Fill-in successor is hired for six months at most
By John Pacenti
Lynne Ladner, Ocean Ridge’s sometimes embattled town manager, resigned after commissioners gave her poor evaluations, particularly hammering her on budget and fiscal responsibility, as well as leadership.
The commission, in a special meeting April 14, hired Michelle Lee Heiser, a former Port St. Lucie councilwoman and town manager for Sewall’s Point.
Heiser will be paid $18,670 a month for no more than six months — the same rate as Ladner’s $224,000 annual salary. She has offered assistance in finding a permanent replacement for Ladner.
Heiser will guide the town as it hammers out the budget for the next fiscal year and sets the property tax rate.
In her April 3 resignation letter, Ladner said she has accomplished many of her goals for Ocean Ridge.
“I feel it is the right time to step aside and allow new leadership to guide the town forward,” Ladner wrote. “It has been a privilege to serve the residents and work alongside the dedicated staff and leadership of Ocean Ridge.”
Mayor Geoff Pugh and Vice Mayor Steve Coz thanked Ladner for her service at the April 7 commission meeting, but didn’t have much to add afterward. Commissioners, on the consent agenda, approved a measure that added three weeks of severance pay — a provision under the contract — for Ladner for a total of 17 weeks or $73,168.
Pugh declined to elaborate as to why the three weeks were added.
The Coastal Star obtained the commission evaluations of the town manager after a public records request. All were filled out in February and included evaluation score sheets for Ladner’s performance.
Budget concerns
Over the last six months, Ladner had been criticized by commissioners for her lack of organization, failing to provide pertinent information for meetings, and making critical errors when calculating the budget. She was a controversial hire, first serving as interim manager starting in August 2022, then rejected for the permanent position by one commission but hired by another after the March 2023 election.
“The last two budget sessions have been an exasperating struggle of missing information and incorrect numbers,” Coz wrote in his evaluation of Ladner. “Lynne has not embraced the fact that she is CEO of the town.”
The commission had to correct a mathematical mistake in the 2023-24 budget after the state called out the town for the error. It resulted in a $58,000 windfall — but commissioners said it could have gone the other way and affected projects in the town.
Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy said Ladner made the same mistake in an early version of the current fiscal year’s budget, using net values of property rather than gross values as the state requires, which would have overtaxed residents by more than $56,000. Ladner bristled at the criticism.
“I’m worried about the mistakes and the errors and the defensiveness,” Cassidy said at the Aug. 5 meeting. “So it’s just a great frustration.”
Evaluation scores
The evaluations rated Ladner on a scale from 1 (unsatisfactory) to 5 (outstanding) in nine areas: leadership, planning and organization, budget and fiscal responsibility, commissioner interaction, community relations, priorities, operations, staff development, and compliance.
Pugh did not write comments on his evaluation, but he gave Ladner an “unsatisfactory” score for community relations and a “needs improvement” for leadership.
A perfect score would be 45. Pugh gave a score of 21, Coz 24, and Cassidy 19. Commissioners David Hutchins and Ainar Aijala Jr. gave her scores of 23 and 19, respectively.
Coz gave Ladner a low score of 1.5 for budget responsibility and a 2 for priorities. He gave her 2.5 or 3 for other categories, which is a satisfactory mark, and a 4 for exceeding expectations for compliance with regulatory standards.
Coz said in his evaluation of Ladner last year that a new manager should be given two years to meet the challenge of facing “headwinds of institutional knowledge.”
“Unfortunately, in my opinion, this excellence has not occurred during this period,” he wrote in his recent evaluation.
Coz said Ladner failed to admonish staff when needed, thus “amplifying perceived grievances.” Ladner was a fierce defender of her staff and fought for equal compensation for administrative employees, clashing with commissioners.
Cassidy, though sometimes critical of Ladner, also worked closely with the town manager on issues of securing a lobbyist and on planning a kayak trail for land recently purchased behind Town Hall.
She gave her a score of 1 for budget and fiscal responsibility. Cassidy’s comments were extensive and detailed, praising Ladner for partnering up on finding a lobbyist but then saying, “However, when asked to obtain bids from lobbying firms, her efforts were minimal.”
Cassidy indicated she was still willing to work with Ladner, offering several suggestions for improvement, such as being more receptive to suggestions.
In conclusion, Cassidy wrote, “Please be more communicative about absences. Lynne is frequently not in the office. Health issues are understandable, but the absences seem to be excessive.”
Hutchins gave Ladner “needs improvement” scores of 2 in four categories. “Overall, her performance has been satisfactory, but occasionally she is less than prepared for the commission meetings,” he wrote, noting Ladner has failed to show up at Town Hall for work without explanation several times.
Aijala gave Ladner a score of 1 under the category of leadership and provided some of the most critical comments.
“Lynne demonstrated a complete lack of understanding that she works for the commissioners and residents,” he wrote. “Her approach is combative and defensive rather than supportive and helpful.”
Ladner proud of work
Ladner might have seen the writing on the wall, applying for the town manager position in Juno Beach in January, according to public documents. She noted in an email in that application that she declared bankruptcy in 2014 because of medical hardship. She used Pugh and Coz as references for the Juno Beach position.
Ladner has had similar positions in the small towns of Pahokee, Kenneth City in Pinellas County and in Michigan and Kansas.
Yet, her stay in Ocean Ridge has always been rocky. She was hired as a temporary town manager in August 2022.
Commissioners voted to make her position permanent in January 2023, but reversed themselves the next month over concerns that Ladner had acted at the urging of a minority of commissioners in asking departing Police Chief Richard Jones, who was resigning to take the same position in Gulf Stream, to leave quickly.
After an election the next month that put a new commissioner on the dais and shifted the commission’s balance of power, the majority gave her the job in April 2023.
Ladner, in her resignation letter, said she was proud of several accomplishments, including overseeing the implementation of new computer software, managing the bidding for the $2.9 million project to replace town water mains, and the $1.5 million purchase of land behind Town Hall for mangrove preservation.
“I leave this role with immense pride in what we have accomplished and with confidence in the Town’s bright future,” she concluded her resignation letter.
Ladner said after the April 7 meeting that she had employment opportunities but could not elaborate at the time.
New manager’s plans
The commission wasted little time pivoting, hiring Heiser after being wowed by her application, which included a 90-day action plan that looks to evaluate roles “to ensure the right people are in the right roles for the town’s current needs.”
Heiser seemed to be focused on improving staff morale to “cultivate culture and pride in public service focus.”
Pugh said Heiser was a candidate for the position two years ago but withdrew her name from consideration. She was recommended by Town Attorney Christy Goddeau.
“I thought she was terrific,” Coz said. “The interview went extremely well.”
On an extensive résumé, Heiser served as senior vice president of operations for National Vision from 2014 to 2018. She was a Port St. Lucie councilwoman from 2004 to 2016 and served as town manager for Sewall’s Point from 2019 to 2022. Recently, she has provided executive coaching.
Coz said that Heiser offered to go to the Florida City and County Management Association conference in Tallahassee from May 28-31.
“She said she knew a ton of people up there, and she could basically find us a permanent manager at that convention,” he said.
Heiser, reached on April 28, had yet to have one-on-one conversations with commissioners since her hire.
“Out of respect for them, I will wait to share any outcomes discovered,” she said. “I can say there is nothing extraordinary worrisome. The team is working well together and is energized for a good budget season.”
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