Politics

Officials short on longevity

The high turnover among county administrators is attributed by some to a negative public perception.

By DAN DeWITT, Times Staff Writer
Published October 28, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Gary Kuhl's last day as county administrator is Nov. 10.

BROOKSVILLE - When former County Administrator Chuck Hetrick was fired after 13 years on the job, one problem was that he had just hung around too long.

" Times have changed. Needs have changed. And I hadn't seen the adjustment," former county Commissioner Nancy Robinson said the day after Hetrick's firing in November 1997.

Longevity as a drawback seems a quaint idea in Hernando after 10 years and - counting the tail end of Hetrick's tenure and the upcoming interim stint of Larry Jennings - 10 terms of leadership.

The most recent hires, Gary Kuhl and Gary Adams, both lasted about 18 months. Dick Radacky, a caretaker who was on a retirement track when he took the job in 2002, served the longest of any administrator in the past decade: two years and two months. The average term for full-time administrators during this span was under two years - less than one-third the statewide average for county administrators and city managers, according to Florida City and County Management Association.

High turnover can create uncertainty among county employees and undermine attempts to achieve long-range goals, county commissioners and staffers said.

"There's a training period for administrators of at least six months," said county human resources director Barbara Dupre. "By the time they figured out how the county was running, they were looking for another job. ... There's just not enough continuity for long-term planning."

High turnover might also scare off enterprises planning to move to Hernando, said business development director Mike McHugh, though he said he didn't know if that had happened yet.

"I believe business people and residents do a lot of research (on the Internet) before they relocate," he said.

Commissioner Diane Rowden said the same might be true of county administrator candidates looking to replace Kuhl, who will leave the county in two weeks.

"Who's going to apply for this job? I'd Google Hernando County and get real scared," Rowden said.

Combating public negativity, which both Kuhl and Adams cited as their main reason for leaving, might be the biggest challenge the commission faces if it wants to hold on to the next administrator. The search for Kuhl's successor began two weeks ago, when the commission appointed a task force to identify candidates.

But the hostile political atmosphere, at least among members of the public, played little part in the departure of most previous administrators. In fact, commissioners have offered so many reasons for letting administrators go - and so many opinions about the qualities they desire in candidates - that capriciousness has been part of the problem.

Commissioners recruited Bonnie Dyga, a strong administrator, after the departure of Hetrick, who was criticized as too passive. They soon decided she was too strong. Dyga offered her resignation after repeated clashes with commissioners Pat Novy and Bobbie Mills, who, along with Commissioner Chris Kingsley, voted to ask her to leave immediately.

Her successor, Paul McIntosh, left after he accepted free tickets to sporting events and the entrance fee to a golf tournament from companies that did business with the county.

Commissioners replaced him with Radacky, who had been praised for his integrity as a county employee, but who was so looking forward to retirement that he often mentioned the number of remaining days he had on the job. "He would actually give you the countdown," Rowden said.

To a lesser extent, Kuhl was the same way, said Commissioner David Russell. Neither he nor any of the other commissioners interviewed for this story said they wanted him to leave. As they did Adams, they view him as a fair, capable administrator whose departure is a loss to the county.

But Kuhl, 61, also told the commission when he was hired that he planned to retire in five years. He had already proved himself in other administrative jobs and didn't need to hang around when the politics got ugly, Russell said.

"I would like to see somebody who wants to grow with the county ... somebody aggressive and willing to move forward," he said. "I would love to see somebody from one of the South Florida counties. That can be a very tumultuous atmosphere. Somebody who is accustomed to that might have a little bit tougher skin."

That would be a plus, several commissioners said, "but I would also say nobody should have to take the kind of stuff they did," Kingsley added, referring to Adams and Kuhl.

Kuhl was unlucky in a way, Rowden said, facing a series of issues that provoked an unusual degree of anger: the proposal to abolish the Spring Hill Fire Rescue Commission; the battle over whether to approve the Hickory Hill subdivision in Spring Lake; and especially the run-up to the final budget hearing in September, when the commission reduced the property tax rate by more than 18 percent.

Members of a citizens group fighting to reduce taxes - Government Gone Wild - criticized Kuhl for allowing county spending to balloon. In columns, Hernando Today editor Robert Nolte called Kuhl's salary of $132,000 "bloated" and asked rhetorically if "there is a plan afoot to do something about these fat cats."

Kuhl's salary is below average for administrators in similar-size counties, according to the county's last survey of administrators' salaries, conducted in 2004, Dupre said.

The columns and stories in Hernando Today and commentary on WWJB radio's Haa-Wire morning talk show helped stir up hostility toward county government, Adams and Kuhl both said. In an interview with the St. Petersburg Times in August, Kuhl said Hernando Today and Government Gone Wild seminars provided skewed information about the county's finances.

They incorrectly portrayed the county's $148-million operating fund as sitting idly in investment accounts, Kuhl said. And by excluding service workers, the paper had inflated the average wage of city and county workers by more than $5,000. Of a claim that the county planned further raises of between 5 percent and 9 percent, Kuhl said, "That's not true at all. Period."

Hernando Today publisher Duane Chichester said his paper's budget coverage was accurate and based on public documents, and was not intended to target Kuhl.

"I think Gary Kuhl is a fine person," Chichester said. "I had absolutely no idea he was going to leave and did not want him to leave."

But Chichester didn't stand up for him when he came under fire, Kingsley said, and neither did another early backer, banker Jim Kimbrough.

"The people who supported him and lobbied so heavily completely disappeared," Kingsley said.

Kimbrough also said he did not favor Kuhl's departure and blamed it on the newspapers and radio: "You in the media thrive on controversy," he said - as well as micromanagement by county commissioners.

Several commissioners echoed that sentiment, as they have with the departure of every administrator over the past decade. Maybe, they acknowledged, they hadn't supported Kuhl as firmly as they could have, with Russell singling out Rowden for her change of position on the fire commission vote.

"Gary was blindsided on a couple of occasions," Russell said.

But political posturing is a given with commissioners, Kuhl said. That isn't the reason he will be leaving on Nov. 10, he said. Nor is it because of commissioners meddling in day-to-day affairs.

The problem, he said, is bigger than the commission, and fixing it may require the help of the entire community.

"The disappointing thing," he said, "is the apparent feeling ... that nothing is correct with the county government and that nothing can be fixed."

Dan DeWitt can be reached at dewitt@sptimes.com or (352) 754-6116.

Chuck Hetrick

Last day: Nov. 15, 1997

Bonnie Dyga

Last day: Oct. 10, 1999

Paul McIntosh

Last day: April 15, 2002

Dick Radacky

Last day: June 30, 2004

Gary Adams

Last day: Dec. 16, 2005

Gary Kuhl

Last day: Nov. 10, 2007

Alan Holbach(interim)

Last day: Feb. 9, 1998

Dick Radacky(interim)

Last day: March 1, 2000

Larry Jennings(interim)

Last day: March 9, 2006

Larry Jennings(interim)

Last day: Stay tuned

Chuck Hetrick

Last day: Nov. 15, 1997

The departure dates for the past 10 Hernando County administrators:

[Last modified October 27, 2007, 19:58:48]