Bob Germaine, who was sworn in Tuesday as the new Highlands County Clerk of Courts, announced a reorganization and other measures to cut operating costs. ...more

January 9, 2009

SEBRING — Highlands County commissioners didn't pull the plug on adding four new top administrators at a cost of over $600,000 per year. But they did turn the process for choosing the new division directors upside down. Or, as Commissioner Don Bates put it, they flipped that process right side up. Bottom line: the commissioners will interview the top three candidates themselves and decide who to hire as directors of public safety and public works, the two highest-profile divisions. ...more

February 7, 2008

Highlands County commissioners have the right idea in asking whether the county really needs another level of administration. The costs are high to implement such a plan, and the payoff is difficult to deduce. Tommy Todd is serving as facilitator for the county on this project, which would make new positions as division directors. Department heads would report to them, while they report to the county administrator. The plan is to make the administrator less of a day-to-day manager and more of a public figure who keeps the commission informed of what's going on in the county. We understand what Todd is saying, but wonder if it's necessary for Highlands County. Granted, our county government has a lot of employees and departments, but it doesn't seem like that's been an issue until now. Can't department heads serve as that level of manager to report to the administrator, or assistant administrator. It's also true that a county manager should not be bogged down in work that keeps him or her away from the most important facets of the job. It's difficult to be an effective leader if you're buried in minutiae that could be better handled by someone else. ...more

February 5, 2008

SEBRING — Highlands County commissioners are not pleased with plans to hire three new top administrators at an extra cost of about $300,000 per year. At their meeting today, the five commissioners, three of whom must run for re-election this year, will consider hiring the first division director in the county's history. On Monday, at the county's annual "visioning session," Commissioners Don Bates, Guy Maxcy and Barbara Stewart said they were less than happy with the prospect of what Bates called "adding another layer of administration" to county government. The price tag to do that — adding three employees with the title of "division director" — will be between $190,000 at the low end, to $360,000 per year at the top end of the salary schedules. The county commission had created the new positions last year to increase efficiency. Three new people will be hired, while the fourth position has already gone to Rick Helms, who went from "assistant county administrator" to the new position of "assistant county administrator/director of the division of administrative services." ...more

February 5, 2008

SEBRING — Highlands County commissioners expect to have people filling all four of the new, top-level administrative positions that they created by March 15. Within two months, the county's top echelon of administrators will go from two to six. In addition to the current top two – the administrator and assistant administrator – Highlands County also will have four division directors, each reporting directly either to the administrator or assistant administrator. ...more

January 24, 2008

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. ...more

November 7, 2007