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Land Deal Flap Costs Pinellas Taxpayers Almost $700,000

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By CARLOS MONCADA | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 21, 2007

CLEARWATER - The land deal between Pinellas County and Property Appraiser Jim Smith has cost taxpayers far more than the $225,000 the county paid to buy Smith's vacant lot.

In all, the flap has cost nearly $700,000, according to county records obtained Friday. Of that, $319,983 is for severance pay for fired County Attorney Susan Churuti and outgoing County Administrator Steve Spratt, both criticized by a grand jury for their handling of the land transaction.

Churuti, the county's top legal counsel for 20 years, will receive $96,507 in severance pay, or half of her annual salary. She also will get accrued leave totaling $90,213, including unused vacation and sick leave, records show.

Spratt, who is resigning after nearly six years as the county's top appointed official, will receive $223,476, the equivalent of a year's salary. Spratt's accrued leave amounts to $31,553, according to his separation agreement with the county.

Other related expenses include $6,380 to perform and review the appraisal of Smith's property, and hiring two outside law firms to review the employment contracts of Spratt and Churuti, conduct research and prepare memorandums, records show.

The grand total so far comes to $673,130, records show.

That amount, though, doesn't include the tens of thousands of dollars that Pinellas will spend to hire at least one executive search firm to find a new administrator and attorney. Nor does it include the hours of county staff time spent on the land transaction or the cost of the grand jury proceeding itself.

Commissioners will discuss the parameters of a national search for Spratt's permanent successor, which could take up to a year, at a work session Tuesday. They also are expected to appoint an interim administrator.

Among those mentioned as candidates for the interim job arethree of Spratt's assistants: Mark Woodard, who's married to Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio; Elithia Stanfield and Liz Warren. The name of Clearwater City Manager Bill Horne also has surfaced.

Spratt submitted his resignation Sept. 11 after losing the confidence of a majority of the seven commissioners. His last day is Sept. 30. His resignation came one week after commissioners dismissed Churuti for her role in the land deal.

Acting on Spratt's recommendation, commissioners in June voted to spend $225,000 for Smith's 1.4-acre wooded lot on Brooker Creek in north Pinellas for flood control. The purchase came four months after a lawyer for Smith sent the county a letter complaining that county workers ruined the longtime appraiser's land by clearing trees and removing debris after the 2004 storms.

The purchase price was more than quadruple the $59,400 value that Smith's own office assigned the parcel for tax purposes. A grand jury that spent three days in August examining the land deal found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

Yet the panel did say in a report that the transaction damaged the county's reputation by creating the public perception that Smith received favorable treatment.

Smith has said he has no plans to resign and has not decided whether he will seek a sixth, four-year term next year.

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