McConnell quits Sheriff's Office in 'bittersweet' act

By JAMIE MALERNEE

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 4, 2001

Twenty-two, 2, 18, zero.

Those numbers keep running through James "Eddie" McConnell's head.

Twenty-two, as in the number of years he worked for the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, a place he called home. Two, as in the number of percentage points by which McConnell lost his bid to be the county's new sheriff following the retirement of Tom Mylander. Eighteen, the number of months McConnell had left until he could retire from law enforcement following his defeat. And zero, the number of jobs he now holds after resigning from the agency -- just short of that retirement -- after Sheriff Richard Nugent took office Tuesday.

"It's a bittersweet departure," said McConnell, 47, who has applied to several Tampa Bay area law enforcement organizations.

"Bitter that I have to leave so many of my friends. But sweet that I will be getting back into my career path, which is crime prevention," he said. "There was no future for that here."

In the past, McConnell had said he likely would leave the Sheriff's Office because of professional differences between him and Nugent. More than a year before the election, Mylander moved McConnell from his high profile job as head of community services to the more mundane task of overseeing purchasing, supplies and fleet management. McConnell called the move politically motivated, accusing the sheriff of trying to hinder his election bid against Nugent, Mylander's protege.

This week, McConnell said he was leaving because he did not want his presence to hinder Nugent's administration and split department loyalties. Both men claimed to have significant support from within the agency during the campaign and openly admitted that the election had caused tension and division within it.

"(Nugent) advised that I'd still have a job at the agency. But I told him that it would be a deterrent if I stayed," McConnell said of his final conversation with Nugent in December. "I wouldn't want to be involved with detracting from his start."

The tension between the two men continued on Tuesday, McConnell's last official day, as he walked through the department and said goodbye to friends and colleagues. He made no such farewell to the new sheriff. Nugent said Wednesday that McConnell's position will remain vacant for the moment.

As for his future, McConnell said he is not leaving his home in Hernando County, where he has been a lifelong resident. He is "putting out feelers" to sheriff's offices in Sumter and Pasco counties, as well the Brooksville Police Department, in hopes of being able to work on crime prevention with the public. But for now, he is enjoying time at home with his family.

"After so long with the Sheriff's Office, it's a definite change," he said.

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