What DPW Boss Must Do To Keep Job

When Department of Public Works Director Charles Mixson returns from his disciplinary suspension next week, he will have to pencil in a new appointment on his calendar: a meeting with his boss, County Administrator David Hamilton.

And, he'll have to slot in a meeting the following week. And the week after that. And every week for the foreseeable future until Hamilton is satisfied that Mixson is doing the kind of management job he expects of all his top-level supervisors.

"(The weekly meetings) will continue as long as needed," Hamilton said. "It may be a regular thing."

Why the close scrutiny?

"It's all in the interests of keeping timelines, holding a focus and delivering results to the taxpayers," Hamilton said.

Hamilton said the weekly gatherings will also include Assistant County Engineer Gregg Sutton and Deputy County Administrator Larry Jennings.

Hamilton on Friday suspended Mixson, a 22-year employee with the county, without pay for 10 business days.

He returns back to work Tuesday, Sept. 16, and will be on probation for six months.

The weekly meetings are not the only condition Hamilton has demanded. Mixson will also have to do a better job of keeping his fellow department heads and, of course, the county administrator's office, in the loop.

That includes any information on contracts, transportation projects, time frames related to the contaminated DPW site or the beach dredge project.

Hamilton said Mixson has not done a good job of that in the past and it is the lack of transparency in his department that has led to a problem with public perception.

Department transparency will be the new watchword, Hamilton stressed.

"You must ensure, to the best of your abilities, that you and your department are perceived by the public, the media and the county board as productive and responsive," Hamilton said.

The final thing on Mixson's to-do list when he returns: provide the county administrator's office with a plan to reorganize the Department of Public Works that shows he is "actively managing the activities" of his department.

That will include ensuring the Florida Department of Environmental Protection approves the county's remediation plan for the former DPW compound, that there is an agreed-upon timeline for that remediation and that actual construction is completed on the Hernando Beach dredge project according to a time line.

Hamilton said he is not out to fire Mixson.

On the contrary. The county has been through enough upheavals in management lately, he said, referring to the recent firing of Emergency Management Director Tom Leto and the forced resignation of ex-Human Resources Director Barbara Dupre.

But Hamilton said the message to Mixson has been sent as strongly as he can make it: Make the necessary changes or lose your job.

"If we can't move forward, there's been a clear warning," he stressed.