Would you want that job?
By JEFF WEBB, Editor of Editorials
Published October 14, 2007
He is too modest to admit it, so I'll say it for him:
No one knows better than Larry Jennings the demands and risks of being the administrator of Hernando County government.
In 28 days, Jennings, who is deputy administrator, will become the interim boss for the second time in 31/2 years. Add to that his 30-plus years of experience in the county Planning Department, and it is easy to see why his vantage point is exceptional.
Given that incomparable insight, and the fact that a majority of the county commissioners are practically begging him to become the full-time administrator, Jennings' answer speaks volumes about the pressures of this job:
No, thanks.
In typical Jennings style, he said he is glad to help the commissioners get through this transition, but he doesn't want the top job for the long haul.
"It is not a position that I have aspired to," he said. "They need to find somebody who really wants it."
Jennings said he is looking forward to doing his best to "keep things moving ahead" and to provide the "continuity" he believes is necessary to "deal with the hard situations" that have arisen recently. That is an understated reference to the contentious public debate in the past couple of months regarding the tax rate.
But he is content, thank you very much, to just keep the hot seat warm for the next dude or dude-ette who wants to give it a go.
And who can blame him?
The past two administrators, Gary Adams and Gary Kuhl, have quit after only 18 months each on the job. Both cited an unwarranted negative atmosphere by residents toward government, and frustrations with not being able to make the changes they thought were needed to improve services to the public. Both resented that before meaningful debates on important topics could take place, they were thwarted by uninformed speculation that often included personal attacks against not only them, but hardworking civil servants and community volunteers.
Before the Garys took flight, there were three more who lasted less than three years each. Bonnie Dyga, Paul McIntosh and Richard Radacky each had their individual strengths; but they also shared a common bond:
Weak commissioners whose political wills routinely drifted on the breeze. Like that symbolic feather in the classic movie Forrest Gump, they drifted along from one crisis situation to another, better at counting votes than their convictions.
And when some commissioners did find the courage to stick their chins out on unpopular issues, guess what happened? Those who disagreed came out swinging. Too often, there was no neutral ground; "If you're not fer me, you're agin' me!" was the divisive decree. And those who did not bother to take sides did not get heard.
So, whose job was it to implement the bad, or at least timid, decisions made by the commissioners?
The person Larry Jennings knows he doesn't want to be.
On Tuesday the commissioners will hear proposals from Human Resources director Barbara Dupre about how to conduct the search for the next administrator. There are three options, and I like the first one for two reasons:
-It is the least expensive. It authorizes Dupre to advertise the job for up to $3,000, and she and her staff will take care of checking backgrounds and qualifications. It also sets up a five-member committee of residents to screen the applicants and develop a short list of candidates for the commission to interview.
That is preferable to Options 2 and 3, which call for hiring outside recruiters for between $7,000 and $30,000, and will take almost twice as long three or four months as opposed to six weeks.
-Option 1 also includes a list of five people Dupre believes would be good screeners. On that list is the name of someone who knows plenty about being an administrator: John Gallagher.
Gallagher is entering his 25th year as Pasco County's administrator, a tenure that is virtually unheard of in a profession where the professional life expectancy in Florida is about four years.
One reason Gallagher has lasted so long is because he makes sure the commissioners know their job is to set policy and then leave the rest to him. If they don't like that arrangement, then they can find two more commissioners who agree with them and send him packing.
It hasn't happened yet and the people of Pasco County are the beneficiaries.
Pasco has made its mistakes and it certainly has its faults, but the commission there has spent less time meddling in the day-to-day operations of their staff, and bowing to the special interests who want to run the show without the benefit of being elected. Gallagher's stability, and his backbone, have made a difference, and his insight into picking the next administrator in Hernando should be very useful.
Who knows? Maybe Gallagher could coach Jennings into taking the job.
Jeff Webb can be reached at webb@sptimes.com or (352) 754-6123.