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New County CEO To Earn More Than Carl Cool?

By Jim Konkoly | Highlands Today

Published: January 6, 2008

SEBRING — The public is welcome to attend Thursday's inaugural meeting of the Highlands County commissioners' latest citizens advisory board, which will help select the county's next administrator.

Sixteen people have been appointed to what county officials are calling the "Search Committee," created to help commissioners pick long-time county Administrator Carl Cool's replacement.

Cool will retire on July 1 after nearly 17 years as the county's top administrator.

At the Search Committee's first meeting, set for 6 p.m. Jan. 10 in Conference Room 2 at the Highlands County Agri-Civic Center, the 16 members will select their chairman and set the ground rules for how they will work with the county's consultant.

The first tough issue the Search Committee may tackle is whether or not to recommend an increase in salary for the next county administrator of nearly 50 percent of Cool's current salary.

After 16 years in county government's top job, Cool is at the top of the administrator's pay scale, which runs from a low of $79,410 to the high of $129,272.

The top of the Highlands County pay scale for the county's top position is about $50,000 to $60,000 below the top pay grade for county administrators in county's similar to Highlands in population, demographics and economic position.

That information comes from John Minor, the county's director of human services. Minor and Nan Macginnis, the assistant human resources director, guided the commissioners through the process of hiring the consultant to find Cool's replacement.

If the citizens advisory committee tackles this tough issue, it would then be up to the five county commissioners as to whether to follow or ignore the committee's recommendation.

One thing is sure — Cool, who has been a county employee for 32 consecutive years — has been working at a salary far below what he could command in other counties that are comparable to Highlands.

If the committee and then the commissioners decide to upgrade the administrator's pay grade to the level of comparable Florida counties, then the mechanics of doing that are in the hands of the commissioners.

Commissioners could adjust the top of the administrator's pay grade up from about $130,000 to between $180,000 to $190,000 in one of two ways:

By amending the current fiscal year 2007-08 budget to upgrade the administrator's pay range; or
By negotiating a contract for the new administrator at about $130,000 for his first three months, from July 1 through Sept. 30, with a contract cause calling for an adjustment to a figure between $180,000 to $190,000 starting on October 1, which kicks off the 2008-09 county fiscal year.

The advertisement for the job, which will be posted on the Internet and in professional journals, newspapers and other venues, has not been written yet.

That means that the Search Committee can tackle this issue and make a recommendation to the county commissioners in time for the commissioners to adjust the salary up before the job opening advertisement is posted and published.

It is not known if salary will be a huge factor in attracting the best candidates for this position. Tentatively, the commissioners are planning to advertise statewide and nationwide.

At any rate, all meetings of the Search Committee will fall under the Florida open meetings laws and be advertised ahead of time and open to the public.

Macginnis said no one is sure if the Search Committee will actually operate with 16 members. In most appointed citizens advisory committees, she said, said, not everybody named to the committee actually shows up and does the work.

The 16 people appointed to the Search Committee are:

Brenda Gray, president of the Highlands County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and a city councilwoman in Avon Park;

Hillary Swain, who is employed by Archbold Biological Station and is a member of the Highlands County Natural Resources Advisory Committee, which advises the commissioners on environmental issues;

Norman Stevens, president of South Florida Community College;

Ken Poe;

Catherine Cornelius, retired president of SFCC;

Jim Clinard of Heartland National Bank;

Ray Royce, a spokesman for the county's agricultural interests, including citrus, ranch, dairy and nursery;

John Shoop of Highlands Independent Bank;

Robert Garcia;

Susie Bishop, employed by Atlantic Blue, which operates the corporate Bluehead Ranch;

Ruth Handley;

Tommy Todd, CEO of Glades Electric Cooperative;

Hal Berry; and

Peter Anderson.