Politics

Kuhl testing the job market

The county administrator wonders if he can do any good given the political atmosphere.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT, Times Staff Writer
Published August 29, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Gary Kuhl cites the local political climate in Hernando County as a reason for leaving.

BROOKSVILLE - Gary Kuhl has had enough of the avalanche of controversy and criticism leveled at county government and its spending practices recently. The county administrator has told his bosses that he is exploring other job opportunities.

Kuhl has not resigned, but he said Tuesday afternoon that he is not looking elsewhere because of any conflict with the county commissioners or with the county staff. Rather, it's the political climate.

"In Hernando County, the atmosphere is one of turmoil right now," he said. "By some degree, I wonder if I can solve some of the things that are there. I'm not even sure they can be solved by one person.

"I guess the truth of the matter is I'm not sure I have the skills to resolve all the issues."

Kuhl said he has been approached by some potential employers and he has approached others to explore job possibilities. He said the opportunities were both in the public and private sectors but he would not share other details. He said providing that level of detail would probably hurt his chances of getting a job.

"We have a great staff. The commission has worked well with me. They've all been very respectful, been very fair to me," said Kuhl, 61. "Then these other things kept coming along. You know, I'm not the youngest guy in the world."

Commissioner Diane Rowden was irked to hear that Kuhl was considering leaving his job.

The county's "power brokers" were excited about Kuhl when he applied for the job, she said. "But evidently he was not playing ball with them or doing things the way the power brokers wanted," Rowden said.

"Obviously, my choice would be for him not to leave.But with what this guy has been put through, these groups, the radio and newspaper, I can't blame him.

"It's real sad. It's the same thing that happened to Gary Adams."

When Kuhl was hired in 2006, he was the fifth county administrator in six years. He replaced Gary Adams, who resigned abruptly in 2005, citing the "negativity" of the local political atmosphere.

Rowden said she worried about how the county would replace Kuhl if he does resign, given the current "angry mob" mentality.

"Who wants to come here? How would you find somebody?" Rowden said. "Anything you want you can read on the Internet. They just have to search 'Hernando County'."

Commissioner Rose Rocco said she was very surprised to hear about Kuhl's job search. "He has made a decision to make a change," she said. "I'm not happy about it. We've gone through a couple of administrators and I would like there to be more stability."

Rocco said Kuhl has "really been a pleasure to work with, but when there's a situation when sometimes it gets too hot, people don't want to deal with it."

Rocco and Rowden were referring to recent stories and commentary in Hernando Today purporting to show government waste. Conservative talk show radio host Bob Ha and the Government Gone Wild seminars have echoed the paper's conclusions.

Kuhl and his staff have tried to correct the misinformation and misunderstandings of how the government processes work through press releases and explanations at televised County Commission meetings, to no avail. At Tuesday's commission meeting, a frustrated Kuhl again tried to straighten out errors in Hernando Today's conclusions about a vehicle audit of the county.

Commissioner Dave Russell said all county staff members have felt the pressure from the criticism. "I think it's unfortunate," he said. "I can't fault someone for looking to a better horizon. The times have been tough for all of us. We've had difficult budget decisions to make and more difficult budget decisions down the road."

Russell said that losing Kuhl would be a real loss to the county.

"Gary has some really good ideas about streamlining and downsizing and delivering services for local government," Russell said. "I would like to see some of those ideas implemented. I regret that he may not be around to implement them."

Kuhl started work as Hernando County administrator in February 2006. He had worked at the Southwest Florida Water Management District, serving as the agency's executive director from 1983 to 1988, and had worked for a private engineering firm for a time.

He also served as public works director in Citrus County in 1994 and from 1996 through 2000, he was the Citrus County administrator.

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at behrendt@sptimes.com or 352 848-1434.

[Last modified August 29, 2007, 06:38:12]