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County, ex-official reach deal

Pinellas commissioners approve the agreement with former top administrator Rick Dodge.

By WILL VAN SANT
Published January 25, 2006

CLEARWATER - Pinellas County has reached a settlement agreement with former top administrator Rick Dodge, who charged in a 2003 lawsuit that he was fired for refusing to keep quiet about fraud in a welfare-to-work program.

At a County Commission meeting Tuesday, Pinellas attorney Susan Churuti refused to give any details about the terms of the agreement, citing an exemption in Florida's open records law for settlements clouded by unresolved legal issues.

Churuti advised board members, who had an hour and a half to review the settlement before voting, that its contents were protected from public view and were not to be released to the press.

In his original lawsuit, Dodge demanded back pay and reinstatement to his job.

The only clue to the agreement's contents came from county Commissioner Karen Seel, who, before the unanimous vote, said approval was distasteful but warranted to protect the public's purse.

"I think that we are all at a place where we didn't want to be," said Seel, adding that the settlement will "save the taxpayers money in the long run."

Churuti said it could be several months before remaining sticking points are resolved, at which time the settlement will be made public.

Dodge could not be reached for comment late Tuesday. His attorney, John Newcomer of the Tampa firm James, Hoyer, Newcomer & Smiljanich, was mum. He offered the following statement through an investigator at his firm: "We're pleased on behalf of our client Rick Dodge that this matter has been settled and both sides can move on."

Dodge became Pinellas's top administrator in 1997 after working for the city of St. Petersburg, where he played a critical role in bringing Major League Baseball to Tampa Bay.

In 1999, Lockheed Martin IMS Corp., a subsidiary of the defense industry giant, was awarded a $15-million contract with Pinellas County to provide job training and placement services for low-income residents.

Dodge said he began investigating complaints about the company in 2000, according to a federal lawsuit he filed against Lockheed Martin. After he found evidence that the company had double-billed and inflated participant numbers in its programs, the company hired a community activist to smear Dodge, the lawsuit said. The company lost its county contract in 2001.

In his lawsuit against Pinellas County, Dodge, now in his early 60s, said he was fired in 2002 to silence him and prevent embarrassing details of the Lockheed Martin contract from being made public. County officials said the dismissal was based on Dodge's performance, that he missed meetings and was too independent.

Dodge's federal lawsuit against Lockheed Martin ended in a confidential settlement in November 2004.

- Will Van Sant can be reached at 445-4166 or vansant@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 25, 2006, 14:41:02]