County attorney gets high marks from bosses

In his evaluation of the county attorney, Commissioner Jeff Stabins said he knows of only one man funnier in the whole courthouse.

Stabins, known for his humorous asides during commission meetings, then went on to give attorney Garth Coller an overall score of 3.53 on his annual performance evaluation.

Coller's combined average from all five county commissioners was 3.54.

County Commissioners Dave Russell and Rose Rocco were profuse in their praise of Coller, both giving him an overall 4 score.

Russell said Coller exceeded expectations or was excellent in 12 of 15 categories, including planning, financial management, communications with the board and the public, resiliency, ethics and humor.

Commissioners John Druzbick and Jim Adkins gave Coller a 3.20 and 3 respectively.

Druzbick said one of Coller's strengths is that "he makes sure the board stays clear of legal trouble."

If there was any suggestion for improvement, it's that Coller "needs to be able to interpret the law with a wider brush."

Hired March 1, 2000, Coller makes $132,828, plus an additional $49,016 in benefits.

At Tuesday's county commission meeting, resident Dick Ross complained the county legal office is overstaffed and farms out too much work to outside consultants.

In response, Coller said, if anything, his office is understaffed with four attorneys.

Coller elaborated on that Friday by saying the personnel changes that have occurred have kept his staff busy. The most recent upheavals occurred when County Administrator David Hamilton fired Department of Public Works Director Charles Mixson.

"We've changed from a government of hiring people to a government of firing people," Coller said.

As a result, his office has had to deal with numerous human resource-type issues, such as employee compensation and personnel problems.

Coller also cited legal work on the contaminated former department of public works building, the ongoing problems with the Hernando Beach dredge, the pending deadline to increase the size of the landfill before space runs out and South Brooksville issues.

"I can tell you as a fact that in 10 years that I've been county attorney, we have sent out one item to an outside consultant and that is the old DPW compound and that is for reasons outside of my control," Coller said. "Every other time outside counsel has been used has been against my recommendations."

Coller said he is pleased with his evaluation marks.

"I am the last line of defense in terms of the public and legal liability," Coller said. "It is my job to take a conservative approach, unless the board directs me otherwise."