By Marvin G. Cortner
Editor

Osceola County government is in pretty good shape in terms of setting out the duties and functions of its top three administrators, according to a government specialist at the University of Central Florida.

The Osceola County Commission, with the help of Marilyn Crotty, director of the Florida Institute of Government at UCF, has begun to put on paper the job duties, minimum qualifications and skills/abilities and knowledge requirements of the county’s three top administrative positions required by the charter: county manager, county attorney and commission auditor.

The question about job duties and roles and annual evaluations came up last year after the termination of a county manager in April and then the terminations of the county attorney and commission auditor in December. Crotty in January conducted an assessment of the three charter offices and also facilitated a commission workshop on the issue.

“Your county is in pretty good shape; it is fairly clear in delineating duties and responsibilities,” Crotty said at the Feb. 14 commission meeting.

One problem Crotty pointed out is that the county manager and county attorney currently “have the ability to direct the commissioner auditor.” Crotty said that job is the responsibility of the commission. Crotty also said it is not the auditor’s role to impose any financial controls on the commission, but rather that is the job of the county manager.

Crotty also recommended that when the county charter review committee begins meeting that it consider a “non-interference clause” for commissioners. Such a clause, she said, would prohibit commissioners from directing any county employees under the three top administrators.

“It’s up to them to deal with their staffs,” Crotty said. “The commission should be prohibited from giving any direction to any county employee but the three charter officers. That does not prohibit the commissioners from asking for information, however.

Crotty also urged the commission to keep the auditor as independent of the other top administrators as possible, since that person must audit the various county programs or services provided by the other two charter offices. She also urged the commission to keep the auditor out of “strategic planning” for the county.

The commission also should refrain from including the county attorney in policy making, since that is not part of this administrator’s role, Crotty said.

As far as evaluations, Crotty said they should be done annually for the top officers and that there should not be any surprises in them.

“It is your responsibility to identify areas of weakness,” Crotty told commissioners.

Commissioner Michael Harford stressed the need for annual evaluations for all three top administrators.

Commissioner John Quiñones wanted clarification of what legal services the county attorney must provide, and that any legal work undertaken should be at the request of the commission.

Commissioner Brandon Arrington said the next step is for the commission to bring Crotty’s recommendations back for discussion with an eye to finalizing the various roles, responsibilities and requirements so that the search could begin for a permanent county auditor and county attorney.

As far as proposed requirements go, the only top administrator that would need to live in the county would be the county manager. The manager also is expected to have a master’s degree in public or business administration with at least three years experience as a manager or assistant manager for a city or county or have a bachelor’s degree in public or business administration with at least five years of related experience with a city or county.

The county attorney must have a law degree and licensed to practice in Florida. The auditor must be a certified public accountant or have education or experience in government accounting, internal auditing practices and fiscal controls.

The commission Feb. 14 also approved contracts relating to local organizations receiving a total of $316,935 in tourist development tax funding for promoting their events.

The events, their supporting organizations and the amounts of the funding include: Sunshine Regional Chili Cook-off, city of Kissimmee Parks and Recreation Department, $5,500; Festival of Rhythm and Blues, Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce, $20,000; Three Kings Day Osceola, Kissimmee chamber, $20,000; Viva Osceola, Kissimmee chamber, $20,000; Osceola County Fair, Kissimmee Valley Livestock Show and Fair, $93,500; season of events, Osceola Center for the Arts, $75,000; Great Florida ShootOut, Rotary Club of Kissimmee, $60,100; Main Street District Tourism Project, St. Cloud Main Street, $12,000; and museum advertising, Veterans Tribute and Museum of Osceola County, $10,835.

In an update on various projects, Beth Knight, deputy county manager, reported that officials with the Veterans Tribute and Museum are looking at sites other than the Kissimmee Convention & Visitors Bureau building at Osceola Heritage Park for relocating their museum of military history. The veterans, Knight added, would use the current financial support package offered by the county to obtain and occupy that building.

Sites under consideration include the former Denim World at 5210 W. U.S. Highway 192 and space at Warbird Adventures at Kissimmee Gateway Airport.

Knight also said the Osceola County Historical Society had dropped its request for a new building behind the planned Shingle Creek Nature and Visitors Center on West U.S. Highway 192. The society now wants the county to allow it to operate out of the visitors center and run that facility for the county in return for “financial support.”

The proposed move of the society’s Pioneer Village to the Shingle Creek center site is still on, according to Knight. The village is now at the society’s Bass Road property.

Commissioner Fred Hawkins Jr. suggested that the money saved by not putting up a building for the Historical Society could be used to move a historic schoolhouse from the Narcoossee area to the new Pioneer Village.