County Manager Dodges Bullet Tuesday

D3 Commissioner Infantini makes her case for terminating County Manager Peggy Busacca

The County Commission voted Tuesday to table discussion of the termination of County Manager Peggy Busacca’s contract until mid January. Commissioner Trudie Infantini, District 3, made her debut as well as waves by adding the item to the agenda last week.

Infantini, along with Commissioners Fisher, District 1 and Anderson, District 5, were sworn in last Tuesday.

Only a handful of public comments were made, but the majority were of the opinion that it was “too soon”, and that Mrs. Infantini had “snuck” this in at the last minute before a holiday weekend.

None of the comments directly addressed the issue at hand – whether or not Ms. Busacca was capable of leading the county through the difficult times ahead. In fact, I was so concerned with the fact the comments were off topic, I submitted my own comment card and spoke for the first time ever before the Brevard County Commission – as the lone audience member in support of the motion.

For those that said it was “too soon”, I asked was three plus years not long enough to assess Ms. Busacca’s performance as County Manager?

Mrs. Infantini clearly stated in her opening statement she has been engaged and dealing with county management for more than two years in her capacity as an auditor – surely that is long enough for her to render her own judgment as to whether or not Ms. Busacca is the right person for the job?

While Commissioner Fisher stated he would like the opportunity to work with Mrs. Busacca before making that kind of decision, Commissioners Bolin and Nelson could not say the same. They have had ample time to sample and evaluate Mrs. Busacca’s performance.

What I found even more disturbing, though, is the fact that the Commissioners seemed to agree with Infantini’s premises: that the county faces serious financial challenges, and that Ms. Busacca does not have the skill set required to meet those challenges; they did not, however, agree with her conclusion that Busacca’s contract should be terminated and she should be replaced.

Instead, Commissioners Bolin and Fisher actually spoke of creating and hiring a “CFO” or “budget person” to help Mrs. Busacca get a handle on things! Only in the Alice in Wonderland world of government can you begin with a motion to terminate one bureaucrat and end up with a proposal to keep said bureaucrat and hire another. That the notion the county has the financial wherewithal to create a position that would command a ~$100K annual salary was being seriously discussed goes to show the county has bigger problems than the County Manager.

I am hopeful that Mrs, Infantini’s motion has begun a process that will bring accountability to the County Commission and result in the hiring of a County Manager that will be able to make the tough calls during the economic downturn we are soon to experience.

I can’t resist pointing out that had Roger Shealy been elected in District 1, that process would have been much quicker and less costly for the taxpayers of Brevard. I understand Commissioner Fisher is a savvy businessman, though, and I have high hopes he will come around in short order.

Finally, whether or not you agree with her on this issue, you have to give Mrs. Infantini credit for having the courage to follow through on her campaign promise to bring accountability to county government. It takes a lot of courage to do what she did at her very first meeting, and I heard her being interviewed by the HomeTown News afterwards saying something to the effect of “I was elected to represent the citizens of my district, not to be a politician”. As one of her constituents I can safely say she is doing exactly what I voted for her to do, and I am very grateful to have her there.

Give’em hell Trudie!