County Reorganization Moving Ahead

SEBRING - Hiring a new administrator, the county's chief executive, won't be the only major change in 2008 for Highlands County government.

By the end of February, four months before Administrator Carl Cool retires, the county commissioners plan to fill the four new executive positions which they recently created.
By unanimous vote on Tuesday, the commissioners agreed to immediately launch the hiring process for the four new "division director" positions.

Having four division directors supervise the county's 19 department heads and report directly to the administrator is the centerpiece of the commissioners' No. 1 goal, set back in January, of making county government more efficient.

The county will advertise to fill three of the positions - directors of the public safety, public works and community services divisions - immediately. Candidates will be sought locally, statewide and nationally.

Rick Helms, the assistant county administrator, has already been picked for the fourth position, assistant county administrator/director of administrative services.

For several weeks, commissioners had been considering two options: hiring the division directors as soon as possible, or letting the new county administrator pick the division directors after he or she starts on July 1.

Commissioners took the advice of Cool, who said the transition to a new chief executive officer would be smoother if the four division directors are in place before the new administrator takes over.
Cool agreed that the biggest drawback to that plan would be the new administrator not being able to pick his or her management team.

Commissioners got around that concern by deciding that the new division directors will be on probation, meaning they could be let go for any reason, for 12 months, or until six months after the administrator starts, whichever is longer.

In effect, then, the division directors - who are hired by the commissioners - probably won't keep their positions unless that is the choice of the new administrator.
"If we wait (for the new administrator) to fill them," Commissioner Guy Maxcy said about the division director jobs, "we'll be waiting for a year." The new administrator will have his or her hands full at the start and wouldn't be able to to concentrate on hiring division directors for months, he said.

Tommy Todd, general manager of Glades Electric Cooperative, praised the commissioners' decision as an "excellent" plan to move ahead with reorganizing county government while also making the transition to a new chief executive officer. Todd was the facilitator of the county's goal setting workshops in January.

The commissioners agreed with Nan McGinnis, assistant human resources director, that advertisements for division directors should seek candidates locally, statewide and nationwide.
"Diversity is the way to go," McGinnis said. The search should seek diversity in candidates not only in race and gender, she said, but also in geographic area, personal background and professional experience.

"To get the best people, that is the key," Cool said.

Salary ranges for the new division director positions are: $79,310 to $129,232 for assistant administrator/administrative services director; $72,633 to $119,766 for public works director; and $62,732 to $103,438 for both the community services and public safety directors.

Commissioners also discussed evaluating proposals from three executive search firms - commonly called "headhunters" - to guide the search for a new administrator.

"One of the keys to getting a good administrator is hiring a good firm to help us through that selection process," Commissioner Barbara Stewart said. In addition to the search firm, commissioners also plan to appoint a citizens advisory committee to help select the new county administrator.