St. Denis submits resignation offer

Town Manager Bruce St. Denis submitted a resignation offer to the Longboat Key Town Commission this afternoon.

According to the terms of the offer submitted through town attorney David Persson, “the town and St. Denis have decided that a continuation of the employment relationship between them is not in the best interest of the town or St. Denis.”

The offer states that St. Denis’ employment would end without cause Oct. 15; between Sept. 19 and Oct. 15, he would be on call to assist the acting town manager during the transition period.

The commission will hold a special meeting at 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 19, at Town Hall, 501 Bay Isles Road, to review and approve St. Denis’ offer, discuss the selection process for a town manager and appoint an acting town manager.

St. Denis agrees to resign in exchange for a severance package totaling $268,364.81, consisting of:

• $177,507.20, the amount of 12 months’ base salary;

• $49,702.01, the amount of 28% of one year’s base salary that St. Denis received in annual deferred compensation in lieu of participating in the town’s pension plan for regular employees;

• $16,507.79, representing the town’s contribution to one year’s worth of medical insurance premiums;
• $24,647.81 for unused vacation time.

St. Denis became assistant town manager in October 1996 after 10 years of working for Pinellas County, where he was director of facility management.

After Town Manager Griff Roberts retired in July 1997, St. Denis assumed the role on an acting basis. The commission named St. Denis town manager in September 1997. With 14 years of service, St. Denis has had the longest town-manager tenure in town history.

Persson said that St. Denis has suggested Longboat Key Police Chief Al Hogle for the role of acting manager.

Today, Mayor Jim Brown laid out the process for hiring a new town manager to fellow commissioners in a letter in which he suggested a three-stage approach, starting with the appointment of an acting town manager to oversee the day-to-day operations of the town for “a short time, from several days to a couple of weeks,” while the commission selects an interim manager. The interim manager, Brown wrote, should come from outside of the town, have “extensive experience in governmental management” and would likely serve for six to eight months.

“I do not want merely a caretaker while we search for a permanent town manager,” Brown wrote. “We have many matters pending. Waiting for a permanent town manager before we address these pending issues is, in my opinion, a mistake.”

Brown suggested that an outside consultant could help the town to determine the type of person the town needs to take on the role permanently, as well as the search process.

Brown ended his letter by thanking St. Denis:

“Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to Mr. St. Denis for his willingness to continue to be available to the town to assist in this transfer of authority. This has been a difficult time for all of us. With your collective help, I believe we can move forward in establishing a positive and expeditious process for selecting a new town manager.”

For more information, pick up a Sept. 22 copy of the Longboat Observer.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].