Commission Honors Libraries; Disagrees About Hiring County Attorney

February 8, 2008

The Escambia County Commission agreed to honor the county’s library system at their Thursday night meeting, but they disagreed about the hiring of a new county attorney.

centlibrary.jpgThe commission approved a proclamation declaring February as “Library Appreciation Month” in Escambia County. The West Florida Library, which serves Escambia County, has five branches. One of those branches opened almost a year ago in Century.

“I’d just like to thank this board for supporting and doing the branch in Century that we’ve done,” District 5 Commissioner Kevin White told the commission. “I want to thank the board for allowing me to be able to do that and help those folks up there.”

In other business, the commissioners disagreed about the hiring of a new county attorney to replace retiring attorney Janet Lander.

Commissioner Gene Valentino made a motion during the add-on section of the meeting that the county hire Assistant County Attorney Allison Perdue as the new county attorney with an annual salary of $139,500. The add-on section of the meeting allows commissioners to add items not on the agenda, items that the public has no prior notice about.

Valentino told the commission that there were three other applicants for the job, but none had certifications as high as Perdue.

The other commissioners all expressed concern not about hiring Perdue, but about hiring her during the add-on portion of the meeting with no prior public notification.

Commission Chairman Mike Whitehead said his only concern was about reading in the newspaper “that we hired an attorney on an add item”.

Valentino withdrew his motion after a lengthy discussion. The hiring of a county attorney will be referred to the county’s personnel department for further review.

Perdue currently serves as deputy county attorney. She joined the Escambia County Attorney’s office in 1999, handling mostly land use, growth management and local goverment law issues.

Pictured above: The Century Branch Library.

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