County commissioner's deadline passes without resignations

The stage is set for Wednesday's showdown at County Center.

Today's noontime deadline for Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean, County Attorney Renee Lee and Internal Performance Auditor Jim Barnes to resign came and went with all three of the appointed officials showing no signs of stepping down, according to county commission staff.

Bean, who has managed the county since 2003, faces termination along with Lee and Barnes over allegations in a report by Barnes that someone from Bean's and Lee's offices had been improperly searching his and commissioners' e-mail messages.

Some of the e-mail pertained to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into a 1 percent pay raise given to Bean and Lee without commission knowledge.

Barnes uncovered the 2007 pay raises in an audit last year. The FDLE is investigating the secret pay raises and recently expanded its inquiry to include the e-mail searches.

Hillsborough Commission Chair Ken Hagan had called for the trio to resign by noon today or he will ask the board to fire them at Wednesday's commission meeting.

Hagan said today it appears the trio plan to challenge the allegations.

At a commission workshop last week, Bean acknowledged that she requested a swath of e-mails but said she later changed her mind and didn't read them. She took a polygraph test and submitted the results to the commission in an effort to back up those claims.

Since then, she has issued no statements and has not returned calls for comment.

Lee, who has hired an attorney from prominent Tampa criminal defense lawyer Barry Cohen's firm, argues her office was merely conducting routine public record searches in response to outside requests. She denies she initiated any of the e-mail searches.

Barnes told commissioners last week that he will not resign, saying that despite past problems with his office, he was doing his job by uncovering the e-mail trolling.

Some commissioners argue that Barnes should not be fired because he brought the e-mail searches, as well as the 1 percent raises, to the commission's attention.

Firing all three officials could cost the county's taxpayers more than $720,000.

Bean's contract calls for her to receive one year's pay, $226,376, if her contract is terminated for noncriminal actions. She would also be paid for accrued vacation time and 50 percent of accrued sick leave, bringing the severance total to $448,846.

Lee would receive $232,211, including a full year of pay if her contract was terminated before it expired in August 2014, with similar exceptions for misconduct.

Barnes is eligible for $39,782 for three months of severance pay if he is fired.

Several commissioners said they are unwilling to vote to fire anyone until they have a detailed report from an attorney they are expected to hire at Wednesday's meeting.

Still, several other commissioners want to move ahead with firing Bean on Wednesday.

That can be done with a supermajority vote, consisting of a 5 to 2 or more count in favor of terminating her contract, or two additional voting actions of a simple 4 to 3 majority.