Homestead City Manager George Gretsas will very likely get a two-year extension on his contract tonight, in part as a pat on the back for his role in the investigation that led to the arrest last month of former Mayor Steve Bateman on public corruption charges.
Gretsas, hired last year, doesn’t get a raise in his close to $300,000 salary, including benefits. But he gets his contract extended through Nov. 21, 2016.
And it comes a little more than two weeks before the primary election and less than two months before the general election that could, in effect, change who his bosses are and what his life expectancy could be at the city.
In fact, the city manager has been sort of part of the mayoral campaign all along.
Gretsas is a key part of the case against Bateman, who was charged with unlawful compensation Aug. 28 after he allegedly took a hush hush $125-an-hour gig with Community Health of South Florida, Inc., to secretly lobby the city and county for CHI projects. Bateman, who had already been bashing Gretsas publicly, is incredibly running for his job back and you can be pretty sure he won’t be able to work with the manager if the people are dumb enough to elect him.
Former Councilman Jeff Porter is running for mayor partly on a pro-manager platform with the backing of the business community that did not like Bateman’s bashing. He would not likely propose replacing Gretsas.
The other candidate, hotelier Mark Bell, husband to former mayor and Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell, is an unknown. But a scary unknown to many who think “Ooooh, the Bells are back.” There are some who think that if Bell wins, he will replace Gretsas. But Ladra is not so sure. I mean, Gretsas is Bateman’s public enemy #1 and they would share that.
So the two year extension on the manager’s contract could be part reward for his role in the corruption investigation and part job security.
Mayor Jon Burgess, who stepped into the seat after Bateman was suspended, says the reward is for more than just Gretsas part in the corruption case. He said he first asked city attorney Richard Weiss about a contract extension in June (of course, he knew about the investigation back then; we all did).
And Burgess said he did it precisely because the election was coming.
“Knowing there was an election coming and we have had two previous elections where the managers were replaced right after, I just thought that guaranteeing the contract would allow more stability to the city,” Burgess said.
Oh, and it’s all pretty much a done deal. There is not expected to be any contention with the manager or objection to the contract extension. People in town generally like him.
“Everybody in the community I speak to is pleased with the direction he is taking the city and the job he has done,” Burgess said.
Insiders say he is a welcome breath of fresh air after several years of tainted managers who favored one elected or another. Especially now as the man who helped take Bateman down, he is seen as their champion.
And Gretsas, former city manager in Fort Lauderdale, is no dummy. He has solidified his presence in the city throughout the media coverage that followed. He dominated the press conference that followed only hours after Bateman’s arrest and positioned himself as the city leader to turn to in times of stress. The press painted him as Homestead’s hero.
“Most of the residents and the council and the business community are going to be behind the city manager, because he went against the big, bad wolf,” said Councilman Elvis Maldonado, who will support the extension because he thinks Gretsas has done a very good job overall.
Maldonado, one of two incumbents up for re-election now that the third is unopposed, said however that while he supports keeping the manager on for another two years, he finds the lack of process troubling. He said all department heads are evaluated and that regardless of who is in the position, there should be a process for the council to review performance. And he said he will bring that up tonight.
“The issue that I have is the process and how its come before us,” Maldonado told Ladra, adding that he and the other council members got an email with the resolution attached around noon Monday from the city’s law firm saying that Vice Mayor Jon Burgess and Councilwoman Judy Waldman had each contacted them separately about putting the item on the agenda.
“I didn’t expect this at all. There’s been no process,” Maldonado said, adding that he, too, found the timing “funny.”
“The city manager has my support. I like what he’s done in the city. The only thing I would have liked to have done was to sit down and have some kind of review committee,” the councilman added.
“It’s just bad timing. I don’t think it sends the right message to the community,” Maldonado said.
Councilman Jimmie Williams is also concerned about the timing.
“It’s not time yet. I like George but his contract is not up for renewal now,” Williams said. “..In this climate, they have made it political. The same two people who put this forward are the two who spoke at the press conference.”
Waldman, who thanked Gretsas profusely for his role in Bateman’s arrest at that press conference, called me back and said there was nothing wrong with the timing. “This is how it’s done. We do this all the time,” Waldman told me. “Every couple of years, we have elections and the new council has an opportunity to weigh in.”
Yeah, but wouldn’t that come after the elections in November?
“No. This is just routine,” Waldman said. “Our city manager has done an excellent time and it is time to reward him. There was only a year left on his contract so it came up.”
Williams thinks Gretsas should stay on, too.
“I have no qualms with George. He’s done a superb job. I just think that in the timing right before the election is not right. It’s taking an administrative job like this is and making it very political in an election year when his contract is not even on the table,” the councilman told Ladra.
He also feels that there should be a review process that involves all the council members.
“It should be done with seven people, the full council,” Williams said, adding that he’s had a few calls about it.
“In the wake of these turbulent times, I think the process has become too political,” he said, adding that he does not think the election of Bell should scare Gretsas.
“I believe it’s not an issue,” he said, adding that there would be enough supportive council members on the dais to block any attempt to replace him. “I don’t see it happening. It would have to be something catastrophic to change that. I don’t know if that’s a good enough reason to be considering this now.
“They’re making it an issue. They are creating an issue.”
Homestead manager to get pat on back (read: job security) added by Ladra on
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