Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

County's losses are becoming county's gains

By WILL VAN SANT
Published December 11, 2006

CLEARWATER - When it comes to losing experienced senior employees, it's been a year like no other for Pinellas County government.

In 2006, five longtime leaders - two assistant county administrators and three department heads - retired or left to work elsewhere.

The departed employees took a total of 130 years of county government experience along with them.

"There's a lot of brain drain," said County Commissioner Susan Latvala. "Losing that institutional knowledge has been hard."

The departed include assistant county administrator Jake Stowers, who began working for the county in 1974; assistant county administrator Gay Lancaster 1989; Human Services director Evelyn Bethell (1988); Community Development director Darlene Kalada (1974); and General Services chief Carl Barron (1976).

There's more to come.

Assistant county administrator Keith Wicks (1972) is retiring in March, and in 2008, Utilities Department head Pick Talley (1991) is scheduled to step down.

It's County Administrator Steve Spratt's job to fill slots caused by the exodus. He started identifying and grooming successors as soon as he began work for the county in 2001.

The departures were foreseen retirements, part of the wave of baby boomers now leaving the workplace.

The only surprise exit was that of Lancaster, who in June announced she was exhausted and wanted to chart a new path. She's now director of the county's Juvenile Welfare Board.

Spratt acknowledges the loss of experience, but said he's treated the turnover cycle as an opportunity to boost the talent level at the upper reaches of county government.

It's also been a chance for Spratt to tap people comfortable with his style, which he said involved setting high bars for performance and driving hard toward goals.

Save for some notable exceptions, such as making former Dunedin city official Maureen Freaney the new head of Human Services, Spratt has recruited from within.

Parks and Recreation chief Liz Warren was promoted to Stowers' old assistant county administrator spot and Justice and Consumer Services head James Dates took over Lancaster's duties. Both are experienced: Warren had five years with the county at the time of her promotion; Dates, 25.

"If you do it right, there's hopefully an improvement in your leadership," Spratt said. "So far, I have observed a net positive effect."

Latvala and other commissioners said they did not believe the ability of county government to do its job had been hurt by the departures, but granted that tangible losses were involved.

For instance, Stowers had for decades played a key role in the county's efforts to preserve land and was deeply knowledgeable about environmental regulation.

Perplexed by some issue, Latvala said she could call him up and count on Stowers to tell her when the county began a certain practice and why.

"He was just such a great resource," she said. "I bet his phone rings a lot. I still call him."

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

[Last modified December 10, 2006, 23:28:50]