Heidi Petito Scolds Flagler Commissioners For Unprofessional Handling Of Her Pending Summer Resignation

After a scolding from a more liberated County Administrator Heidi Petito, who called her five bosses “sloppy” and unprofessional, the Flagler County Commission today decided against hiring an acting county administrator or borrowing the Flagler County Sheriff’s Mark Strobridge for the job, opting instead to retain Petito in the job through mid-July. That gives the commission four months to find a permanent replacement. 

Petito, the administrator for the past five years and a county employee for about 25 years, said on Feb. 27 she was resigning due to what she described as the toxicity of the commission, three of whose members want different leadership, and two of whose members–Kim Carney and Pam Richardson–have spoken publicly and particularly critically of Petito. 

The administrator gave the commission the option to retain her until July either in a transitional role or until a replacement is found. It was not clear to Petito why, after the commission voted last week to accept her resignation on her terms, including the extension to July, the commission was rehashing whether to hire an interim instead of just going to a normal search for her replacement. 

When Commission Chair Leann Pennington asked her at this morning’s special meeting whether she wanted to leave sooner than July 14, Petito did not hold back. 

 “I’m not worried about seeking outside employment,” Petito said. “This item was scheduled to return on March 16 at a workshop. I think putting it on today is unnecessary. I just think that it continues to display a very sloppy approach to trying to find a transition.” Petito normally sets the agenda. She said the county attorney’s office did so this time, because the March 16 agenda was overloaded, Pennington said. 

“When you decided that you wanted a change in leadership,” she continued, “I said that I would be willing to stay on to tentative budget. I still feel that way, because the budget is the most important thing that you guys are responsible for in county government. I said I would stay on until we got to tentative. We deliver that on July 13. My last day would be July 14. There was discussion among the board that that wasn’t happy. Rip the bandaid off. I think somebody said, make the separation immediate. Let her go. Now. This is sloppy. This is not a professional look. I’m here as a professional. I will stay on. But if we could continue to act as professionals and move forward with the budget while you all search for a permanent replacement, that would be wonderful.” 

Earlier in the meeting, Commissioner Greg Hansen, who with Commissioner Andy Dance did not think firing Petito was necessary, immediately suggested that no interim was necessary as long as Petito was on the job, and the commission was looking for a replacement. 

“We have to start the search. Let’s get going on this,” Hansen said. 

Richardson thought two current department heads could run the administration together. Characteristically, she did not name anyone, though the message was clear: she wants Petito out. Carney was uncomfortable with the word “interim,” the title Petito held before taking the permanent job. “Interim implies that they could, or they may be in line to take over the role,” Carney said, opposing moving current staff into the role. 

“Palm Coast had a struggle” finding a new city manager, Carney said. “We could possibly face the same struggle.” Palm Coast’s search lasted well over a year. As at the County Commission, internal divisions on the city council delayed the appointment. Carney said she is “not opposed to hiring a professional firm.” 

Dance said the Florida Association of County Managers could help frame an expedited search and selection of a permanent replacement. It would be “four to five months, an extended version with more community input could extend beyond that,” Dance said. 

That’s the approach Pennington suggested and the approach the commission approved: the state association would be used to start the process, gathering applicants and turning over the pool to the county, “and then see what the yield is on it, and if we’re comfortable proceeding with interviews.” 

Still, Pennington was uncomfortable leaving Petito without someone who could fill the role of a deputy.  That’s in Petito’s purview to do, Hansen said. Dance suggested borrowing Strobridge, the chief of staff at the Sheriff’s Office, the way Palm Coast did for several months last year. Hansen had spoken to him though. “I don’t think it works,” Hansen said. 

The proposal was not for Strobridge to move in as a deputy to Petito but as the administrator. “That’s why it would have to be a complete break,” Dance said, meaning that Strobridge would have to sever ties with the Sheriff’s Office, something Strobridge was not willing to do even when he worked with Palm Coast (he maintained distant ties). “And it would have to be near unanimous, because something like that doesn’t happen with a split board.”

That’s when Pennington asked Petito if she favored leaving the job sooner than July. “ I have talked to Mr. Strobridge. “He did reach out and offer services. I wasn’t thinking of it.” 

Pennington wants the administrative staff to be comfortable working with its leader and had a chance to see who was being interviewed for the job. “But there continues to be some strife. And if that’s the easier thing to do, then I’m open to it,” Pennington said of the Strobridge hire. “I’m open to it. He would have to cut complete ties with the sheriff’s office.” 

Dance ended the discussion by making a motion to have the county’s Human Resources Department contact Emily Anderson at the Florida Association of County Managers and start the search process. The cost has not been determined.