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City manager to leave position

By GINA PACE
Published March 10, 2007

DADE CITY - City Manager Harold Sample said Friday he does not plan to renew his contract with the city in September and has accepted a position as the vice president of development for the Dade City Business Center.

While he had been telling city officials this week of his plans to leave City Hall, Sample said the job offer from business center owner Jim Guedry came as a surprise.

He told Guedry Thursday evening of his plans to leave the city, and was offered a job on the spot.

Sample, 58, said Friday that when he took the city manager's job four years ago, he made it clear he only planned to stay three to five years.

"During the last six months, I've been trying to analyze all of this stuff - my age, my mortality, everything," Sample said. "Is this what I wanted to do for the remainder of my career? I thought if I was going to make a change, this is when I was going to do it."

His announcement comes shortly before he would have needed to give notice if he wanted his contract to automatically renew. He said the timing also takes into consideration giving the commission enough time to name a replacement by the summer budget discussions for the upcoming fiscal year. He expects to stay until his tenure ends in September so that his replacement can get up to speed.

Sample took the position in 2003 just when he thought he was beginning retirement: He left the county clerk's office at the end of a 30-year career in public service in 2002 and started selling residential real estate.

During his public-sector career, he held a series of high-profile positions, including eight years as then-Sheriff Lee Cannon's top administrator. He also has been a sheriff's deputy, court administrator, county grants planner, director of human services, code enforcement director and assistant county administrator for public works.

He faced a number of challenges in Dade City, including a $1-million budget shortfall that first year. In one of his first big moves, he convinced the commission to cut costs by eliminating the city's fire department - against heavy opposition from residents. He also guided the city through four summers of hurricanes and braced commissioners and residents for a wave of development that never materialized. Sample leaves with no clear solution for buying or building a new city hall, and city finances remain close to the wire every year.

Sample has had a generally good rapport with the commission. In evaluations given in November, four of the five commissioners said he exceeded expectations in the major areas of his job. But Commissioner Camille Hernandez gave a starkly different appraisal, criticizing Sample's personal integrity, personnel decisions and approach to long-term planning. Hernandez did not return messages Friday.

City attorney Karla Owens said Friday that decades as a public servant can take a toll, and she knew Sample hoped to spend more time with his family.

"It's a thankless job, it's a hard job, and if you care a lot about what you are doing, it takes a lot out of you," she said. "He's contributed more than the average person to Pasco County and he's left his footprint all over it."

Known for putting in long hours, Sample forfeited more than 100 hours of vacation time this year.

Sample earns an annual salary of slightly more than $81,000. When Sample told him of his decision to leave, Commissioner Steve Van Gorden asked whether more money would change his mind. Sample said it wouldn't.

Sample would not say if his new position paid more.

"I do not have to disclose that," Sample said, relishing that for the first time in many years, his salary would not be matter of public record.

Guedry said while he hadn't planned to offer a position to Sample, he was excited about the move.

"We plan to do a great deal of development here," Guedry said. "I told him we need someone like you on our team."

Mayor Hutch Brock said the city was lucky to have Sample's leadership for four years.

"In the pit of my stomach, I had one feeling that was excited for him and his new challenges," Brock said. "And another thinking that I wish we could have kept him longer."

Gina Pace can be reached at 352 521-6518 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6518. Her e-mail address is gpace@sptimes.com.

[Last modified March 9, 2007, 23:59:30]