Did Director Neff Quit Before He Got Fired?
Published in the: Â Daytona News JournalPublished: Friday, May 20, 2016 at 3:27 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, May 20, 2016 at 7:32 p.m.
Port Orange utility director quits after 1 year
PORT ORANGE — Almost as soon as City Manager Jake Johansson got caught up on key staffers with the impending hire of a new fire chief, he’ll be hunting to replace another top job.
Public Utilities Director Andrew Neff announced his resignation Thursday. And according to city spokesman Kent Donahue, Neff will be leaving June 17 for North Carolina and a new job. Neff could not be reached immediately for comment Friday.
Neff, who recently helped unveil the city’s new outfall and water reclamation project and is paid an annual salary of $110,000, was one of several key positions filled by former interim city manager David Harden in early 2015 after an exodus of top staff the prior summer. The bloodletting at the top spurred five key resignations in a two-week period in the wake of controversy surrounding more than $400,000 in unauthorized water meter purchases, among other issues.
“The city manager is looking to fill the position as soon as possible,” Donahue said Friday.
Neff, who recently helped unveil the city’s new outfall and water reclamation project and is paid an annual salary of $110,000, was one of several key positions filled by former interim city manager David Harden in early 2015 after an exodus of top staff the prior summer. The bloodletting at the top spurred five key resignations in a two-week period in the wake of controversy surrounding more than $400,000 in unauthorized water meter purchases, among other issues.
“The city manager is looking to fill the position as soon as possible,” Donahue said Friday.
This appears to be Mr. Neff’s management style. Bluff his way through a job he is ill equipped to handle, Hire lots of consultants for big bucks at taxpayers expense to advise him. Milk as much money out of the job until it becomes apparent to everyone that he is incompetent and it’s time for him to go. Look at his history. Then on to another 6 figure job where he will repeat his bad behavior and incompetence and alienate his subordinates with his miserable personality.
Neff”s hair in this News Journal photo looks like an Osprey”s nest. I think it was blown by unseen winds. Maybe a little dipity doo or dixie pom aid would help. The just for men quick stop adds a nice touch.
Suggestion for Mr. Neff’s going away party…..how about ordering him a nice BIG CRUMB CAKE.
In the end the good guys have prevailed! Neff has left a lot of collateral damage. In the end whatever you survive makes you stronger. Here is a celebratory song for all the stakeholders that once again will pick up all the pieces and do the right thing by the citizens of Port Orange. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiKNdcGMl44
The hair nest joke is why people don’t take this blog seriously. Just ridiculous!!
The only thing we need to take seriously in this life, is Death & Taxes
So lighten up its only a blog were anyone can have their own opinion or jokes.
Bad news since day one. Pissed off a great running department.
Now it is suspected that Mr. Neff is actively trying to convince the city manager and administrative services director that Lynn Stevens, the assistant public utilities director in Daytona Beach would be the best thing since sliced bread to be his replacement as Port Orange public utilities director. Lynn Stevens used to work under Andy Neff in Clearwater when he was the public utilities director there and before he abruptly resigned after a short tenure. She is endorsed by him and has been a close colleague of his who many fear has the same management philosophy and administrative agenda that Neff failed to perpetrate on the taxpayers of Port Orange. Mr. Neff would like to leave her with the department as his final kick in the teeth to his subordinates and legacy of Montezumas revenge. Neff would be her historian in blacklisting all of the people he himself has suppressed and would probably ensure that a cohesive management team was sabotaged from the start. The plan is to fast track Lynn Stevens into the position without properly vetting the selection according to civil service rules or at least just giving the vetting process the veneer of official respectability such as was the case with himself and Jason Yarborough. If this is allowed to transpire, the final nail will be driven into the coffin of public utilities, and instead of partnering with institutional knowledge, the remaining stakeholders will be driven off. In the words of the famous essayist and philosopher George Santayana, ” Those that do not learn the lessons of the pat are doomed to repeat history over and over again.” Hopefully the city council and citizen activists will follow this continuing saga closely and monitor the situation to make sure there is no corruption and sequel to Mr. Yarborough and Mr. Neff. We do not need a continuation of Yarborough, Neff, Arcadis, Kimberly Horn, million dollar premature master plans, multi-million dollar sewer main replacement programs from I&I studies, more reorganizations, sabotaging subordinates operations, running institutional knowledge off, and suppressing open & transparent government.
If the leadership keeps changing rather quickly in an organization or department, then it may be an indication of something systemically wrong with that entity. The department heads in this department may or may not have been what the department needed. However, it has become quite clear from observing from the outside that they were heavily undermined by some of their employees. As an employee I may not always agree with upper management’s vision and direction, but it is not professional to actively undermine and seek leadership’s departure. If you can’t support your leadership’s direction, you move on. That’s what a true professional does.
What does 256 mean? http://www.readbag.com/usa-federal-forms-us-navy-forms-pdf-info-version-b-us-navy-form-dd-256-n
First of all there was no professional, competent leadership lost. The systematic problem lies with upper management hiring the wrong people as department heads. The right person for department head already exist within the department.
As an employee you don’t have to undermine an incompetent department head. That problem will eventually take care of itself as it did in this situation. Are we to believe that a true professional should support clueless so called leadership when they make poor decisions that reflect poorly on them and the department as a whole? That has destroyed the moral and disrupted the entire work force? I think not.
What poor decisions did Yarbrough make? Neff? Were they inept in your eyes because they held a position you felt should have been filled internally? If so, that is not a very fair or worthy standard to judge someone by. Honorable men do not bash others because a decision did not go their way.
I think we all know who 256 is, and the prediction on the street is that his tenure will last about as long as Kisela’s.
Ted Noftall for mayor in 2016!
It will be interesting to read what the folks of this blog say if Ted wins and still change does not happen the way they expect it. What happens if an internal candidate is appointed to lead the department and the same kinds of mistakes and errors are made that have been highlighted in this blog? At this point, I say give Ted and the long time department veterans control, but if “stuff” happens, then they should be held to the same standards and accountability used by most commenters on this blog. Staff be careful what you wish for. . . you may just get it.
In answer to the 256 questions, Ted would have to work with citizens other council members and the city manager. A new department head will have to work with the city manager.The common denominator is the city manager. If things don’t progress as they should then maybe we should take a better look at the common denominator. I’ll call em like I see em no matter who is in what position. I don’t have a dog in this fight.
How can I get a Ted Noftall for mayor sign for my front yard?
I get nauseous every time I hear about institutional knowledge. our council manager and past managers especially parker should be ashamed of themselves for not making sure the knowledge and know how as written down for everyone to learn from and use God forbid the wrong person gets hit by a bus and we don’t know how to run a water plant or set up for a hurricane
just look at the mess finance has been in just over losing the person that knew how to balance the checkbook or collect from a wrecker company or well who knows how much money has gone bye bye and how many loads have dirt have gone the wrong way
The reason why institutional knowledge goes bye bye, is because the mayor and the city treat the long term people that do the work like shit and pay them the same way, then they try and run them off. In the mean time they throw out the red carpet for a bunch of short term interlopers like Andrew Neff who further run off institutional knowledge and stakeholders, and ultimately skidaddle when their own incompetency catches up with them. My prediction is the current city manager will not last another year.
Why yes, to that group people are disposable and as soon as they go any other way then what is desired. However our leadership of mayor councilmen managers are shortsighted and poorly suited for leadership for not putting knowledge in writing, and having policy and procedure documented. This is why everyone including parker failed trying to run everything without written guides someone gets lazy, cheats, shortcuts and nobody can be accountable to a standard that does not exist
Speaking of hurricanes. Our illustrious former department head dismantled the utilities maintenance division. The maintenance division was primarily, historically responsible for hurricane preparations and recovery for the utilities department. I don’t know if they updated their policies and procedures to deal with disaster situations. This reorganization leaves them without centralized field command and an established team..It’s every man for himself with no coordinated effort. I was in charge of this from 1977 to 2013 and experienced many storms including the fire storms of 1998 during the time when our well fields were burning.. When I heard about the reorganization I offered the department to brief the individual division chiefs on their perspective duties but was declined the opportunity to do so. I tried to contact them individually, but only one got back to me. The people in the EOC know nothing about the systems and their operations so they are no help. As a tax paying citizen this worries me. We have maybe 3 or 4 people left in the department that could possibly put their heads together and figure it out. Good luck we’re gonna need it.
Exactly! R. Woodman did they have a procedure manual and contingency plans when you left? Makes me worry that they did not have assigned roles and responsibilities that lead to the Dunlawton Closure and flooding of homes, or the aftermath of busting the main while tapping it for Oriley’s.
I’m no expert on organization within a Utilities Department, but recent managers have seemed unable to do much of anything without repeated studies of a problem. I thought they were supposed to know what to do before we hired them, not need extensive on-the-job training.
And who is poor old 256? Seems like his list of qualifications for a good employee center around ass-kissing and going along to get along.
Really??? You have the ability to see as clearly as the white moth. And your never happy. You would think that nothing every went right for you1
I think Mike Garner is an excellent watchdog for the average taxpayers interest. He does his research and asks all the difficult questions that others are afraid to ask. If upper management answers the questions competently they pass the test. If they side step the question or are too stupid or too entrenched in special interest to provide a straight answer then Mike has the determination and persistence to dog them until they answer to the taxpayers with transparency. I say keep up the good work Mike!
We had a manual or plan in writing at one time which I authored. We started on it in 1978 and it evolved over time. At some point in time a retired police officer was hired at the fire department and was given the responsibility to draw up a city wide plan. I don’t know what happened with that. We just did what we had to do. The last four department heads were not qualified for the job. they had no practical experience in operations and maintenance of utilities systems. they were hired because of their formal education and questionable experience in management of other systems. The best qualifications for utilities management is working your way up through the ranks, experiencing the different disciplines’ an open mind and training. It takes years to get good at it. It’s a specialized field of work, like no other. That is why I have repeatedly said we already have the perfect person to run the department running the water plant. The problem is, he’s not a sycophant butt munch. He just gets it done and done well. 256…JJ?
Mr. Woodman: It has been my experience that the political machine uses council members, city managers, to appoint friends of the establishment and system. Influence and power is not all about money, but for whom you can get a job. Lance Green moves up from his construction company to an executive on Paytas Homes administration. I am sure it is not a political connection which comes to Lance, but surely is executive appointment was secured by qualifications. Lol – They really think we are stupid and don’t know how it works? No, they know we know, but they don’t give a damn, because we are only voters, and in this city, mostly the establishment people vote. Don is in Mortgage and I suspect has a lot of outreaches to related fields. Lance is in construction and now with Paytas Homes. Sure birds of a feather flock together. In Port Orange, the gaggle has been flying high for quite a while. I sure would like to see Ted Noftall get in to the city council because Ted would demand accountability and qualifications for city administrative jobs. — hank springer
If anyone who posts on this site or who reads this site would like a Ted sign for their yard–or if you know someone who would like a Ted sign for their yard–contact me and I will deliver as many as you need. Thanks.
Mike Gardner
618 Ruth St
Port Orange, FL 32127
386-527-1959
manddgardner@cfl.rr.com