STUART — Martin County Commissioner Ed Ciampi said he wants County Administrator Duncan Ballantyne to resign on Tuesday to start a makeover of the county government.

“I asked Duncan for his resignation,” Ciampi said. “I think that we need change in our organization and I feel that change starts at the top. I want to get started right away.”

But Ballantyne’s fate remains uncertain because the four other commissioners said they did not want to immediately commit to keeping or firing him.

“I am not prepared to talk about that right now,” said Commission Chairman Susan Valliere. “I’m going to hold that one tight. I think I want to talk to him about it.”

Ballantyne, who earned $174,739 in 2008, said he would like to keep his job overseeing 800 county workers and a $363 million budget.

He started work in October 2005 as Hurricane Wilma hit the Treasure Coast and led the county government through the state property tax reform process, the collapse of the housing market and the related budget crisis. He previously worked as city manager in Concord, N.H.

“We love Martin County,” Ballantyne said about his family. “We’re going to have to see how the commission feels, what their sense is at the time it comes up. I never speculate upon a commission’s vote until they’ve voted. That’s a lesson learned long ago.”

Ciampi said his discontent primarily stems from Ballantyne’s reluctance to cut the pay of top managers and other budget issues, a buyout proposal for county workers that the commission rejected, and a fire rescue consolidation proposal that collapsed after upsetting officials in Stuart, Jupiter Island and Sewall’s Point.

“I think that he and I have had differences of opinion on how things should progress,” Ciampi said. “I think on some of these issues Duncan is the victim of circumstance because when you’re the leader of the organization and times get tough, the buck stops with the leader.”

“I’m just looking for a different direction. It is not uncommon for new commissioners to come in and look for a different direction,” said Ciampi, who was elected in November. “I’m looking for a different driver of our budgetary process and of our reorganization. A change at the top is just one step of an overall reorganization.”

Commissioner Sarah Heard, who voted against keeping Ballantyne in September 2007, also faulted his handling of the county budget.

“In my opinion, he’s not doing a very good job of it,” Heard said. “So, if other commissioners are sensing the same sort of evasiveness and the inability to take hard positions on this budget, I’m sure that they’re probably just as frustrated as I am. He has to steer this ship and he’s not.”

Only Commissioner Patrick Hayes openly expressed support for Ballantyne, who he said was held back by election year politics in 2008 when two commissioners were seeking re-election and one was running for the state House of Representatives.

“Personally, I think he’s done a decent job,” Hayes said. “The discontent that I hear could be addressed by giving him more specific and more direct marching orders.”

Martin County Administrator Duncan Ballantyne’s annual wages

2006: $162,054

2007: $171,093

2008: $174,739

Duncan Ballantyne’s severance package

120 calendar days of base pay and retirement contributions

All unused paid time off

180 calendar days of health and life insurance

If not employed after six months, another 60 calendar days of base pay and retirement contributions

Duncan Ballantyne timeline

October 2005: Arrives in time for Hurricane Wilma.

October 2005: Rankles some government watchdogs by negotiating for 60 paid days off in his contract.

October 2006: Commission unanimously endorses Ballantyne’s performance and gives him 5 percent raise.

September 2007: Divided commission keeps Ballantyne on the job with no pay increase.

September 2008: Commission postpones Ballantyne’s third annual review and extends his contract by six months to allow two new commissioners to get up to speed.

February 2009: Effort to consolidate Martin County and City of Stuart fire rescue operations collapses.

April 2009: Ballantyne slated for annual review.

By George Andreassi, TCPalm.com

Tags: budget, commissioners, contract, driver, Duncan Ballantyne, Ed Ciampi, fire, government, Health, housing, hurricanes, insurance, jobs, Patrick Hayes, property, raise, raises, reading, resigned, speeding, Stuart, Susan Valliere, taxes, vote, web

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