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Administrator candidate raises his price

Charles Saddler, who is in negotiations for the county administrator post, demands a better severance package.

By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published July 21, 2006

Still smarting from several commissioners' recent questions about his qualifications for county administrator, Charles Saddler has upped the ante.

In a letter sent by e-mail to County Attorney Robert "Butch" Battista Thursday, Saddler's attorney said the 49-year-old Lakeland resident wants a better severance package.

And if commissioners do not agree, he will withdraw his application for the county administrator post.

Saddler is slated to start out with a $120,000 annual salary. Rather than the six months of severance pay Saddler and county negotiators originally agreed to, Saddler is now asking for nine.

And if commissioners vote to fire him within 90 days of an election during his first two years of employment, he wants three additional months of severance pay.

The reason for the requested contract change, attorney Frederick J. Murphy Jr. wrote, stems from the County Commission's decision last week to hold off on approving Saddler's contract.

"The ensuing public discourse and other comments in the media have been very distracting," Murphy wrote.

In his letter, Murphy asked Battista to discuss the proposed contract changes with commissioners individually and inform him of the results.

Murphy wrote that "Mr. Saddler is not interested in a confrontation" at Tuesday's County Commission meeting, when his contract is on the agenda.

Battista said Thursday he had distributed Murphy's letter to commissioners.

Commission Chairman Gary Bartell, who helped negotiate Saddler's original proposed contract, said Thursday that he understands Saddler's concerns.

"We had a contract. It was on the agenda two weeks ago. He had signed it and expected the board to take action," Bartell said. "I'm sure there are some reservations that he has, but that's the nature of the job."

Bartell said he had not yet "taken the time to digest exactly what the ramifications of his request are."

Commissioners are slated to discuss Saddler's contract at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday in Room 166 of the Lecanto Government Building, 3600 W Sovereign Path.

Last month, four county commissioners said Saddler, currently serving as interim town manager in Dundee, was their top choice for the county administrator position.

But a week after their selection, several commissioners said they felt shortchanged by the consultant who led them through the search process - Tom Freijo of The Mercer Group Inc.

They said Freijo had not provided them with adequate background information about candidates they considered.

In Saddler's case, a background check by Citrus Human Resources Director Randy Petitt revealed that Saddler had been fired from his last county administrator job in Washington state in 2002.

That was information Saddler told the consultant, but commissioners said Freijo never passed that along to them.

Saddler quelled commissioners' concerns about his firing, but at the July 11 meeting, Commissioner Jim Fowler said the county should not hire Saddler.

He also said he was troubled by a conversation he had with Saddler in which the job candidate said he would "deal with" senior staff members who were spreading rumors about the possibility of commissioners picking Assistant County Administrator Tom Dick for the post.

Since then, Saddler has met one-on-one with all five commissioners to try to clear up their concerns.

He said this week that he was still interested in the job, but worried about last-minute problems popping up in negotiations.

"It's nowhere near as stable and secure a position as I thought it was when I negotiated the contract," he said.

Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at cshoichet@sptimes.com or 860-7309.

[Last modified July 20, 2006, 19:27:55]