By Mary Thurwachter
Looks like a little more tinkering will be required for that unique contract Town Attorney Glen Torcivia negotiated for South Palm Beach’s new manager, Jamie Titcomb.
Titcomb’s two-year contract has him working 20-25 hours a week at $82 an hour. The hours are capped at 25 to avoid triggering the town’s health insurance plan, which is automatically given to employees who work at least 26 hours a week. He doesn’t get pension benefits or paid holidays.
The problem is that the transition hasn’t been running as smoothly as hoped and Titcomb, who came on board June 5, has been averaging 30-31 hours a week. The previous town manager, Robert Kellogg, was a full-time employee. His leaving on May 25 sparked the resignation of Beatrice Good, the town’s financial consultant. Since then, Donna Mitchell, who issued building permits, also left.
All those departures at the same time contributed to the mess Titcomb inherited.
“It’s an interesting and challenging job,” Titcomb said at the Aug. 8 Town Council meeting. “I’ve been dealing with a lot of things that probably wouldn’t have to be dealt with in another town. We’re trying to right the ship.”
From the start, Titcomb, who was town manager in Loxahatchee Groves until he retired a year ago, didn’t want another full-time job. He wants to stick to the terms of the contract.
“Nobody would like to reduce hours more than I would — except maybe my wife,” he said.
“We’ve had a really rough go in the last couple months,” said Mayor Bonnie Fischer. She suggested the manager’s position might be better salaried, rather than per hour.
“We’re still under what we budgeted for a full-time manager,” said council member Bill LeRoy. He said it wasn’t surprising that the new manager would need more time at the start, but he thought hours would naturally be reduced as time progressed.
The contract adjustments will be worked out by Torcivia and Titcomb.
In the meantime, the town has hired a new financial consultant, Ron Bennett, who appeared at the meeting and had worked with the town in the past.
“I don’t have the July financials yet,” he said, apologizing for the tardiness. “We’re playing catch-up here. We walked in behind the eight ball. Nobody left us a road map where all the records are.”
He said he hoped to have records all sorted out by the meeting in September.
Two new automated systems being initiated should be helpful, Titcomb said.
“One is MyGovernment-Online, which is a permitting process,” he said. “People will be able to fill out their own paperwork as well as pay for it on a web-face portal.”
The other program, CivicReady, is the replacement for BlackBoard, and is for emergency notifications “as well as other things going on in the town,” Titcomb said. “Both systems will increase the efficiency of staff through portals.”
In other news, the town:
• Heard from the Sheriff’s Office about the importance of keeping car doors locked and valuables out of sight to avoid vehicle burglaries. The topic came up after the council heard that burglars vandalized 17 cars at the Imperial House and across the street at South Palm Beach Villas on Aug. 3. The vandals, who broke car windows, came from Lantana Beach, which is open 24 hours a day.
• Heard from Ben Saver, the deputy town attorney, about a new state law, Bill 774, that requires mayors and council members to disclose their full net worth. Starting next year, they will have to disclose all assets over $1,000 with additional information about income.
“This is really a full financial disclosure compared to what you had to do in the past,” Saver said. “We can do a quick PowerPoint presentation for you at one of our meetings this year, and that way we can get a little bit deeper into what the requirements are and answer questions.”
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