Residents distracted by top salary

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

Twenty-four public employees in Flagler County were listed in The News-Journal’s report of the 269 in Volusia-Flagler who earned at least $100,000 of taxpayer money in 2010. Check out the Flagler list on www.PalmCoastObserver.com.

It’s a hot topic. The box on this page shows what some people have said on our Facebook page.

And while other officials also make big salaries (Schools Superintendent Janet Valentine made $145,000 last year; County Administrator Craig Coffey made about $153,000), readers are particularly wound up about Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon, whose taxable income was $183,001.02 in 2010. (His take-home pay was about $168,000.)

It seems that some people resent Landon for making as much money as he does and see him as a symbol for what’s wrong with Palm Coast. One reader on Facebook said that, for example, even if the residents don’t want improvements done to Bulldog Drive, Landon would “shove it down our throats.”

Similar sentiments are common with regard to City Hall. He made the case for a new City Hall at City Council meetings and neighborhood settings last year, and he has become synonymous with the issue in many people’s minds.

But Landon, as much of a salesman as he is, cannot shove anything down anyone’s throat. He doesn’t have the authority to spend big sums of money, set direction for policy or sign any laws. In reality, he’s not nearly as powerful as everyone seems to think. The City Council has the real power in the city. Other than the day-to-day operations analogous to ordering office supplies, Landon can do practically nothing without their consent.

If there is ever a City Hall built in Palm Coast, it will not be because Landon voted to do it. It will be because the City Council voted to do it.

Landon spends a lot of time with the City Council members one-on-one, and sometimes he tries to persuade them on particular issues. But the City Council members think for themselves, and when they disagree, they vote against his recommendations (e.g., the stormwater fees for owners of vacant land).

There are those in the community who might say we are naïve, and that we’re just being manipulated, but we have spent a lot of time with Landon since last February, and though we don’t agree with everything he does (e.g., the approach to the stormwater fees), he has always been honest and fair with us.

He lives here. He wants the city of Palm Coast to succeed.

And it’s his job. If he were to do anything the City Council members ever felt was destructive or harmful to the city, they could fire him in the next meeting. Despite his salary, his job security is worse than practically anyone else’s in Palm Coast: Every other week, he could be fired — publicly.

And the system works. Landon’s bosses are the City Council members. The City Council answers to the voters. With a mix of paid professionals and resident representatives — all of whose jobs are dependent on making the city a great success — we have a government that works by the people and for the people.

Is he worth the money? Look around. This city is a great place to live. When streets were the issue, they were addressed. When swales were the issue, Landon and his staff found the solution and persuasively presented it for City Council approval. When the budget had to be chopped last year, Landon consolidated departments, cut his own office staff and made the cuts. Although he has no power to address unemployment or foreclosure, he is doing what he can by checking one thing after another off the city’s Prosperity 2021 business plan — all in tandem with City Council. He has decades of experience, and this year he will skip a pay raise for the third year in a row.

If he were managing a similar organization with the same results in the private sector, we would never know his salary, but it would be significantly higher. He’s here because he wants to be in public service.

But public service comes with its fair share of issues. Some residents feel free to stand at the podium in the City Council meetings and shout insults and My taxes pay your salary! These are tax dollars, so the money is seen as almost sacred.

Some residents have argued that his salary is too high. The Flagler Tea Party is organized to make this an issue and seeks candidates who are willing to cut his salary.

Will a Landon pay cut solve the budget problems? Absolutely not. Homeowners paid an average of $2.76 each for his salary last year. If he were to take a pay cut, residents will save a few dimes, if they’re lucky.

Still, it must be dancing through Landon’s head: If he takes a voluntary pay cut, his detractors may trust him more, and he would take a big step toward shedding the reputation that has dogged him. That might make his job more secure. The only way to send a message to those who are fixated on money may be to speak their language.

That’s Landon’s call. But when the issue is raised again, we hope the residents will be looking at a more complete picture of Landon and not just sound bites.

Send letters to the editor to editor@palm coastobserver.com.