BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor

Michael Merrill, Hillsborough County Administrator said the county is doing the best it can in terms of retaining county employees. He feels it will take about 5 years before the county recovers from its current economic crisis.

Ms. Sharon Subadan, Deputy County Administrator for Public Safety and Community Services said there are more employees than there are positions open.

However, many employees of the Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation Department learned they would no longer have a job as of September 24th. Many of those affected, such as

Harold Jackson, have more than two decades of service with the department.

Jackson, a Tampa native, graduated from Tampa Catholic High School. He earned a B. S. Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Tampa. After graduation in 1978, Jackson obtained employment with the Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation Department. Jackson never intended for the position to be a career, but 33 years later, he describes it as such.

Jackson moved up through the ranks and for the past 25 years has served as a Recreation Area Supervisor. He received a layoff slip on Thursday.

Jackson stated that the County abolished 64 jobs in that area which included Area Supervisors, Senior Recreation Specialists, Senior Recreation Leaders and Recreation Leaders. The employees were then required to apply for 3 supervisor and 31 recreation leader jobs.

Jackson was not chosen despite his role as a supervisor for the past 25 of his 31 years of service. “The underlying message is we don’t have the knowledge, skills, or ability to continue to serve Hillsborough County.”

Jackson said, “It reeks of age and discrimination on the basis of tenure.”

Ms. Subadan said the employees were required to reapply to make it fair for everyone. “There are more employees than positions and we don’t have a spot for everyone. It’s very traumatic,” she said.

She further stated things such as education, background, and experience were all taken into consideration.

Merrill said the County has been talking about the budget cuts for months. In an effort to prevent as many layoffs as possible, the County offered early retirement and 166 employees accepted it. He felt that those such as Jackson had the option to take the early retirement.

County Commissioner Les Miller, Jr., said the fact that the employees had to reapply for their jobs has been a contention of his since the beginning and he has a problem with it. In search of answers, Commissioner Miller has requested that he receive evaluations of those employees not selected for the past 5 years; the number of years of services for every employee not selected; the last 5 years of evaluations for every employee selected; and the number of years of services for every new employee selected.

The final budget hearing will take place on Thursday, September 22nd, 6 p.m., at the Hillsborough County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd.