An open-ended contract with Michael Rodriguez, the county attorney who will take Al Hadeed’s place beginning on August 11, was overwhelmingly authorized by the Flagler County Commission. The document Rodriguez negotiated with the administration remained unchanged, notwithstanding a few complaints from one commissioner. On July 17, the commission decided to hire Rodriguez.
Since the county required to have a designee in that position, the deputy county attorney serves as the temporary county attorney until August 11. After initially applying for the major position, Moylan withdrew. He states that he plans to continue working in his current position at the office.
Rodriguez will receive $195,000 annually in addition to a $500 monthly car allowance. Hadeed began earning $135,000 after he was hired in 2007. These days, that would be $215,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars. Rodriguez’s starting salary of $195,000 is 11% less than the 2007 amount of $122,000. In any case, the county is saving a lot of money when compared to Hadeed’s pay and benefits. He will begin with 20 days of PTO, or personal time off.
Unless commissioners eliminated the merit increase, Hadeed was entitled to an annual 3 percent merit pay rise in addition to the same cost of living or inflation increments given to county employees. They didn’t. Only the cost-of-living increase, which takes effect on October 1st each year, is covered by the Rodriguez contract.
Hadeed’s unused leave time totaled 767 hours. The difference was forfeited by Hadeed since the county only permits a compensation for a maximum of 672 hours. In the future, Commissioner Kim Carney hopes to see a cap on accrued time that is more in line with the 300-day range. According to her, St. Johns County has set a 320-day accrued time cap. Although the policy is being revised, that is not currently covered by Rodriguez’s contract or county policy.
Hadeed received $147,814 in compensation for his 672 accumulated days, of which $104,000 was his income. For 672 days, a payout of $104,000 would be equivalent to $324,000 in compensation. A query concerning Hadeed’s real final-year compensation was not answered by either Hadeed or County Administrator Heidi Petito prior to the initial publication of this article.)
If Rodriguez is fired for a reason other than wrongdoing, he is entitled to a severance payment equal to 20 weeks’ worth of wages. He will be evaluated annually by the County Commission, but if it follows current procedure, the public will rarely or never hear such evaluations. Usually, commissioners complete them and put them aside instead of discussing them during commission meetings.
Originally, the Rodriguez contract was for two years. Rodriguez retorted with the ambiguous language. In most cases, he informed the commission, you will have the value of a fixed-term work contract for two years. Therefore, theoretically, I might argue that I’m entitled to the [remaining] value of that contract if I were fired before that period ended. However, he said that because state law caps severance benefits at 20 weeks’ pay, it makes it inconsistent with the law. He claimed that because Florida is an at-will state and the majority of county and city attorneys are at-will workers, all of the contracts he examined were open-ended. This implies that they may be fired at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all.
In that vein, Rodriguez stated, “I can assure you that I have no plans to practice law at the age of 78, so I don’t plan on being county attorney for 25 years.” At the age of 78, I hope to be traveling the world and not practicing law.
Since his age of 53 is not a topic that his employers are legally allowed to ask and he did not disclose it in his application, his joke at least clarified what had been unknown up until this point. It was legitimate for commissioners to ask, however, considering he is replacing a county attorney who was practicing at the age of 77.
Rodriguez has four weeks’ notice to leave. He will get a $500 monthly vehicle allowance and a cell phone. Both the county administration and the county attorney receive the car allowance. When Commissioner Kim Carey questioned the allowance, Salinas responded that it has been standard practice, but Hadeed actually didn’t receive a car allowance when he began in 2007.
Carney stated that it does not necessarily have to be done. similar to workers covered by a union contract. The automobile allowance is something I oppose. Although many county government employees, such as sheriff’s deputies, have union contracts that allow them to drive their cars to and from work, she did not clarify what she meant when she said that. Carney moved to ratify the contract despite the lack of support for her objection to the automobile allowance.
During the workshop, Rodriguez, who was there, received his baptism by Young. Jane Gentile-Youd, the Hadeed nemesis who, between venom-soaked vituperations against him, spent the better part of this decade calling for Hadeed s firing, invoked the scourge of the Old Dixie motel, or what s left of it, to ask for Rodriguez to get on it. I hope Mr. Rodriguez is able to foreclose on that property and that we can have that debris removed before somebody gets killed on Mr. Rodriguez s contract, she said by way of an ominous welcome.
She complimented the contract, with some exceptions. She wanted him to start at $175,000. She didn t like the line about retaining outside counsel as necessary, which gave her another opening for a sally against Hadeed. I don t think we should have any outside attorney without a super majority vote of the county commission, because that is going into our tax money, she said, seemingly unaware of the routine among all local governments of contracting with outside attorneys when necessary.
Hadeed wasfeted with a retirement partylast week, when the commission also declared August 1 Al Hadeed Day. He worked on that day.
An open-ended contract with Michael Rodriguez, the county attorney who will take Al Hadeed’s place beginning on August 11, was overwhelmingly authorized by the Flagler County Commission. The document Rodriguez negotiated with the administration remained unchanged, notwithstanding a few complaints from one commissioner. On July 17, the commission decided to hire Rodriguez.
Since the county required to have a designee in that position, the deputy county attorney serves as the temporary county attorney until August 11. After initially applying for the major position, Moylan withdrew. He states that he plans to continue working in his current position at the office.
Rodriguez will receive $195,000 annually in addition to a $500 monthly car allowance. Hadeed began earning $135,000 after he was hired in 2007. These days, that would be $215,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars. Rodriguez’s starting salary of $195,000 is 11% less than the 2007 amount of $122,000. In any case, the county is saving a lot of money when compared to Hadeed’s pay and benefits. He will begin with 20 days of PTO, or personal time off.
Unless commissioners eliminated the merit increase, Hadeed was entitled to an annual 3 percent merit pay rise in addition to the same cost of living or inflation increments given to county employees. They didn’t. Only the cost-of-living increase, which takes effect on October 1st each year, is covered by the Rodriguez contract.
Hadeed’s unused leave time totaled 767 hours. The difference was forfeited by Hadeed since the county only permits a compensation for a maximum of 672 hours. In the future, Commissioner Kim Carney hopes to see a cap on accrued time that is more in line with the 300-day range. According to her, St. Johns County has set a 320-day accrued time cap. Although the policy is being revised, that is not currently covered by Rodriguez’s contract or county policy.
Hadeed received $147,814 in compensation for his 672 accumulated days, of which $104,000 was his income. For 672 days, a payout of $104,000 would be equivalent to $324,000 in compensation. Neither Hadeed nor County Administrator Heidi Petito responded to a question about Hadeed s actual final-year salary before this article initially published.)
Rodriguez is eligible for a severance equivalent to 20 weeks of pay, should he be fired for reasons other than misconduct. The County Commission will evaluate him once a year, though if it follows current practice, the public will seldom or never hear those evaluations publicly. Commissioners typically fill them out and file them away rather than make them a topic of discussion at commission meetings.
The Rodriguez document originally started as a two-year contract. Rodriguez counter-offered with the open-ended wording. Usually when you have a fixed term employment contract, you re going to have the value of that contract two years, he told the commission. So in theory, if I were to be terminated prior to that term expiring, there can be an argument that I m entitled to the [remaining] value of that contract. But that creates an inconsistency with state law, he said, since state law limits severance packages at 20 weeks pay. The contracts he reviewed, he said, were all open-ended, especially since Florida is an at-will state and most county and city attorneys are at-will employees. That means they can be fired any time, with cause or without cause.
Along those lines, I don t plan on being county attorney for 25 years, because I have no plans on practicing law at the age of 78, I can assure you of that, Rodriguez said. I plan to be roaming the earth at 78 hopefully, knock on wood, not practicing law.
His quip at least revealed what had been unclear until now, since it s not the sort of questions his employers may legally ask and he did not include it in his application: his age 53. On the other hand, he is succeeding a county attorney whowaspracticing at age 77, so it was not unreasonable for commissioners to wonder.
Rodriguez may resign with four weeks notice. He will receive a cell phone and a vehicle allowance of $500 a month. The car allowance is given to both the county attorney and the county administrator. Commissioner Kim Carey raised questions about the allowance, which Salinas said has been customary, though in fact Hadeed did not have a car allowance when he started in 2007.
It doesn t mean it has to be done, Carney said. Just like employees who have a union contract. I m not in favor of the car allowance. She did not explain what she meant by employees with union contracts, though many employees with union contracts in county government namely, sheriff s deputies get to take their vehicles home and use them to and from work. Carney, seeing no support for her opposition to the car allowance, nevertheless motioned to approve the contract.
Rodriguez, who was in the audience, got his baptism-by-Youd during the workshop. Jane Gentile-Youd, the Hadeed nemesis who, between venom-soaked vituperations against him, spent the better part of this decade calling for Hadeed s firing, invoked the scourge of the Old Dixie motel, or what s left of it, to ask for Rodriguez to get on it. I hope Mr. Rodriguez is able to foreclose on that property and that we can have that debris removed before somebody gets killed on Mr. Rodriguez s contract, she said by way of an ominous welcome.
She complimented the contract, with some exceptions. She wanted him to start at $175,000. She didn t like the line about retaining outside counsel as necessary, which gave her another opening for a sally against Hadeed. I don t think we should have any outside attorney without a super majority vote of the county commission, because that is going into our tax money, she said, seemingly unaware of the routine among all local governments of contracting with outside attorneys when necessary.
Hadeed wasfeted with a retirement partylast week, when the commission also declared August 1 Al Hadeed Day. He worked on that day.
