By Linda Dean Cooper
The approval of the new organizational structure to include Division Directors as presented by County Manager Mary Ellen Harper at Tuesday’s regular BoCC meeting was tabled.
County Manager Mary Ellen Harper has made great strides since her September 2024 hiring by addressing decades of directors not being held accountable for their job performance or properly evaluated. But in her haste to fix all the deficiencies in our county government, she overlooked vital reorganizing components
The foundation of any business or government is a sound process and policy procedures manual that any employee can read and decide the proper course of action without running the manager’s office for guidance. If a director cannot follow the policies and procedures manual without running to the manager for day-to-day operations of their department then they are not qualified to lead and should be replaced.
A proper policy and procedures manual is the foundation of any business or government agency. Without it, employees are in the dark and set up to fail without clear guidelines to follow.
Harper’s Proposal
Harper proposed reducing the current 19 directors’ positions to 12 Division Directors. The $74,000 currently budgeted for a Public Information Officer would go toward a stipend for the employee selected to be the division director.
During BoCC discussions, it was revealed there were no job descriptions for the new positions, no truly competitive process for selecting the best internal candidates, no naming of division directors or the amount of stipend to be awarded for that division director, and no outside candidates allowed to apply.
The limited selection and stipend to favored employees harken back to the old county coordinator and BoCC practice of selecting their favorite employees and giving them secretive pay raises minus a justification for those massive pay increases. This has been addressed in previous Spotlight articles.
Commissioner Rock Meeks Indicated He Preferred Old Method of Operating the County
Commissioner Rock Meeks believes Levy should return to the old method of county commissioners involved in the day-to-day operations and governing and said as much in his comments. There is a reason why 66 counties, out of 67 have a county manager, not a coordinator. Levy went to the county manager form of managing last September. Employees with five commissioners giving them 5 different instructions could not perform their jobs in that chaotic environment.
Commissioners Suggested Hiring an Assistant Manager
Harper was on the right track but may need help as suggested by commissioners to hire an assistant manager to help her in case of illness, etc. Perhaps taking a more methodical approach, focusing on one or two departments and then moving to the next is more practical. Harper’s addition of a Fleet Director is needed to track fuel and maintain county vehicles. Ending the employee take-home vehicles for commuting to and from work would more than pay for the Fleet Director position.
19 Directors Illustrate a Top-Heavy Administration
Levy does not need 19 directors. Perhaps it is time to bid out to the private sector. Here’s a potential list to start reducing that bloat:
Possible Departments to be Eliminated or Reduced
Tourism Department: Current budget $534,98 with $ 2,350,119 in reserves collecting dust instead of putting it to good use. The tourism dept. is funded with bed tax dollars to be used for improving public assets like our parks, boat ramps, beaches, etc. An example would be upgrading Shell Mound campgrounds, boat ramps, county-owned Cedar Key Big Dock, etc. The local chamber of commerce is given a small stipend from the county annually. Each city Chamber of Commerce knows more about what attracts their tourists and could do a better job of allocating that bed tax money.
Portions of Road Department: Contract out mowing of the right of ways, tree debris removal, and sign cleaning. As employees leave or retire don’t replace.
Department of Public Safety: Bid the contract for private EMS services. Some counties have many years of success and saved money with private ambulance services. There’s no cost to asking for bids to explore that option.
Bring Back Volunteer Firefighters
Go back to volunteer fire fighters in the municipalities. It is still used very efficiently to this day. I lived in Williston when it was an all-volunteer fire department. The volunteers were very effective and provided a service in a more efficient and cost-effective manner. The municipalities are currently provided money by the county to respond to fires and EMS calls. I lived in the Williston city limits and remember the sirens blaring, calling the volunteers to fight the fires. Those volunteers put their lives on the line because they were true public servants and never failed to respond. They should be thanked instead of bullied by the county, their community stations closed and equipment basically confiscated by a more powerful county machine.
The current county Dept. of Public Safety is comprised of 3 fire engines and 7 active ambulances. Calling itself a public safety department for a county the size of Levy is a stretch, implying something larger than it is.
DPS has a 40-acre compound with over 10 outbuildings on CR 337 (old women’s prison) with a full-time maintenance person. Why? There will be more on the deficiency of DPS later in the next week.
Construction and Maintenance Dept: Many employees have left or retired recently from this department allowing the county an opportunity to bid out most of their responsibilities. Keeping a small crew for day-to-day issues is more practical than what is currently in place.
Veteran’s Affairs Department: Annual budget this year is $199,400. If the VA decides to move into the Williston Hospital, as recent rumors indicate, it is likely the DAV will have an office in the hospital. This could effectively eliminate the need for the county’s current department.
The budget process is underway so now is the time to ask for bids and trim the fat.
County government should not be the largest employer in our county!
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Posted January 22, 2025
