperation in this regard, the town may very well experience employee turnover."

Wilson said she had no idea that Hallman was resigning when she wrote the letter.

"Given the current climate that exists, I do not feel free to speak my mind," Hallman said when asked why she had quit. She did confirm that her decision was prompted by the continuing commission debate over her hiring.

An e-mail from town clerk Beverly Brown informing commissioners of Hallman's resignation was more specific.

"She knew upon employment that two commissioners were against the town employing her, but thought her work ethics would prevail," Brown said in the e-mail. "RayaSue has decided that she no longer chooses to work with the constant undertones that all the employees here are aware of, and the unstable working conditions created by these undertones."

Hallman, who had previously worked for Brown in Seminole, was hired in October. Previously, the commission had told Brown to interview candidates for the assistant clerk position and recommend her choice to the commission.

Since her hiring, Commissioner Leslie Peck-Epstein, in particular, has complained that Hallman did not have the financial qualifications the commission said it wanted. She also is unhappy that the commission did not have more of a role in selecting the final candidate.

"I was surprised that RayaSue resigned," Peck-Epstein said Friday. "I really don't have any problems with her. She has done a great job. My issue is that she does not have the skills in bookkeeping and financial the commission said it wanted. When the board makes decisions like this, you get what you pay for."

Hallman insists she is a qualified assistant clerk. She was Brown's administrative assistant in Seminole for about two years. She previously worked for Haines City as a secretary and as assistant to the city clerk there.

Brown was city clerk for Seminole before she was hired by Redington Beach last July. The then temporary assistant clerk, Diane Oeste, was denied the permanent post. Recently, Oeste was appointed to the town's planning board over the protest of Mayor Wilson.

The previous town clerk, Larry Bittner, resigned after he came under fire following the resignation of the town's then-assistant clerk, Nancy Eiginhouse, who said she did not "feel safe" working with Bittner because of his "hostile demeanor" and "temper."

Eiginhouse subsequently filed a formal complaint against the town with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and sought unemployment compensation, which was recently denied.

In 2002, the commission fired its assistant clerk, Diane Renton, over what it said was excessive absences taken to care for her ill mother.

Bittner was hired as town clerk in 2002, following the resignation of Jill Pearson, who had come under fire for mistakes made during a town election, as well as her prior relationship with a man who had angered many residents and town officials for several years for his actions in Town Hall and at town meetings.

The year before, town clerk Grace Kolar resigned over "philosophical differences" with then-Mayor Jerry Reitz, saying she "couldn't work for the man."

Nancy McCollum, who resigned in June 2000 to accept a post as town clerk for Belleair Beach, was the only one of Redington Beach's clerks to leave on good terms in nearly the last decade.

Vicki McDonald resigned as town clerk in July 1999 after accusing the entire commission of "insensitivity" and some members of "vindictiveness" in their treatment of town employees.

Shortly after, Muriel Lewis, the town's assistant clerk, also resigned, citing the commission's "indecisiveness, unprofessionalism, total inconsideration, and lack of morals for its employees."

[Last modified January 22, 2006, 01:02:19]