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County Administrator Bob McLaughlin Out Of A Job Come February
December 17, 2009
The Escambia County Commission decided this morning that they will not renew the contract of County Administrator McLaughlin.
The motion not to renew the contract was made by Commissioner Grover Robinson and seconded by Commissioner Kevin White. It passed on a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Marie Young casting the negative vote.
“I was Bob’s biggest supporter, I think, when we hired him two years ago,” Robinson said, adding that support among the commission for McLaughlin had dwindled. “I know if we continue to move forward there will continue to be disagreement.”
Robinson said McLaughlin has done all he was asked, except he was unable to “overcome issues, or just the nature of the job”.
“No special interested lobbied me one way or another. My decision was beast on what I perceived as issues,” White said, adding that he has not read emails or taken phone calls about the administrator’s job. “It’s not personal with me, and it is not political.” White said he has personally lost confidence in McLaughlin.
“I find no fault in this man, no fault in this man,” Commissioner Marie Young said. “Bob is is planner. He is an organizer…he is sincere; he is effective…I don’t know what else we want.”
“It is amazing what he does bring to this county,” Young added. “Is he perfect? No. How many of us in this room is perfect?”
“I need to feel certain that the person who is considered administrator of this county does not forget who he…is working for,” Commissioner Gene Valentino said. “Until we get a charter form of government where the administrator is elected .. that person reports to five people.”
“I am compelled to say that we non-renew Mr. McLaughlin’s contract,” Valentino said.
“How can we have an administrator that the five us us cannot get behind?” Robinson asked.
“It is is evident that when you take a year to year contract, this could happen,” Commissioner Wilson Robertson said. “if you are willing to take that contract, you’ve got to be willing to take the consequences.” Robertson said he could not support an administrator that did not have the complete support of his commission.
McLaughlin made no comment about his contract non-renewal following the board’s vote, but he did issue a prepared statement after the meeting: “While I am very disappointed, I work at the pleasure of the Board. The board has decided to go in another direction and they are perfectly within their rights to do so. I will work out the term of my contract and continue to do my job to the best of my ability.”
McLaughlin will continue in his position until midnight on February 6. The commissioner’s will take a final vote at their January 7 meeting to affirm this morning’s decision. McLaughlin previously served as an assistant county administrator in Escambia County. He was promoted to interim administrator George Touart stepped down as administrator after questions were raised about his business practices. McLaughlin was hired as administrator in February 2008.
Pictured above: Escambia Administrator Bob McLaughlin at this morning’s Committee of the Whole meeting. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
14 Responses to “County Administrator Bob McLaughlin Out Of A Job Come February”
Thats all they want is our money, they are going to bleed us dry and we will not recieve any thing for it. The maritime park is a waste of money, it will be a money pit for the few that will go there. I would not go to it if they paid me.
They can’t run a peanut stand must less a county
I guess we will never know why the sitting commissioners underminded this county again. Those four appeared child like on TV.
It was their job as commissioners to defend their administrator and guard his back since he was obviously tring to do what they asked him.
Commissioner Young appeared as the only wise, mature one.
Gene Valentino is one of EAFO ’s best supporters, Would not trust him as far as I could throw my tractor. Who do you think went with the group for consolidation when they flew to Jacksonville? By the way, does any one in this county wish to take on the debt of pensacola? Pay for the mairtime park? Bail out their broken government pension plan? Remember, you do not join a city that is racking up massive debt, and has proven that it cannot mange its own affairs, and then trust them with your money. Do not forget also that they can not even manage the port? All pensacola wants us for in the county is a tax base. So PLEASE VOTE NO ON CONSOLIDATION!
I don’t think it is “beating a dead horse”. The horse was still alive and in charge of the entire county!! While I agree that the clay pit issue was settled finally (not to my satisfaction but to the best that could be done after the county let him dig the monstrosity for 2 years) and that it could appear that I am a one issue person, that is not true.
What the clay pit issue did was OPEN my eyes to the way county government was working. I was tempted to just let the whole thing go as it took up an *enormous* amount of time from my family. But I felt that, probably, that was why county government had gotten into this mess in the first place. People didn’t want to invest the time that it took to hold officials accountable! Our neighborhood did, and eventually we got them to do the right thing, but with no help from Touart and McLaughlin (in fact they were major obstructions, along with Whitehead of course.)
I mention the clay pit issue because *that* is what I can speak to knowledgeably and truthfully. The rest that I know, though I have seen many documents of other people’s issues that assure me they are telling the truth, I haven’t had the time to be knowledgeable enough to speak to them. I feel that I must speak up for what I know to be true and that is that Bob McLaughlin lied to me personally on the phone and in BCC meetings and he admitted helping Roads Inc. change their development review documents to be more palatable to the BCC and line up with what he originally said he would do. When he became Administrator, after promising as a candidate that he would deal with the problem, he did NOTHING until he was forced to by the commissioners (after much public input!)
I have never had any personal issue with Code Enforcement. But there is a BIG problem with our county’s Code Enforcement department and the Special Magistrate process, in my opinion. When you have one of their officers sign a sworn affidavit that they were coerced by superiors to “throw” a hearing and nothing is investigated or done to the people involved, that is a problem. When you have records and files disappearing (and reappearing after they are demanded), that is a PROBLEM. When you have your Special Magistrate (who are set up to hear disputes between the cited citizens and the county) also doing legal work for the administration on the side, that’s a problem in my opinion. McLaughlin chose to avoid dealing with Code Enforcement, for whatever reason.
I only have seen a fraction of what the commissioners have seen, I would imagine. I have a family to raise and care for.
But I can do my part to hold people accountable for their actions. I am not talking about mistakes. Those can be forgiven. But deliberate misdeeds and lies. Those establish your character as a leader. No doubt Mr. McLaughlin created a better working environment than his predecessor, Touart. Not a high standard to reach. But he never should have been chosen as administrator, as he has not been above the tricks and games, in my experience.
We need an administrator who will be bold enough to DEAL with these festering departmental issues and lead. I don’t think that you can start with compromised leaders that were complicit with the past GOB stuff.
I am sorry to see a man lose his job but I feel it was necessary if we ever want to see some of this stuff cleaned up. As always, your mileage may vary. But please attack the message and not the messenger.
I agree with Are You Serious? McLaughlin was touted by several county employees as the most ethical and professional to hold that office so far. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to “play” the political game that keeps so many in office now. But now 4 of the commissioners will be happy while county staff and the taxpayers wait for new leadership/coordination of services.
And regarding the clay pit debacle, hasn’t that been recified to Escambiamom’s satisfaction? Why keep beating a dead horse?
Are you serious?
Mr. Mclaughlin has done more in his short time as administrator than any other. His managers were forced to take ownership of their duties. He demanded accountability. If an issue came up, he didn’t make knee jerk reactions, like the BOCC and others do. He stood up for his employees, but demanded accountability of them.
Many of the employees that know him backed him 100%. However, when his bosses refuse to dictate specific measurable objectives to him, he was set up to fail. That allows them to decide on personal feelings rather than facts to not renew his contract.
No question that escambiamom gets on every blog she can to bash him. Why? Because of the clay pit. Well wake up escambiamom. There is more to the county than your clay pit and getting your feelings hurt by code enforcement.
And by the way, for White and Valentino to say it wasn’t personal……that could maybe be believed if they didn’t make comments in public about the administrator.
If they didn’t like Touart’s micro-management style, nor Mclaughlin”s accountability style, what do they want? They want a weak puppet. Similar to the Pensacola’s weak mayor style. Oh wait, the citizens just voted against that right? Maybe the politicians need to wake up and see the citizens are tired of their almighty attitudes and want accountability.
RE: “THIE DECISION THE COMMISONERS MADE TODAY WILL ONLY BENEFIT THIM”
If THIM means ‘The Humans In My (county) then you are correct.
—–
Consolidation is a GREAT deal for the city, not so much for the county. If you moved to the county because you did not want to live in the city (or pay for the city services) then consolidation will be the government’s ‘better idea’ for you.
GOOD!
WHAT THEY DID TO BOB TODAY WILL MAKE US ALL PAY IN THE LONG RUN
THIE DECISION THE COMMISONERS MADE TODAY WILL ONLY BENEFIT THIM
If I were a commissioner I would be worrying about my job. If I were doing all the voting Mr valentino would be on the top of my evacuating list , Mr white would be on the bottom and the other three in the middle could be put in no particular order because I dont see a nickels worth of difference in the whole group. They all need to be replaced.
Whether you support consolidation or not (I am still undecided, I don’t have enough info yet…), Comm. Valentino is right in that we need to wait until this issue is decided before we go out and negotiate a contract with a new Administrator. No one would be willing to relocate if the job might be temporary.
February to November is not that long of a time to wait until we know what we are hiring for. An interim should be able to manage things during that period. McLaughlin himself was an interim administrator when Touart stepped down.
I wonder if Willy Taylor would consider coming back? I’ve heard good things about him when he was assistant administrator.
I was there at this morning’s meeting and I applaud the commissioners for finally getting this right. They have had information for some time that McLaughlin wasn’t willing to fix some of the ongoing problems in the County, especially Code Enforcement. Engineer trained McLaughlin couldn’t tell the difference between a “catfish pond” and a clay pit! There is so much more that he has overlooked.
I think Comm. Young’s preaching was insulting as she tried to villainize the other commissioners for disagreeing! She said they were influenced by “outside people” …we call them “constituents” in District 5, Comm. Young!
I actually think how the other Commissioners handled it was firm but not vindictive. Comm. White was pretty clear that he had not wanted to renew for some time. No one made any personal comments (except Ms. Young’s attempt at emotionalism.)
It is always hard to see someone lose their job but I think Mr. McLaughlin has had too long of a grace period. We need people who are not afraid to do the right thing and are always straightforward. And an administrator that knows he serves at the pleasure of the commissioners, and not the other way around.
This move today makes me hopeful.
Prior crooks need not apply. (at least we can hope).
I didn’t like that comment either.
Ok, BOCC now what? What is your plan to replace McLaughlin? Hopefully the county will move to quickly search, thoroughly check backgrounds, and hold indepth interviews for a new administrator. And then after all that, hire the person who has a realistic vision on imporving our county’s operations.
Now this statement concerns me… “Gene Valentino said. “Until we get a charter form of government where the administrator is elected…” Is this Valentino’s endorsement for a consolidated government? Watchout for the fox in the hen house.