Who's out, who's in

In the county's corridors of power over the past year, the times were a-changin' from the government center to city halls to schools.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT and TOM MARSHALL, Times Staff Writers
Published January 1, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - If anyone in the know about government leadership in Hernando County blinked during 2007, they might be surprised that just one year later, so many of the key players have changed.

The people who at this time last year sat in the top chairs at Hernando County's government center, Brooksville City Hall and the Hernando School District, are all now gone.

Political pressures and personal considerations made 2007 a year of change for Hernando's government entities.

Kuhl, Yeager exit early

Gary Kuhl never even made it to two years as Hernando County administrator, just like the man who held the job before him.

He fell victim to a fervent community movement to slash property taxes and government spending. The tax-cut advocates fueled a sweeping campaign to scrutinize and criticize every aspect of county government from Kuhl's salary and the pay of the directors to every aspect of county spending.

Headlines, radio programs, packed county meetings eventually took their toll and Kuhl, citing the rampant negativity of the county, announced plans to leave for a position as public works director in Sumter County.

A committee of public and private-sector volunteers has been screening applicants with plans for County Commission interviews of the top picks slated for Jan. 8.

Another casualty of the controversy was the county's fleet manager, Terry Yeager, who, after two scathing audits of his department, left his job at the end of the year. His replacement, Jack Stepongzi, has just come on board.

Hernando also lost the utilities director, Kay Adams, who died in May. Her replacement, Joseph L. Stapf, will start in mid January.

Alexander shakes up, shuffles

There's a new wind blowing through the Hernando County schools, and his name is Wayne Alexander.

Hired last spring to replace the retiring superintendent Wendy Tellone, the former Connecticut educator has wasted no time in making his mark on the 23,000-student district.

There's a raft of policy changes in the works, from special education to teacher training and technology.

Veteran principals and rookies alike are adjusting to a new system, in which individual schools will be expected to provide standard services and curriculum across the district, rather than doing it their own way.

Since last year, a few faces have changed in the schools. Veteran Marvin Gordon moved from Parrott Middle School to Spring Hill Elementary, and Maria Rybka took the helm at Chocachatti Elementary after a year running Eastside. Assistant principals Leechele Booker and Toni-Anne Noyes rose to the principal level, taking over Parrott and Eastside respectively.

Alexander has made no changes at the central office, but he's promised a top-to-bottom restructuring. By this time next year, he says, things will look different.

But perhaps the biggest leadership change is one of style. He aims to shake things up.

"I think I have gotten their attention," says Alexander, vowing to raise standards at all levels. "Find my high water mark, or find somewhere else to park your boat."

Brooksville turnover continues into 2008

While the county lost a handful of top officeholders, Brooksville City Hall had nearly a complete roster overhaul in 2007.

By the time the dust settled, Brooksville had lost its city manager of 11-years, Richard Anderson; longtime police Chief Ed Tincher, who was just shy of 30 years service to the city; and the director of Human Resources, Ron Baker.

Baker had been arrested in 2006 for giving Xanax to a co-worker. The arrest was alleged to be retaliation by Tincher, whom Baker had accused of having an affair with a City Hall secretary.

For months, the controversy overshadowed all other city business. Accusations flew. Employees were placed on leave, then reinstated.

Anderson announced his resignation in January, stating he didn't have the full support of the council. Unhappy with his handling of the whole personnel mess, the council placed him on leave, ending his time as manager.

Over the next few months, the city struck deals with Baker and Tincher and they were also gone.

The council settled on Jennene Norman-Vacha as their new manager. She had previously worked as deputy Hernando County administrator and had run her own human resources consulting business.

Tincher was replaced first by interim police chief Frank Ross and later, by George Turner.

City Attorney David LaCroix announced plans to retire mid-year, setting off yet another personnel search that settled on prominent developer attorney Jake Varn.

Varn promised that he could avoid potential conflicts of interest that could arise as former clients brought business before the City Council. That became a moot issue when Varn withdrew from consideration. The council then chose the Hogan Law Firm to represent the city.

As the year comes to a close, Baker has not yet been replaced and the human resources director position is currently posted.

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at behrendt@sptimes.com or 352 848-1434. Tom Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1431.

Editor's note: This week, the Times looks back at the significant events of 2007. Today, we note the changes that took place among the top leadership positions in local government.

[Last modified December 31, 2007, 19:45:46]