Former parks director tired of ‘nonsense’ around commission run.
A Columbia County department head quit abruptly Thursday to continue his campaign for county commission.
As the Board of County Commissioners debated granting a leave of absence to Clint Pittman during its meeting Thursday that would have allowed him to run for the District 2 seat on board, Pittman ended the debate by resigning. That move lets Pittman continue his run for office and allows him to concentrate on that run for the commission seat.
The resignation followed discussion from the board about granting Pittman’s request to take an unpaid leave from June 8 — the first day of qualifying and what County Attorney Joel Foreman had previously opined would trigger the county policy that doesn’t allow employees to run for a seat on the commission — until the election results of the District 2 race is certified, Nov. 3 or until he withdrew from the race.
Pittman, the county’s parks and landscape director, said the resignation was effective immediately and he would return his keys and county truck to Assistant County Manager Kevin Kirby and fill out the necessary paperwork.
“I’m trying to do what’s right for Columbia County and what’s best for Columbia County,” Pittman said. “People instead are trying to find fault in my dedication to Columbia County.
“It’s with a sad heart but with pride I stand here today and resign my position as landscape and parks director for Columbia County, effective immediately.”
While Commissioner Robby Hollingsworth made a motion to grant Pittman’s request since the board issued a leave last month for a building inspector to visit family across the country, no other commissioner seconded that motion. Foreman reminded the board that its decision on whether or not to grant the leave was to be based on the fact that it believed it was in the best interest of the county.
Rocky Ford, the sitting District 2 commission, recused himself from any vote on Pittman’s leave request since he is seeking re-election and will be running against Pittman. Everett Phillips, the District 4 commissioner, thought the leave was to begin immediately and wanted to know what happened to his employment once he qualified for election.
Once Foreman explained the leave would take place once Pittman qualified — either through submitting the requisite petitions from voters or paying a qualifying fee during the week of June 8-12 — Phillips also wanted to avoid voting on the topic.
“If I had someone that wanted to run against me, I wouldn’t feel comfortable saying, ‘Yeah, give him the leave,’” he said. “I’ll pull my vote.”
Foreman told him that he wouldn’t be allowed to recuse himself since there would be no conflict with Pittman not running against him.
That was enough for Pittman, though, who had remained seated throughout the discussion to that point. Todd Kennon, Pittman’s attorney, had previously spoke, addressing the request for leave and why, according to Florida case law, the leave would qualify Pittman as being separated from his employment to meet the county policy.
Pittman, who has worked for the county for 26 years and retired several months ago while continuing to work through the state’s Deferred Retirement Option Program, said he decided about 15 years ago that he wanted to run for office once he retired.
So when he retired, he hired Kennon in an effort to make sure he followed the rules correctly.
Still, Pittman said Thursday that his decision to run had caused issues, including an allegation that he violated county policies regarding his run while on vacation. That led to an investigation by County Manager David Kraus and the county’s HR department.
“I have personally witnessed more argumentative and hostile workplace since all this started, again, all due to political reasons,” he said. “This whole thing is nonsense.”
That won’t be an issue for Pittman moving forward.
How much longer it is an obstacle for other county employees who may seek office is also questionable. Pittman said he believed the policy was created years ago “for political reasons to keep good people from running against sitting commissioners.”
Both Hollingsworth and Commission Chairman Tim Murphy said they wanted to change the county’s policy and get rid of that language. Murphy called it an antiquated rule.
“A rule created by elected officials to keep a certain group of people from running against them unless they quit their job, to me, is inherently wrong,” Hollingsworth said, mentioning earlier that he believed Pittman was a very important employee to the county’s operations. “I’m going to put it on this board to change that rule.
“I don’t think any man or woman should have to quit their job to run against me.”
Murphy added: “We’re coming up at a time in this life where it’s getting harder and harder to find people to run. You’ve got some lunatics and kooks that are going to be running this country if people don’t start standing up and doing this.”
Foreman agreed the board had the power to change that ruling if it desired. He noted, though, that it also was included in the county’s Code of Ethics and, thus, would need a super majority vote of 4-1 to change it.
Ford — who previously asked Kraus for his opinion of the situation since he was the “county manager and it’s time you step up and be a county manager” only for Kraus to decline to address personnel issues, particularly prospective ones — said he had no problem with Pittman’s desire to run for office. Rather, he said when a rule or policy is in place, it needs to be followed.
“Everybody knows what the rules are when they step into the arena,” he said. “You can change the rules if you want to and I don’t know why this rule was invoked…But at the end of the day it is a rule.
“Rules are rules. At the end of the day everybody knows what the rules are when they step up to the plate. Don’t try to change the rules, bend the rules or break the rules to accommodate you. If Clint wants to run, I’m 100% for him running. I think everybody that wants to run should run and let the people decide. That’s why we have elections. That’s what makes this country great. But, at the end of the day, when you step up to the plate and make that decision to do it, you know what the rules are when you step up there so abide by the rules. It’s as simple as that.”