by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The mayor’s proposal to allow his fire chief to keep his job and his pension could be facing an early retirement.
The City Council will ultimately decide whether to allow Mayor John Peyton to rehire Fire Chief Rick Barrett following a mandatory July retirement. However, several Council members, the mayor’s office and local pension officials all agree the plan should be scrapped if an ongoing State review finds that it violates Florida’s retirement laws.
The City sent the proposal to the Florida Division of Retirement last week. If the local ordinance is found to violate their standards, the City would lose a $6 million annual State contribution to the local Police and Fire Pension Fund, said the fund’s administrator, John Keane.
“It’s the old golden rule, they got all the gold so they make the rules,” said Keane. “They could conceivably withhold that contribution, and we’re not eager or willing to take action that’s going to put us in violation of State rules.”
If the State were to withhold the money, the City would likely make up the difference said Keane. He expects the State to decide in time for the results to be considered by the local pension fund board at its May 20 meeting.
The mayor wouldn’t press the proposal if the State ruled against it, said mayor’s office spokesperson Heather Murphy. She said the City sought State guidance to ensure the City’s compliance with Florida guidelines.
“The mayor is obviously not interested in jeopardizing State funding,” she said.
A spokesperson for the Division of Retirement said exceptions have been granted, but only to elected officials. He said the City’s request would require State pension laws to be changed.
The proposal now in State hands would ask the City Council to make an exception to local retirement law to allow Barrett to continue as fire chief despite his agreement to retire this summer. Barrett enrolled in the City’s Deferred Retirement Option Program in 1999, agreeing to an early retirement in exchange for a lump-sum payment of retirement benefits. Barrett would collect $300,000 if he sticks to the agreement.
Barrett said he knew his retirement deadline was a year away when Peyton appointed him last summer. He said he was offered the option at that time to drop out of the program, but declined because he didn’t want to lose the money in his DROP account. Under Peyton’s proposal, the Chief would keep that money, continue to receive his $120,000 annual salary and earn a $60,000 pension. Barrett has offered to donate his pension to charity or take a reduced salary. However, Keane said neither of those proposals made it to the State. Instead the City offered several alternatives to the original plan.
The City asked the State to consider extending the elected-official exemption to senior-ranking officers in vital departments like Fire and Rescue. If a compromise can’t be reached, the mayor’s office contends that the City would be deprived of picking its most experienced members to lead its most important departments.
The City Council is split on the proposal. Some members say Barrett, with one year as chief under his belt, is the most qualified person to lead the City’s public safety efforts as the Super Bowl approaches. Others say keeping Barrett would set an inconsistent precedent and wouldn’t be fair to other employees who have rescinded their DROP money to take appointed positions.
Council member Art Shad said he supported Barrett keeping his job unless the State rules against it.
“If it’s not legal, and we’re going to risk $6 million of pension funding at risk, I wouldn’t, and I know the mayor wouldn’t, put the State’s contribution in jeopardy,” said Shad.
If Barrett isn’t allowed to keep his DROP money, he said he would consider offers to lead another county’s fire department. He said one job has already been offered.