By Linda Dean Cooper
After sitting through hours of this week’s regular BoCC meeting on Tuesday and budget on Thursday, it is clear it is time to restructure and reform Levy’s county government.
A first reading of a community garden ordinance in the regular meeting Tuesday, showed a complete disregard for prioritizing the county’s needs. I’ll get into the ordinance fiasco in a couple of days. It is an example of the lack of thought when directing staff to chase their tails to benefit one group. That was a disaster in the making. It stole valuable time and resources away from the important issues facing Levy such as no updated animal control ordinance and problems facing residents living in antiquated subdivisions like Williston Highlands.
The budget meeting yesterday revealed the lack of leadership and employee accountability that has plagued this county for decades. County Coordinator Wilbur Dean’s management style is much like an absentee landlord who keeps collecting the rent but not managing anything. HR Director Jacqueline Martin isn’t doing her job when Dean complains at the budget meeting that the process of hiring part-time workers is too difficult and too much work for HR to process the paperwork.
HR did not advertise the animal control officer position until weeks after it had been approved. HR Director Jacqueline Martin apologized for the oversight. I suspect if someone had not complained it would still be sitting on her desk. HR and management cannot fill the veterinarian position that has been vacant since July 2023. Yet they can hire a Public Information Officer budgeted at $80,000 annually, not including benefits. One starts to see a trend of bad management with “oversight” excuses for not posting the animal control officer job and failed interviews with at least four veterinarian candidates. I haven’t requested those records to confirm, and no one has discussed much about animal control issues.
Select management employees have received random raises that are not justified, nor have the appropriate chain of command signatures on the payroll paperwork.
The lack of proper management and employee accountability with a management style reminiscent of the 1950s; is embarrassing and pitiful. It was apparent in yesterday’s budget meeting that tax and spend is the business model for this county.
Animal control and landfill administrators spoke briefly at the budget meeting but provided no hard copy data or reports of any type to support their statements. It was a rapid-fire of numbers at the commissioners and audience with no justification or supporting documents.
There has been non-existent accountability and a lack of fiscal responsibility to the citizens since the appointment of Wilbur Dean as the County Coordinator.
It is time to hold the County Coordinator Dean, HR Director Martin, and all the high-paid directors accountable, do their jobs, provide quarterly reports, and the BoCC to address the issue of delivering the proper accounting software for an efficient method for tracking and accountability to the citizens of Levy.
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Posted May 24, 2024
