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Trusty veterans find jobs are no fun

By ANDREW SKERRITT
Published September 11, 2007

Gary Kuhl is an old pro. He ran the Southwest Florida Water Management District for years. He was the Citrus County administrator in the late '90s.

When Hernando County commissioners hired him to run their day-to-day business in February 2006, he knew all the players in town and rightfully commanded respect.

Hardly a wallflower, Kuhl knew what he was getting into. Hernando County government chews up administrators and spits them out. More than half a dozen permanent and interim administrators had filled the seat in the past decade. He knew better than to buy a house in Brooksville.

Still, the conventional wisdom was that Kuhl, 61, would stay for five years before leaving for a less stressful consulting gig. If anyone could break the string and bring stability to this government, it was Kuhl.

He didn't last long. Turns out that even he couldn't take all the negativity that sucks the life out of county government. His next two months on the job are a mere formality.

The truth is, being a county administrator or city manager isn't much fun these days, and not just in Hernando. The governor and legislators got elected promising big tax cuts, and their mandates have trickled down into the cramped offices in county courthouses all over the state.

County administrators and city managers preside over the messy work to save home-owners a few bucks on their property taxes. They have to find programs to cut; they have to look men and women in the eye and let them go. And throughout, they have to please at least three elected commissioners.

"One issue can put you out of business," said Zephyrhills City Manager Steve Spina, another highly regarded administrator who is retiring next spring. He's leaving by choice.

The "help wanted" sign is out everywhere. Since Harold Sample quit Dade City, elected officials have been left at the altar twice by successive manager candidates. In Port Richey, Jerry Calhoun quit to work in the more tranquil I'm kidding! Iraq. Guess who's trying to be an interim fill-in? Richard Anderson, who left Brooksville under a cloud. (There must be a punch line here.) And Steve Spratt isn't long for the world in Pinellas.

Pasco County government was notoriously unstable for years before a grand jury put its foot down. With John Gallagher at the helm, it has enjoyed relative stability and credibility for most of the last 25 years. Gallagher is rare. But this economy is shaking even his sense of humor.

These veterans of government and politics can take a lot, and they know elections change fortunes with some regularity. But Kuhl seriously underestimated the challenge in Hernando.

Some marriages are doomed from the get-go.

Andrew Skerritt can be reached at (813) 909-4602 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4602. His e-mail address is askerritt@sptimes.com.

[Last modified September 10, 2007, 21:32:25]