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Highlands Today

New AP Chief Must Live Within 10 Miles Of City

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By Douglas  Carman | Highlands Today

Published: October 10, 2007

The police chief's position was frozen until the council voted unanimously to thaw it Monday, but also tacked a residency requirement so that Frank Mercurio's successor must live within 10 driving miles of the city limit.

The 10-mile distance, which matches the city's vehicle take-home policy, was a compromise from the initial rule that would have required the chief to live inside the city limits. The council voted 4-1 on the residency requirement and unanimously on unfreezing the position, with Councilman Doug Eason voting against the compromise.

Councilman Joe Wright was the first to question the original plan.

"I still believe long-term, the police chief of Avon should live in the city because they ought to be a part of it," he said. "But ... business sense would say that you want to hire the best person." Wright heard of two applicants in Highlands County who wanted to apply, who weren't living in the city.
Councilwoman Brenda Gray said it didn't matter to her, but Eason said it did.

"You already got now, people who say they like to be cheap and they're not going to move inside the city limits, so they start off dictating to us, changing the procedure," he said.

He added that City Manager C. B. Shirey already had applicants from all over the country. "It might be better if we got somebody in here who doesn't know the history of Avon Park, comes in ... with a free hand ..."

Avon Park Police Cmdr. Michael Rowan, the acting police chief, objected to the original proposal. Rowan said he recently built his new house just outside the city limit, and had it passed, he would have been disqualified for the position unless he moved back in the city. Mercurio lived about a mile outside the city limit while he was the chief.

After him, other residents spoke against the residency requirement and thought of ways to keep Rowan and others qualified. Former Mayor Tom Macklin, from the audience, suggested using the 10-mile driving distance from the city limit as a requirement. Mayor Sharon Schuler picked up on it and everyone but Eason voted to change the ordinance.

After the meeting, Eason said he had the same stance for all the department heads and it had nothing to do with Rowan.

Lifting The Hiring Freeze

While there was some contention with the residency requirements, the city council agreed it needed to lift the freeze.

Without any objections against Shirey for advertising for the police chief, the council unfroze the chief's position, together with the Parks and Recreation director and the new airport manager position by an unanimous vote.

The freeze resulted from a previous hiring freeze for police officers as well as a replacement for former Parks and Recreation Director Tony Anderson until January, after the city knew how a since-invalidated super-exemption would affect the city's budget. Shirey advertised the position before clarifying whether the freeze applied to the chief of police, saying after Monday's meeting that it was a "mission-critical" public safety issue.

Councilman George Hall suggested lifting the freeze on all the open department heads, saying the budget now supported it. Councilwoman Brenda Gray added that she thought it was only fair to lift the parks and recreation freeze if they were going to do so with the police chief.

"We're doing our employees an injustice if everyone has leadership except for the recreation department," Gray said. "Who is their boss? The secretary? The city manager? Ted (Long, the public works director)?"

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