County Commission Reduces Hunzeker's Spending Authority

BRADENTON – After a testy exchange at Tuesday's meeting, the BOCC voted to curb Manatee County Administrator Ed Hunzeker's administrative authority, halving the $1 million limit on contracts he could authorize without board approval.

The item, which was requested by Commissioner Robin DiSabatino during commissioner comments at the previous meeting, follows months of disintegrating relations between Hunzeker and some board members after the administrator ignored board direction to involve the surrounding community in a decision on locating a controversial emergency services radio tower.

While the board wanted the administration to consider alternative sites to a spot adjacent to Kinnan Elementary school that had been slated for a park, staff's insistence on moving forward despite that guidance ended up making a site change too costly.

DiSabatino motioned to fire Hunzeker over the incident in September. While she was unable to move her fellow board members on that action, the board ultimately voted to officially reprimand the administrator for "failure to exercise professional judgment," resulting in "insubordination."

While the motion's strongest supporters–Commissioners DiSabatino, Baugh and Smith–insisted that Tuesday's item was a matter of policy and was not directed at Hunzeker personally, it was difficult not to see the motion as a reflection of some commissioners having lost faith in his leadership.

Commissioners Betsy Benac and Carol Whitmore quickly came to Hunzeker's defense. Benac argued that all of the money authorized by Hunzeker in such instances had been previously approved by commissioners in the county budget anyway, and that reducing the limit would only create more bureaucracy, greatly slowing down the wheels of government. Whitmore, who has arguably been Hunzeker's strongest ally on the board, said she felt as though the motion was a personal attack on the administrator that she couldn't support.

Manatee County procurement official Theresa Webb explained that the limit had been doubled from $500,000 during the economic downturn in 2008 so that the administration could move approved projects forward without waiting for the next meeting. She also answered questions about the practices of surrounding counties, noting that Manatee's limit is far higher than others, with Hillsborough County requiring explicit board approval for purchases of more than $100,000 and Sarasota requiring it for more than $150,000.

Though they approved the reduction, commissioners requested that staff provide more information as to how comparable local governments deal with limiting the lower purchasing amounts, with commissioners Benac, Whitmore and Jonsson expressing skepticism as to the reported practices of the other counties, none of which had a limit higher than $250,000.