St. Petersburg, Florida – Mayor Ken Welch says it was no easy task to finalize a multi-party agreement to enable the $6.5 billion redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District.
He told Spectrum News that for this reason, the 17 employees involved in the project were paid bonuses totaling $250,000.
“The bonuses, each worth about $15,000, were intended to be recognition for nearly a year of work – nights, weekends, holidays, whatever,” Welch said.
The mayor said if it had been in the form of a raise, it would have met all regulations. But City Manager Rob Gerdes told City Council members at the Committee of the Whole meeting Thursday afternoon that the one-time payments were inconsistent with the state’s bonus law.
Welch said the payouts were first discussed with his chief of staff, Doyle Walsh, in July before the Pinellas County Council or Board of County Commissioners voted on agreements to move forward with the project.
“The first question I asked when Rob presented this to me was: 1. Do I have the authority as mayor to do this? Do I have the budget authority and do we have the budget capacity to do this?” Welch said. “The answer to all three questions was ‘yes.'”
Welch confirmed that Human Resources Director Christopher Guella was suspended for five days without pay as a result.
“Both Rob and I relied on information from our subject matter expert that these bonuses were authorized under all policies and regulations, but they were not,” Welch said.
The city provided Spectrum News with an email from Guella to the mayor that states, in part, “As the city’s human resources director, I am ultimately responsible for employee compensation. Although state law allows for one-time payments, the human resources department’s policies did not meet the required elements. I should have consulted with the city attorney’s office, but did not. The city attorney’s office was not involved in the payments, nor did it have an opportunity to evaluate the process.”
“He conducted himself professionally by acknowledging his role and responsibility, and we will move on,” Welch said. “We will not crucify anyone for a mistake. It was a big mistake.”
At Thursday’s full committee meeting, Gerdes told council members that the bonuses and the negative reaction to them had caused morale problems among staff. Welch said morale was good based on the conversations he’s had. He said his administration has always been employee-focused.
“From the day we came into office, we have always made sure that we reward our employees and their work,” he said. “We signed the SEIU contract, the fire department contract, the PBA contract. All of them also included significant raises.”
Welch said the city’s policies and procedures would be analyzed to ensure they comply with all regulations going forward.
