It is interesting to watch how fast some officials can fire a government manager, without regard to the cost of severance to the taxpayers.
Below is an article about how the Osceola County Board cost the taxpayers $800,000 in severance pay by firing four people recently.
My thought is that taxpayers need protection not from dumb or inefficient staff, but from dumb officials who don't try a mediation or counseling process, or anything. Now, of course, it could be that issues had been festering for months or years, and if so, the facts need to be disclosed better than a few quotes in the newspaper.
My primary issues with this process of elected officials firing people is:
- The allowed severances are way too high. They should be much lower. Why is it that government agencies allow such high severances in comparison to business? Is it because "it is not their money, but the taxpayer's money? Severance and termination policies should match those used by similar size industrial or corporate firms. (not non-profits). The Orlando Sentinel editorial at the bottom of this document describes how one agency limited severance to three months in a new manager's contract. In the case of Lake County, I was at the meeting where County Manager "Cindy Hall" was "fired", but
- Any severance should be negotiable based upon issues. It should not be black and white. If an employee refuses to implement requested corrective actions, then when they are fired, they should not qualify for a full severance.
- The Osceola example indicates that the just fired County auditor and the County Attorney had both run up HUGE "unpaid benefits". I would like to see disclosure of what those were. Most corporations would allow you one following year to use any saved vacation, then you lose it. They also would not allow you to cash in saved "sick time". Government benefits need to be slashed to be in line with private industry. What is even worse is if the accumulated benefits are used to calculate their most recent income for calculating pension payments. Too many government agencies do that.
- Any regulation or policy that allows County officials to fire an employee needs to have a requirement that before acting, the OFFICIALS must submit to a closed door mediation process to prevent the taxpayers losing capabile staff due to emotional actions by officials without defined justification. Perhaps they need a non-public hearing run by local business people who can evaluate performance and other issues on an objective basis before ratifying the decisions. However, in Osceola's case, it seems that the County Attorney was running an inefficient shop causing problems with permitting, etc, and the County Auditor was accused of never having "anything to report to the commission" which is a NO NO for Auditors. Perhaps she was a CPA who focused only on routine financial audits and she was unable to identify problems with efficiency, effectiveness and process improvements which constantly popup and a good auditor will always have something to disclose. (I looked at the Osceola website and no audit reports or webpage existed.)
Recommendations:
Government agency elected officials need to implement policies like the above BEFORE they are needed.
vj
Below is the overview of the recent Osceola firings from the Orlando Sentinel, followed by their editorial on hefty severances.
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orlandosentinel.com/news/local/osceola/os-osceola-severance-pay-20101209,0,4404834.story
OrlandoSentinel.com
Payouts to 4 fired executives cost Osceola $800K
Cash-strapped county will have to dig deep for severance packages
By Jeannette Rivera-Lyles, Orlando Sentinel
9:22 PM EST, December 9, 2010
ith a $37 million hole in its budget because of shrinking property-tax revenue, Osceola County laid off 139 employees last year.
This year, the county will reach into the same depleted coffers to pay what is now more than $800,000 in severance packages to four members of its top brass fired by county leaders.
Two top executives fired this week, County Attorney Jo Thacker and Commission Auditor Kathy Wall, together will collect nearly $500,000 in severance packages.
Some say Osceola's executive turnover is symptomatic of the county's political instability and doesn't contribute to a healthy business environment. Others complain about the cost of county leaders' inability to get along with their staff.
"They're paying for people not to work rather than trying to work with them," said longtime Osceola businessman Alan Starling, former chairman of the Osceola- Kissimmee Chamber of Commerce. "The fact that they can't keep their management team together reflects poorly on Osceola government [officials]. It gives me great concern about their ability to lead."
Thacker and Wall, like former County Manager Michael Freilinger, were fired because of conflicts with members of the County Commission.
Commissioner John Quiñones said he wanted to fire Thacker as a first step toward privatizing the county's legal department and reducing its $1.5 million budget. He later told the Orlando Sentinel that Thacker's "management style" was costing the county money. She delayed projects, ordinances and other county businesses "for months at a time, even a year" with unnecessary bureaucracy, he said.
After the vote to fire her, Thacker thanked the commission for allowing her "to serve" and immediately left the chambers.
When Quiñones' motion failed, Commissioner Michael Harford floated one of his own: to fire Wall, whose job it was to audit county departments, because she "seldom had anything to report to the commission."
Quiñones offered a deal: Add Thacker to your motion, and I'll second it. The third vote to fire came from newly elected Commissioner Frank Attkisson, a former state legislator who had worked with the two women less than a month.
Wall also thanked the commission but didn't address the reasons offered for her dismissal. Neither women returned a call from the Sentinel left through the county media office.
Thacker will collect a minimum of $263,000 — her yearly salary of $180,000 plus $83,000 or more in unpaid benefits such as vacation days, sick leave and retirement benefits. The final amount is still being calculated.
Wall will get $235,000 — her $150,000 annual salary plus about $85,000 in unpaid benefits.
"These are extraordinary sums," said Commission Chairman Brandon Arrington, who along with Commissioner Fred Hawkins tried to stop the latest firings. "I wish some of our commissioners would've considered the facts before making decisions with these kind of consequences."
Quiñones said his vote to dismiss Thacker in the long term will save the county more than the severance amount.
"My goal is to reduce the legal department's budget by half," he said, a savings of $750,000. Neighboring counties of similar size — such as Lake and Seminole — have legal budgets smaller than $800,000, Quiñones said.
In April, Arrington, Hawkins and former Commissioner Ken Smith voted to fire Freilinger, citing reasons such as low morale among employees and poor communication with Kissimmee and St. Cloud officials. He was paid $300,000 in severance.
The month before that, former Osceola County Jail Chief Greg Futch had collected $35,000 when he was forced to resign after a string of problems, including escapes, at the county jail.
Jeannette Rivera-Lyles can be reached at [email protected] or 407-420-5471.
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Outrage in Osceola
The cash-starved county blew $800,000 on severance for fired officials.
If Congress approves the tax deal struck by President Obama and Republican leaders, some 2 million Americans, including more than 100,000 Floridians, will get an extension on their jobless benefits. In Florida, those checks max out at $300 a week.
But for top employees in some governments, taxpayer-supported groups and nonprofits in Central Florida, unemployment can be far more lucrative.
The latest outrage occurred Tuesday in Osceola County. On a 3-2 vote, the County Commission fired County Attorney Jo Thacker and Commission Auditor Kathy Wall. Together, Ms. Thacker and Ms. Wall walked away with almost $500,000 in severance pay and accumulated benefits.
Ms. Thacker and Ms. Wall had clashed with some commissioners. Who knew personality conflicts could be so profitable?
Their exit came eight months after the commission fired another official, County Manager Michael Freilinger, after a series of embarrassing and alarming security breakdowns at the Osceola jail. He floated away under a $300,000 golden parachute.
Keep in mind that this is Osceola County, where the commission laid off 139 employees last year to close a $37 million budget gap.
Osceola County, with Metro Orlando's highest unemployment rate at 12.2 percent.
Osceola County, with the region's worst poverty rate at 15.9 percent.
Yet these sacked bureaucrats had been given contracts that guaranteed them a separation bonus of a year's salary and allowed them to cash in unused benefits, including vacation days and sick leave. How many private employers — outside of Wall Street — would offer this kind of deal?
When it comes to stuffing the pockets of top employees as they're ushered out the door, Osceola County has had plenty of company this year.
Daytona State College ousted President Kent Sharples with a going-away package worth $1.7 million. The Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, which is partly funded by taxpayers, gave CEO Ray Gilley a bon voyage bundle worth $351,000. Florida's Blood Centers, a nonprofit that depends on the generosity of donors, dispatched CEO Anne Chinoda with $380,000.
Osceola Commission Chairman Brandon Arrington, who voted against firing Ms. Thacker and Ms. Wall, criticized their "extraordinary" severance. Both were first hired more than a decade ago, long before Mr. Arrington was elected in 2008. He said he would favor reducing whatever exit payment is guaranteed to their successors.
Commissioner John Quiñones, who pushed for Ms. Thacker's firing, said he has a plan to privatize the county's legal department that would make up in savings the windfall paid to the county attorney and auditor. But Mr. Quiñones, a commissioner since 2007, also conceded that the county's severance packages should be curtailed.
If Mr. Arrington and Mr. Quiñones are sincere, they will look to the example recently set by Lynx, the region's mass transit agency. Last month it hired its new CEO, John Lewis, with a three-year contract. That pact calls for just three months severance pay if he is dismissed.
Even in good times, it's a dubious notion that government agencies and nonprofits have to super-size severance to land top talent. Now that times are tough, it's even more far-fetched.
Leaders of these organizations need to take the gold out of their employees' parachutes. They owe it to those who ultimately pay the tab — the public.
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