Letter: Julington Creek Plantation CDD

Letter: Julington Creek Plantation CDD

Sam Lansdale
Julington Creek Plantation CDD
Board of Supervisors, Seat 1

Dear Editor:

After just four months on the job, Yahoo! CEO Scott Thompson was terminated after it was discovered he had lied on his resume. How about Dave Edmondson, who in 2006 was forced to resign as Radio Shack CEO for claiming two fake degrees, or Ronald Zarrella of Bausch & Lomb, who listed a phony MBA from New York University on his resume, then offered to resign as CEO and wound up seeing his $1.1 million bonus rescinded. That’s all it took to undermine credibility with their board members.

That brings us to the Julington Creek Plantation Community Development District. A year after being hired to be the new general manager at a salary of $85,000, it was discovered that Edd Mooney apparently had not earned a Bachelor degree as he claimed in his resume. At the September meeting of the Board of Supervisors, Mr. Mooney’s educational level, the search process, and the job description were discussed and debated.

It was noted that the job posting clearly indicated a Bachelor degree was a job requirement to become general manager. About 185 resumes from potentially qualified candidates were received – many of whom were very attractive candidates, and all of whom claimed to hold a Bachelor degree. Some candidates who did not hold a Bachelor degree, but were otherwise attractive candidates, were disqualified for lack of the required Bachelor degree. The Community Development District hired Mooney assuming he held the required Bachelor degree.

Did you know that according to Florida Statute 817.566, if you lie about your academic credentials, you could be charged with a criminal offense?

After much debate and, in my opinion, inadequate answers to questions of certain Supervisors, I made a motion, which was seconded, to dismiss Mooney due to a lack of confidence.

Supervisors Kannatt-Gapinski, Klein and Jacobs voted that he be retained. Even more bizarre, they proceeded to change the job description to accommodate Mooney’s lack of a Bachelor degree. To add insult to injury, three Supervisors voted to increase Mooney’s yearly salary from the initial $85,000 to $107,000 in just one year – while apparently forgetting that he lacked the required education that they had set.

I understand that certain Supervisors are advocating that the Community Development District enter into a long-term employment contract with the general manager, of the type which typically includes a substantial severance payment.

At the November meeting, the Board of Supervisors performed the general manager’s yearly evaluation. All five Supervisors provided their performance ratings prior to the meeting. Chairperson Kannatt-Gapinski produced and distributed a summary of the five evaluations. At the meeting it was discovered the performance factor ratings were all rounded up (meaning, for example, an overall score of 4.1 was rounded up to a 5.0) giving the perception of a higher overall rating than was actually received.

Chairperson Kannatt-Gapinski claims she accidentally made a rounding error in the summary. However, she coincidentally rated the general manager the highest of all the Supervisors (4.78 out of 5.0) on the evaluation. So, was Chairperson Kannatt-Gapinski’s “liberal” performance rating intentional? I don’t know, but I do know that 5.0-out-of-5.0 looks better than a 4.1-out-of-5.0 when salary increases are being considered.

What does this all mean for Julington Creek? Our Board of Supervisors and general manager are in positions of leadership and set the tone for the entire organization – including all subordinates – by our actions and inactions.

It appears to me, from these recent events, that deceitful behavior is acceptable at the Julington Creek Community Development District. When it is advertised that a particular job requires a minimum educational level – we really don’t mean it. In fact, we’ll reward you if you mislead us.