Clearwater Police Chief To Retire, Become New Assistant City Manager

CLEARWATER, FL — Clearwater Police Chief Daniel Slaughter has been tapped to become the assistant city manager in charge of several ongoing controversial projects including Clearwater's recycling problems, the new contract for the Clearwater Airpark and the renovation of the Clearwater Beach Marine.

Slaughter will retire from the police department will retire from the police department to take on the assistant city manager's duties.

A decision on an interim police chief and the process for filling the job permanently will be made by City Manager Jennifer Poirrier soon

The announcement was made Friday by Poirrier. Slaughter's retirement from the police department will occur late next month, allowing him time to finish up projects at the department for a smooth transition.

"Based on his operational leadership experience, proven commitment to Clearwater and the community, demonstrated strength in integrity and accountability, I have determined he is the right person for the job," Poirrier told city employees in an email.

Related: Clearwater Officials Apologize To Residents For Recycling Meltdown

Slaughter has been police chief since August 2014 and has been with the department since October 1992.

"My confidence in every member of this agency made this tough decision easier because I know each and every single one of you will continue to move this department forward without losing momentum," the chief told employees in an email announcing his retirement. "I care deeply for every member of the police department."

The assistant city manager position Slaughter will fill has been open since April 6 when Poirrier was appointed permanent city manager after the city council voted to fire former City Manager Jon Jennings Jan. 5.

Slaughter will be responsible for gas, public utilities, public works, marine and aviation and solid waste/general services.

His duties will include resolving ongoing problems with disposal of city recyclables.

On Jan. 6, Poirrier revealed that the city hadn't been recycling any recyclabl materials from homes and businesses since June.

Instead of routing recyclables to Tampa recycling recovery facility operated by Houston-based Waste Management, the recyclables were being sent to the Pinellas County Solid Waste Disposal Complex's waste-to-energy plant.

This was news to the Clearwater City Council and city administrators, who said solid waste staff never informed them of any problems with its recycling contract with Waste Management.

Poirrier said she determined that Waste Management had limited the amount of recyclables the city could bring to the company's plant in Tampa due to capacity issues. In addition, Poirrier said there were staffing issues within the city's solid waste department that prevented the regular disposal of recyclables.

Waste Management director of communications Dawn McCormick, however, refuted claims of a capacity problem, saying the problem had to do with sporadic deliveries of recyclables by the city.

This led to the resignation of the city's assistant solid waste director, Bryant Johnson, just months after longtime solid waste director Earl Gloster retired in November.

The city is also dealing with ongoing problems related to the Clearwater Airpark after the city council entered into a five-year lease with FlyUSA and Paradise Ventures to operate the city-owned airpark and make $2.4 million in capital improvements.

Longtime airpark users say this has resulted in an increase in hangar lease fees, a change from year-long leases to month-to-month leases and revised contracts that permit the airpark operators to terminate the leases of airpark users without notice.

"It's a concern because it takes away from the security of knowing we have a base for our aircraft, so we can plan ahead," said Clearwater pilot Michael Scott.

Additionally, the airpark operators added a clause in the contract for airpark users requiring repairs on aircraft to be completed within 90 days, and Scott said that isn't always possible with supply line issues.

Slaughter will also oversee the ongoing renovations to the Clearwater Beach Marina, including installing a new floating dock systems, replacing utilities, rebuilding the seawall and constructing new marina sales kiosks.