St. Augustine Record
St. Johns County officials were still working out the details of the leadership transition on Wednesday in the wake of former County Administrator Michael Wanchick’s firing.
The unanimous decision by commissioners to end his contract came during commissioner comments after Commissioner Jeremiah Blocker criticized Wanchick’s performance and suggested a candidate for his interim replacement. The issue wasn’t an item on the agenda.
The decision raised concerns and questions about legal procedures and how the transition would be handled.
The Commission’s decision to fire Wanchick became effective at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
They chose Commission Chair Jeb Smith to be the board’s representative to help with the transition. The Commission also voted in favor of having St. Johns County’s Clerk of Court and Comptroller Hunter Conrad serve as interim county administrator.
Conrad, who will resign as clerk before taking on the role, said it could take until early December before the details are worked out and he is able to start serving as interim county administrator.
He said he plans to file to resume his role as clerk, an elected position, once he’s done serving as interim county administrator.
According to County Attorney Patrick McCormack, it’s unclear whether the Commission can simply appoint an interim administrator without a noticed public hearing.
“The county is reviewing the process to bring aboard an interim administrator,” he said Wednesday.
The abrupt removal of Wanchick leaves two assistant county administrators leading the county on their own, with Commission guidance coming from Smith in the transition.
Those two assistant administrators report to the county administrator under normal circumstances.
Darrell Locklear is the assistant administrator of operational services, which includes growth management, public works, utilities and other departments.
Joy Andrews is the assistant administrator of community services, which includes public safety services, such as fire-rescue; health and human services, tourist development and other areas.
Several sections report directly to the county administrator, including the budget office. Those departments are now reporting to the two assistant county administrators, according to county spokesman Michael Ryan.
The county attorney is controlled by the Commission.
Separate from the authority of the Commission and county administration are the county’s elected constitutional officers: the property appraiser, sheriff, the tax collector, the supervisor of elections and the clerk of court.
The decision
Commissioners Blocker and Smith couldn’t be reached for comment on Wednesday for more details about the current situation, though they did answer questions on Tuesday after the meeting.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Blocker said he lost confidence in Wanchick’s leadership after several months of observation and after learning “of a number of systematic leadership problems.”
He said the Commission’s requests have not been followed on more than one occasion, and he outlined a series of motions, starting with removing Wanchick from his post immediately.
“I’m making this motion because it’s my opinion that our county administrator is no longer able to execute the wishes and directions given by this board,” Blocker said.
Blocker said a recent example of Wanchick’s missteps — one that drew sharp criticism from commissioners and the public at a previous meeting — was his handling of a private construction project using Mickler’s Landing Beachfront Park. Public access was closed because of the project, sparking an outcry from constituents in Blocker’s district.
Blocker said he likes Wanchick personally and thinks he’s an honorable man who has done “many great things” for the county during his tenure.
“But this is not personal. It’s business,” Blocker said.
Blocker said he spoke with Hunter Conrad, clerk of the court, the weekend before the vote and asked if he would be willing to serve as interim county administrator, and Conrad agreed.
Commissioners Smith, Jimmy Johns, and Paul Waldron didn’t share their personal views about Wanchick’s performance.
However, they have all expressed some unhappiness with Wanchick in the past year.
When Wanchick asked for a two-year contract extension in May, Commissioner Henry Dean and Blocker both voted in favor of it, but Waldron, Johns and Smith voted against that and countered with the one-year deal — with the idea that Wanchick would not be asked to serve beyond that deal.
In the end, Wanchick didn’t quite finish the old contract that runs through the end of the current year.
In a phone interview after the meeting, Commissioner Henry Dean said he voted for the termination to promote unity on the board, and he said he thought Wanchick was a very good administrator overall.
Before the vote to end Wanchick’s contract, McCormack advised the Commission to make the decision at another meeting because state law mentions giving notice before firing a county administrator.
But the Commission decided to proceed anyway.
State law also allows a county administrator to request a hearing before a decision on the issue, McCormack said.
Wanchick said at the meeting that he wasn’t sure what the significance of a hearing would be.
“My intent has never been to work for a board who doesn’t want me as administrator, but I don’t want to waive any rights or anything at this point in time, not that I’m contemplating any ... such action,” Wanchick said.
Wanchick also asked if his firing was without cause, which the Commission confirmed.
Dean said he wanted that clear on the record.
“In my opinion, Mr. Blocker zeroed in on one phrase and one phrase only, and that is he lost confidence in the current administrator’s conduct of the office,” Dean said. “To me, that has nothing to do with misconduct. It has nothing to do with being terminated with cause. We’re trying to do this as gracefully and ... gentlemanly as possible.”
Because the firing isn’t for misconduct, the county owes Wanchick severance pay, according to his contract.
The cost of Wanchick’s severance package wasn’t available from St. Johns County as of Wednesday afternoon.
But the contract calls for severance pay of 20 weeks of compensation at the current pay rate, payment for accrued and unused vacation and sick leave and continuing insurance coverage for Wanchick and his family for 20 weeks.
Wanchick’s contract, which went into effect in January 2017, lists his base salary as about $213,973.
Wanchick has been the county administrator since June 2007.
— Reporter Stuart Korfhage contributed to this report.
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