Staying in control as he prepares to walk away

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© St. Petersburg Times,
published December 5, 2001

Best dollars-and-cents advice I ever got came from a friend who helped me buy a house.

"In order to buy the house," he said, "you have to be ready not to buy the house."

In other words, you have to be able to walk away from the deal. Negotiate, sure. Be reasonable. But know your limit. Be willing to take the consequences of walking away.

This is a hard thing to do. It is contrary to human nature. After all, we're trying to make the deal in the first place because we want something. We are afraid of realizing later we made a terrible mistake -- or afraid that other people will think we did.

Car salesmen know this about people. Look, we've come all this way. Are you really going to let the whole thing fall apart over a few final dollars? And the customer, way out of his comfort zone, is stewing in self-doubt. Am I being too unreasonable? He HAS been nice.

This brings us to the negotiations going on between the Pinellas County School Board and Howard Hinesley, who is the county's superintendent of schools. His contract is up, and he is looking for a new deal.

From the outside, it seems as though Hinesley is more willing to consider walking away than the School Board is. This gives him the better hand. He has let it be known he is talking to other school districts.

Hinesley, 54, is the nation's longest-serving urban school superintendent, having held his post since 1990. Is he a good superintendent? Sure. He has his critics, but they are not in the majority. He is a huge edu-crat, but go try to find a big-city school boss who isn't.

He has steered the 112,000-student system through a lot of tough times. In the next year he will embark on the biggest challenge yet: the complicated transition from school busing to achieve racial balance to a a brave new world of "controlled choice."

Hinesley's base salary is a little over $159,500 a year, plus $3,000 for having a doctorate. Throw in benefits and he still isn't paid as much as some in comparable or smaller districts. The package is reasonably competitive for Florida, though.

The School Board quickly agreed to all of Hinesley's requests but one. They included extending his contract through 2004, putting the maximum into his tax-sheltered retirement (eventually $15,000 a year) and permitting him to do consulting work on vacation time.

The one sticking point was Hinesley's request for a $690,000 life insurance policy to benefit his wife. He wants the board to pay the entire cost, even if the payments last beyond his contract. Figure the total cost, with taxes, at more than $50,000 a year. Wow. In truth, it is a way for him to take a huge increase indirectly, to avoid some political heat.

Of the seven School Board members, two say this is too much. "I want him to stay," Jane Gallucci said. "I can't go for what he's asking."

Would the guy really quit? Would he consider it an unforgiveable insult that even ONE of his requests was not met? Would he walk away from the programs he has built, give up all his power, start all over?

These questions will go unanswered. At least four of the seven board members are willing to give Hinesley whatever he wants. They cite the cost of finding and paying a replacement, as well as the disruption of switching superintendents in the middle of the change to choice.

"I don't believe it's a good time to lose a superintendent," board member Carol Cook said. "Today, as we sit, I will vote to pay whatever it takes to keep him."

Is it galling that Hinesley wants more, when times are hard and state budget cuts are whacking millions out of public education, and little kids are getting hurt? You bet. Even if he stays, he has hurt his image -- a general who not only refused to share in the sacrifice of his troops, but who sought more money to carry out the job of cutting their budget.

But "galling" is not a good reason to walk away either, when everything else adds up. Not signing him will cost more and discombobulate the school system. If I were on the board I would grumble a little more to make myself feel better and then take the deal.

-- You can reach Howard Troxler at (727) 893-8505 or at troxler@sptimes.com.

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