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Stop contract talk, administrator asks
By BILL VARIAN © St. Petersburg Times, published April 17, 2001 TAMPA -- Hillsborough County Administrator Dan Kleman says that the on-again, off-again discussion over his employment contract isn't helping the stability of county government. So on Monday he asked that the topic be put on the back burner until the contract runs out in November. "Unfortunately, I believe that the situation we are now in creates less, not more, stability," he said in a memo to Commissioner Chris Hart. "I believe the organization is much more likely to settle down if there can be a period of time without speculation over the (commission's) intentions regarding my tenure." Hart said Kleman told him the same thing Friday and that he will honor the request. "I think that's the right decision," he said. But at least one commissioner thinks Kleman's memo employs faulty logic. Keeping the question up in the air until November only feeds speculation and instability, said Commissioner Jan Platt, who supports extending the administrator's contract. "It makes absolutely no sense," Platt said. "On one hand, he says we're in a situation that creates less not more stability. On the other, he says let's keep the status quo." Hart was one of four commissioners who voted in November not to extend Kleman's contract. Then April 3, he proposed in a memo that the contract be extended a year so Kleman could draft and implement a budget without distraction. The commissioner then dropped the proposal at the next day's commission meeting and said he might bring it back in June or July, after the administrator has presented a budget proposal. "I think that the notion of looking toward the employment agreement coming back maybe in June, or maybe July, causes the uncertainty," Kleman said. "Simply taking that issue away I think returns us to a somewhat normal state of affairs." His memo was copied to each of the commissioners shortly before he had lunch with businessman Sam Rashid in Brandon. Rashid has been active in several political campaigns and has been critical of spending under Kleman's administration. Kleman said he invited Rashid to lunch after "it was suggested by one of the commissioners that I meet with him following the publicity about my employment contract." Kleman declined to name the commissioner, but Hart confirmed that he made the suggestion. Hart said it was only a suggestion and that it related to general concerns, not Kleman's contract. Platt, who asked Kleman about the luncheon during a briefing Monday, called the entire situation "unstable and unsavory."
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