What did we tell you? Yesterday, county commissioner Mike Whitehead admitted that after eliminating the Santa Rosa Island Authority he wants to transfer the agency's entire staff, including general manager Buck Lee, to the county payroll: "Whitehead said he'd keep all the employees and General Manager W.A. 'Buck' Lee to run a beach services department... ."Remember, Whitehead is the guy who claims there's no need for "two bureaucracies." Apparently, just one huge new bureaucracy that happens to protect a fellow pol whose current job is hanging by a thread.
Although preliminary signs are that Whitehead is one vote shy of dissolving the SRIA, the story isn't over. Or, to continue yesterday's analogy, Dracula isn't back in his coffin yet.
Eliminating the SRIA requires concurrence of the state legislature, which next convenes in March of '07. Buck Lee's one-year contract is up for renewal in February.
The timing is a bit awkward. It's hard to imagine the SRIA board wants to keep Lee after this, but it's equally hard to imagine them driving a stake through his heart while Whitehead still holds an axe over the agency's head.
Maybe they should offer Lee a 3-month renewal that just happens to expire the day after the legislature adjourns.
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