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By JEFF TESTERMAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 5, 2001
TAMPA -- In the wake of the ouster of Seminole Tribal Chairman James E. Billie, the shake-up of tribal government has continued with the firing of three top administrators.
Fired by the Tribal Council on Friday and escorted from tribal headquarters in Hollywood were controller Hugh Chang-Alloy, personnel director Diana Sgroi and information systems manager Al Skavroneck.
"I think in the minds of the council members, these people were too closely associated with (former operations manager) Tim Cox," said Seminole General Counsel Jim Shore. "I think the council just felt safer taking them out."
Cox, Billie's handpicked top administrator, was fired May 10 after tribal members questioned a secret hotel deal Cox put together in Nicaragua and a $500,000 consulting fee he took from the developers of the tribe's proposed $400-million Hard Rock Cafe hotel-casinos in Hollywood and Tampa.
Billie, the tribe's elected chairman since 1979, was suspended by the Tribal Council on May 24 over misconduct alleged in a federal sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Christine O'Donnell, the tribe's former director of administration.
O'Donnell claims Billie got her pregnant, forced her to get an abortion, then fired her and paid her off with tribal money -- $100,000 worth of phony sick time. The $100,000, representing 345 days of unused sick time, was delivered by Cox, according to O'Donnell's suit.
Shore said Monday that the tribal council fired Chang-Alloy partly because of his trips to Nicaragua with Cox. Shore said the tribe is still trying to determine what tribal money was used in the Legends Hotel purchase arranged by Cox, who had set up a company to operate a Hard Rock Live restaurant in the 95-room hotel in downtown Managua.
Billie's unpaid suspension is pending the resolution of O'Donnell's lawsuit and a special outside audit of tribal spending.