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Brooksville charter puts manager at helm

By JONATHAN ABEL
Published January 18, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - A letter from the city's labor attorney is warning City Council members not to meddle in personnel matters, which are supposed to be the sole domain of the city manager. The letter might give the city manager control over the future of any investigation into wrongdoing by city staffers.

Last week, the City Council voted to put the police chief, the police lieutenant and the human resources director on paid administrative leave. Soon after the vote, it authorized the city manager to get the advice of a labor lawyer to deal with any complications that might arise.

The city chose W. Reynolds Allen. In a letter dated Friday but received Tuesday, Allen said the city's charter does not allow City Council members to get involved in personnel matters - except for those involving the city manager and the city attorney - and that council members risk being sued if they got involved in "the supervision and/or potential disciplinary actions" of city employees.

But this advice doesn't invalidate the City Council's actions Jan. 8, when it put police Chief Ed Tincher, police Lt. Rick Hankins and human resources director Ron Baker on paid administrative leave, City Attorney David LaCroix said.

The three were placed on leave to give the City Council a chance to investigate a simmering personal feud that began last summer when Baker was accused of giving a city employee Xanax tablets.

Even though council members and the staffers involved have used the word "suspension," LaCroix said there was an important difference between a suspension and a paid administrative leave. The city's charter allows the City Council to get involved in the latter but not the former, he said.

"This is not a disciplinary action at all," LaCroix said. "No charges have been made against any employees. It's common practice when you have an investigation before you have any charges."

At one City Council meeting last week, LaCroix even deemed the paid leave as essentially a paid vacation.

But the labor attorney's letter might have serious implications for the scope of the internal investigation into the Police Department and other areas of city government.

It appears that it will throw the potential internal investigation into the hands of City Manager Richard Anderson, who handed in a resignation effective Feb. 9. That means that even though the City Council voted 3-2 for an outside investigation, it might not have the final say over how that investigation is carried out.

"Anything from this point on, including whether there is an investigation, is up to the city manager," LaCroix said. "The city manager is going to investigate in house, and if he wants any outside assistance, he'll come to council and ask for funding for that."

Jonathan Abel can be reached at 352 754-6114 or jabel@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 17, 2007, 21:16:58]