County Trims 3 Jobs, Consolidates Departments In Downsizing Move

Manatee County is consolidating four departments into two and eliminating three positions, including the controversial organizational development manager job held by David Klement, in a downsizing move announced Monday.

County Administrator Ed Hunzeker outlined the restructuring, which will include merging the county's planning and building departments into a "one-stop center to serve and assist the business community."

Hunzeker did not place a dollar figure on how much the county would save through the moves but said they were part of an ongoing process to streamline government and address an expected $12 million to $14 million budget shortfall due to dwindling property tax revenue.

"Every day, every job, we're trying to figure out how to make the people that we have here do more," Hunzeker said at a news conference. "Every time we have a vacancy, we look to how to take that job and meld it into another job so we can downsize the government to meet the revenues."

The other positions eliminated were "transportation system model and data engineer supervisor" and "planning technician I." The first job had been vacant; the other employee has been reassigned.

No salaries were adjusted as part of the restructuring.

Hunzeker's hiring of Klement last year for a newly created position drew criticism from some county leaders and others in the public. Klement, the former editorial page editor for the Bradenton Herald, was hired for a reported $80,017 salary and was tasked with analyzing the county’s programs and services looking for waste.

Hunzeker said Klement's job was less necessary now that Monday's reorganization freed up long-range planning and transportation officials to focus on the county's "How Will We Grow" visioning project. Until recently, Hunzeker said, planners had been tied up by a bevy of building requests in a run up to Amendment 4, proposed legislation that would changed the development approval process. Amendment 4 was voted down last November.

County Commissioner Larry Bustle said he was disappointed to see Klement go but that he couldn't argue with the decision.

"I think it was probably made for the best of the county," Bustle said.

As part of the restructuring, the Agriculture and Resource Conversation Department will become the Agriculture and Extension Service division within the Community Services Department under the direction of Brenda Rogers.

Manatee County Area Transit will now fall under the Public Works Department.

The new Building and Development Services Department -- under the direction of John Barnott -- will incorporate the transportation systems management division, which is responsible for the county's roadways and was previously a part of public works. The consolidation will allow the unit to better plan for long-term community needs alongside county planners, the county said, and was recommended in a 2009 study.

The new department will also take over the county's code enforcement division, previously under the neighborhood services division.

The goal, the county said, is to improve responsiveness and predictability for the general public.

"As we bring everyone together we will look at process improvements at a very detailed level," Barnott said in a news release. "That's my job, to lead that discussion and come up with the improvements at a grassroots level. It will be done in conjunction with staff and with our customers."