Volusia county manager, attorney get pay raises despite protest by council chairman

Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower voted against a raise for the county attorney and county manager on Tuesday morning, citing an investigation surrounding claims of abuse at the county jail and other matters related to Corrections Director Mark Flowers.

But council members voted 5-1 to approve a 4% pay raise for both County Manager George Recktenwald and County Attorney Mike Dyer on Tuesday during a mostly positive annual performance evaluation.

With the increase, Recktenwald's salary is about $246,706 and Dyer's salary is about $230,607.

Brower also spoke favorably of both employees but said he believes it's important that investigations related to allegations made by Flowers be completed first.

"It's a serious issue," Brower said. "There's serious questions. We have several independent investigations going on at the request of the county manager and county attorney."

The county filed a notice to fire Flowers after Flowers filed a complaint against the county with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Florida Commission on Human Relations. In the complaint, Flowers states he was retaliated and discriminated against when he requested an internal affairs investigation into correctional officers abusing inmates.

Flowers' attorney Kelly Chanfrau said in a previous interview this month that she was writing up a lawsuit against the county, which will most likely be filed in federal court.

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Volusia County in its notice that it planned to terminate Flowers stated he has lost the support of many of the correctional officers at the jail and his leadership team. The county stated Flowers ordered an inmate to be improperly placed in a four-point restraint and also ordered another inmate on a type of suicide watch to be moved without medical clearance, among other allegations.

Chanfrau provided an Aug. 6 memo to The News Journal titled “Formal Written Complaint” that Flowers wrote to Recktenwald.

In the memo, Flowers wrote that he has repeatedly reported unlawful actions that have occurred within the jail, but the issues have not been addressed.

Flowers wrote there was a coverup involving a use-of-force incident against an inmate named Justin Caruthers.

"They only started investigating my client after he requested an IA relating to the Caruthers matters,” Chanfrau said in a phone interview for a previous story. “They only started investigating him after he blew the whistle and started raising concerns. That’s clear.”

She said that after Flowers raised his concerns union members started complaining about a hostile work environment.

In a press release, County Manager George Recktenwald denied the firing was retaliatory and stated Flowers was under investigation three months before filing his complaint.

“Any suggestion that the termination was retaliation or in any way related to Dr. Flowers filing the complaint is absolutely and unequivocally false,” Recktenwald stated in the release.

County officials are scheduled to meet with Flowers on Thursday.

The county referred the Caruthers abuse allegation to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for review, which is still an active investigation, county officials said Tuesday.

Volusia County Council mostly praises Recktenwald, Dyer; ask for better communication and more refereeing

The county manager carries out the policies set by the Council and manages the day to day operations of the county government. The county attorney's office serves the County Council directly.

The County Council appoints the role of county attorney and county manager. Council members review the performance of the county manager and county attorney annually. A salary review for both positions is required annually by the County Code.

Brower said instead of sharing his evaluation during the meeting, he plans to meet privately with Recktenwald and Dyer.

With the Flowers matter unresolved, he said he thought it was premature to provide his evaluation or discuss a raise until the results come in.

"I don't want to give out any false ideas that there's ... other underlying problems. I have a very good working relationship with the county manager and the county attorney," he said.

Some council members disagreed with Brower's wait-and-see approach, saying that the evaluations are based on the work done overall through the year and don't hinge on one particular issue.

"I'm going to evaluate them on their overall performance," Councilman Ben Johnson said.

Both Recktenwald and Dyer also received a 4% pay raise in 2021, which was in line with the rest of the county's workforce, after a favorable evaluation and a unanimous vote by the County Council.

Recktenwald has been county manager since March 5, 2019, and was interim county manager from June 23, 2018, to March 5, 2019,  after Jim Dinneen retired, according to his biography on volusia.org. His first job with Volusia County government was as a public works supervisor in 1997. He has also served as public works director, public protection director and deputy county manager.

Dyer took over as interim county attorney on Jan. 9, 2020, after the resignation of longtime County Attorney Dan Eckert. The County Council voted on June 2, 2020, to promote Dyer to the permanent role instead of conducting a national search for a new lead attorney.

Council members voiced support for many of Recktenwald's efforts, including the team he has assembled and how he has navigated the county through storms and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Councilwoman Billie Wheeler, who represents part of Volusia's storm-ravaged coastline, said she has received glowing reviews about the county government's support for municipalities in responding to and recovering from Tropical Storms Ian and Nicole.

"George, I couldn't rave more about the things that you have done for Volusia County," Wheeler said.

Wheeler and three other council members attended their last meeting on Tuesday. And former Council member Fred Lowry, who resigned in November, returned for their last meeting. New Council members will take their oath of office on Jan. 5.

Council members said they'd like to see better communication in the future with council members about matters going on in their district.

Council members spoke favorably about Dyer's performance and the team he's assembled in the legal department. They asked for more help in keeping council members from wasting time in arguments with each other.

"When we're here at the Council meeting and we go rogue, I'd like to see you step out and call out Robert's Rules or whatever it takes ... A lot of valuable time has been lost on that," Wheeler said.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia County manager, attorney get pay raises; chair opposes move