On Sunday, January 17, 2016, The St. Augustine Record printed a column in which I called for more Sunshine and more meaningful public participation and an end to "smarmy sneakiness" by local officials.
On Tuesday, January 19, 2016, a date that will live in infamy, four Republican County Commissioners voted raises for the County Attorney and County Administrator, even though residents B.J. Kalaidi and Thomas F. Reynolds, Jr. opposed the move, which was not on the agenda. The matter was pulled from the October 11, 2015 agenda, and from later Commission agendas.
It was not on the January 19, 2016 agenda and was brought up by Commission Chairman Jeb Smith.
Why? Perhaps County Commissioners voted the raises in the absence of PRISCILLA ("RACHEL") BENNETT to avoid her having to take a position in an election year. (BENNETT may face a tough electoral challenge from St. Augustine Beach City Commissioner Andrea Samuels.)
The issue here is not the raises per se, in and of themselves, but the Commission's shocking lack of transparency, an issue that the Record and the three angry commnenters (below) totally overlooked.
If anyone cares, for the record, I would probably have supported the County Attorney's raise and opposed the County Administrator's raise.
That's not the point.
It's not the outcome, its the procedure, which stinketh on ice.
It's the appearance of impropriety of voting on a controversial issue not on the agenda.
That's wrong.
This procedure forbade effective public participation on raising County Administrator for Life MICHAEL DAVID WANCHICK's pay when library hours are being cut and WANCHICK does not return citizen phone calls, focused intently on trying to turn St. Johns County into an ugly, unreasonable facsimile of Richardson, Texas and Broward County, Florida, ugly places where he once worked as a bureaucrat.
Pompous pachyderms and MIKE WANCHICK can't stand criticism and his allies evidently engineered a raise decision without public notice. His raise is retroactive to the October 11, 2015 meeting from which the matter was first pulled.
If I were present Tuesday, whether as a speaker or as a County Commissioner, I would have asked Commissioners to kindly reschedule the matter in light of The Florida Attorney General's Sunshine Manual, which states, "The Attorney General’s office has advised boards to postpone formal action on any added items that are controversial. See AGO 03-53, stating that “[i]n the spirit of the sunshine law, the city commission should be sensitive to the community’s concerns that it be allowed advance notice and, therefore, meaningful participation on controversial issues coming before the commission.”
No one has responded to my procedural concern.
Perhaps Mr. Reynolds or Ms. Kalaidi will retain pro bono legal counsel and file a Sunshine lawsuit.
When I was a law student in Memphis, I watched in awe as my boss advanced the public interest in labor and public interest cases. Attorney Dan M. Norwood, thrice filed lawsuits stopping illegal City Councll raises. Thrice. How cool is that?
Government must be in the Sunshine, no matter what our stinky, all-Republican oligarchs in St. Johns County think.
What do you reckon?
Thanks for the St. Augustine Record putting this sneaky raise procedure where it belongs -- on page one. It should have referred to the Sunshine Manual and the lack of public notice -- I hope Jim Sutton does so in a scathing editorial.
Here's The St. Augustine Record's page one article:
St. Johns County attorney, administrator get raises
Posted: January 19, 2016 - 10:57pm | Updated: January 20, 2016 - 4:38am
By SHELDON GARDNER
sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com
St. Johns County commissioners approved pay raises for two key members of the county’s staff.
The 3.6 percent raises, approved for County Attorney Patrick McCormack and County Administrator Michael Wanchick at Tuesday’s County Commission meeting, are effective retroactively to Oct. 11, according to an email from Stacey Stanish, director of Administrative and Support Services for the county.
In dollar amounts, the raises work out to $7,232.87 for Wanchick and $5,867.17 for McCormack, and their new annual salaries are $208,145.87 for Wanchick and $168,844.22 for McCormack, according to Stanish.
Commission Chairman Jeb Smith recommended the raises based on commissioners’ responses on performance evaluations for both men, though not all commissioners had turned in their evaluations, Smith said.
The commission approved the raises with a 4-0 vote. Commissioner Rachael Bennett was not at the meeting because of a death in her family, Smith said.
The discussion on Tuesday drew criticism and concern from a couple members of the public, though few were left in the crowd when the item was addressed near the end of the meeting. One speaker was concerned that not all the commissioners turned in their evaluation forms, and another questioned Wanchick’s leadership.
“Mr. Wanchick is not a top administrator. ... I can’t even believe what I’m hearing in this room, that you’re giving him a raise,” said St. Augustine Beach resident Tom Reynolds.
The criticism prompted McCormack to speak during public comment.
“I do think he’s a very strong administrator,” McCormack said.
Smith described the average rankings of both men based on the evaluation forms. The scores were based on three evaluation review forms received for McCormack and four forms received for Wanchick, Smith said.
On a scale of 1 to 5 — five being above average or consistently exceeds expectations — McCormack’s average score was 3.94 and Wanchick’s average score was 4.1875, Smith said.
Commissioners voiced support for Wanchick and McCormack.
Commissioner Bill McClure said he filled out the evaluation but chose not to give it to Smith. He said he has had discussions with McCormack and Wanchick.
McClure said that while in a previous year he voted against renewing McCormack’s contract, McCormack has improved “tremendously” in the areas where he was concerned. McClure supported the raises for both men.
Commissioner Jay Morris, who has a corporate background, compared running St. Johns County to running a $629 million corporation — the amount of the current county budget, roughly.
“Mike does an excellent job. .... $210,000 in the corporate world for running a $629 million corporation, it’s actually peanuts. It’s substantially higher in the corporate world,” Morris said.
Morris added that for several years, Wanchick did not take a raise when he could have as per his contract. That was during the county’s more difficult financial times.
Wanchick didn’t respond to public comment but thanked the commission for support.
“I think we all understand that my annual review, much like Patrick’s, is somewhat a ceremonial salary review, that in fact we get evaluated every day. On any given Tuesday, three votes and we’re on the highway,” Wanchick said.
In other business
■ Rules for feral cat colonies and domestic hens are expected to be considered by the commission at the regular meeting on March 15. Commissioners voted on setting the meeting date and time on Tuesday, and they also discussed the proposed rules.
COMMENTS
sponger2 01/20/16 - 08:02 am 51Why are these less difficult times?
Gas is down, but did the sales tax go up? Did property tax go up? Did health care cost go up? Did TV service go up? Did the water bill go up? Did the cost of food go up? Is electricity going up? Are beach passes going up? Are fishing licences going up?
Cost of living for Seniors and care for Vets didn't go up? Illegal aliens are still streaming across the border like locusts. Obama is shuttling in Syrian "refugees" under cover of darkness.The natives aren't getting their raise, but the usurpers are welcomed with open arms, and desks lined up like you would see at a job fair. Only the're giving away taxpayer supplied benefits. Not much different here. Create a revenue stream, spread it around the campus. Must be hard to make ends meet on 208 large while the county from the point of development and infrastructure is in shambles.
emmylight 01/20/16 - 01:22 pm 11These salaries are too high
These salaries are too high for public employees...period.
Firstcoaster 01/20/16 - 01:47 pm 10It's probably not just salaries
They likely have very generou$ golden parachute clau$e$ in their contract$, which the "little people" don't enjoy, along with reserved parking spots and government cars to take home.
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