Building industry lobbyist declines Manatee administrator job after contract scrutiny
Manatee County officials are no longer seeking to hire a new acting county administrator after negotiations soured with a hand-picked candidate for the job.
The Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to continue negotiating a contract with Jon Mast, president and chief lobbyist of the Manatee-Sarasota Building Industry Association. But just two days later, board members learned that Mast is no longer interested in the job.
The board assigned Commissioner Jason Bearden to enter negotiations with Mast, who has led the BIA since 2015. Earlier this week, commissioners said they wanted to tweak the proposed contract, which included a higher salary than any previous administrator.
In an update to the board during Thursday’s Land Use Meeting, Bearden said he offered Mast a salary of $195,000. An earlier version of the proposed contract would have given Mast a $225,000 salary.
Bearden said he based his offer on the salary that former County Administrator Scott Hopes, who has a doctorate, was offered when he was hired in April 2021. At the time, commissioners paid Hopes $199,000. Because Mast has a master’s degree, Bearden offered slightly less money.
“He stated that he would sleep on it and go from there, but obviously, he didn’t come back and counter that offer,” Bearden said.
Manatee offered Mast lower salary
When Hopes made his sudden departure from the county in February, he made a $215,000 salary. Mast’s proposed salary would have made him the highest-paid administrator in Manatee County’s history, board members said.
County Attorney Bill Clague, who negotiated the employment contract alongside Bearden, did not say why Mast withdrew himself from consideration.
During Tuesday’s meeting, several commissioners raised concerns about Mast’s proposed contract, which included a $225,000 salary, a $600 monthly car allowance and the right to become a deputy county administrator after the board hires a permanent administrator.
Board members have already begun a national search to hire a permanent administrator later this year.
Last week, Commissioner Mike Rahn suggested hiring Mast. The proposal was not included on the meeting agenda. Residents criticized the lack of public notice and several board members’ ties to the BIA.
Good faith negotiations?
Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge said he was disappointed in Bearden’s negotiation efforts. He said he was “perplexed” that Bearden advocated for a new administrator without securing a contract that Mast could support.
“We’ve come back empty-handed after one conversation,” Van Ostenbridge said, suggesting that Bearden had not negotiated with Mast in good faith.
Bearden disagreed and said he was working “in the best interest of the county.”
“If you’re not willing to counter an offer, you probably don’t want the job,” Bearden said.
Commissioner James Satcher defended Bearden’s contract talks, noting that Mast had a chance to come back to the table for further discussion.
“I don’t see the controversy here. It is pretty well recognized that if you’re in negotiations and they don’t make a counteroffer, there’s probably a reason,” said Satcher. “What’s the benefit of this argument in front of people? I don’t see one.”
When Bearden voted in support of negotiating a new contract with Mast, he said he supported a reorganization of county leadership, suggesting that the current structure of the government was “costing us millions of dollars every day that we can’t get this right.”
“What we’ve done hasn’t worked under certain leadership and that’s the reason why I requested a change,” said Bearden.
Manatee seeks ‘continuity and unity’
With Mast out of the running for the job, commissioners said they should focus on supporting Acting County Administrator Lee Washington while they continue the national search process.
“I’m not going to say I’m unhappy about this. It was disruptive from Day 1. This is a waste of time bickering over this,” said Commissioner George Kruse, who previously spoke out against the attempt to hire Mast. “We need stability. We have stability. We have a great interim right now. That stability is going to come from a national search.”
“I think it’s time to move forward, to stand behind the interim we have, move forward with the national search. We need continuity and unity,” added Commissioner Amanda Ballard.
The decision to stick with Washington is expected to cap the end of a tumultuous period for the board, which also recently voted to oust Van Ostenbridge from his role as chairman of the board, citing a lack of proper communication on government decisions. Commissioners later reversed course and reappointed Van Ostenbridge to the position.
“Sometimes you have to do drastic things to get the results that you want,” said Bearden. “Now the county administrator knows what each of us wants and needs. We got the results we wanted.”
Rahn said he hoped to bring Mast in to lead the county’s 2,000-employee workforce in an effort to prepare the county for a population that is expected to approach 500,000 residents in 2030.
“We thought what we were doing would be in the best interest of the county,” Rahn said. “From this point forward, we just need to move on. There’s a lot of heavy lifting to do.”
This story was originally published April 27, 2023 at 11:11 AM.
