Commissioners to discuss new administrator's contract

During a scheduled retreat Thursday, Dec. 1, the Sarasota County commissioners are scheduled to discuss the terms of a contract the county attorney has negotiated with Randall H. Reid, the commissioners’ choice for new county administrator.

The three-year contract calls for an annual base salary of $190,000 for Reid, whose yearly pay as Alachua County manager is $169,686.19. It indicates Reid could begin work in January.

Reid would be eligible for a pay increase after each annual review by the County Commission. He also would be reimbursed $500 a month for use of his personal vehicle for county business. In Alachua County, he was given the option of using a county vehicle for work-related purposes or receiving a monthly allowance of $450 for use of his own vehicle. In Sarasota County, Reid’s proposed contract also allows him to be reimbursed for up to $2,400 a year in work-related expenses.

The proposed contract includes a tighter termination clause than the one that was in effect for former Administrator James Ley when he resigned in late May, in the wake of the county’s Procurement Department scandal. In Sarasota County, Reid could be terminated for “gross negligence in the handling of county affairs; willfully disregarding a direct and lawful order, demand or policy of the (County Commission)” and other acts, including the violation of a county charter section regarding “political activity.”

Ley’s contract said he could be terminated for cause only if he were convicted of a felony or any serious misdemeanor “involving … moral turpitude.”

Ley’s contract, which had been updated in November 2008, also said that if he were terminated for any reason other than cause, the county had to pay him a lump sum equivalent to his annual salary and benefits for one year. The proposed contract for Reid says that if the board elects to terminate him for any reason other than cause, the county will pay him a lump sum equivalent to his salary, deferred compensation and health care insurance for 20 weeks at the rate in effect at that time.

When the County Commission May 25 accepted Ley’s resignation, it agreed to a severance package that totaled about $305,000, including accrued vacation time and continued health benefits.

Reid’s Alachua County contract, dated Oct. 26, 1999, says the County Commission can terminate his employment if at least three of the commissioners vote to do so. In that event, Reid would be entitled to a lump sum payment equal to 12 months of his base salary and any deferred compensation. (The contract specifies that the county contribute 5% of his base salary each year into a deferred compensation program.)

Reid’s contract is on the agenda for the Sarasota County Commission retreat, which begins at 9 a.m. Dec. 1 in the A/B Conference Room on the second floor of the Administration Center, 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota.