Regardless of the outcome of his latest arrest – this time on felony drug and forgery charges in connection with the death of his terminally ill, 92-year-old grandfather – we’re better off without Chris Balter, who resigned as the county’s planning director last week.
He has embarrassed us enough.
Worse, he has betrayed our trust, showing no appreciation for the willingness of two county administrators to overlook, or at least tolerate, his three DUI-related charges over the past six years.
All three of those arrests occurred in Palm Bay, where Balter previously worked for the city’s planning department and still resides.
First, then-administrator Jason Brown hired Balter in January 2022 to be the county’s senior long-range planner, despite the new employee having entered pleas of “no contest” to charges of reckless driving involving alcohol or a controlled substance in 2019 and then DUI in 2021.
According to a police report on the 2019 incident, Balter was stopped for driving 75 mph in a 45-mph zone, and three breath tests produced blood-alcohol readings as high as 0.24 percent – more than three times the legal limit of 0.08.
Balter was arrested again in August 2022 – seven months after taking the job in our county – on charges of DUI with property damage and refusing to take breath, urine or blood tests.
He eventually pleaded “no contest” to refusing the tests and reckless driving involving alcohol or a controlled substance.
That third arrest, however, didn’t prevent then-new County Administrator John Titkanich from promoting Balter to chief of long-range planning in April 2023 and then director of planning and development services this past October.
But the third arrest should have ended Balter’s stay here. The last thing this growing county needs as its population heads for 200,000 residents is a planning director with bad judgment – and, possibly, a drinking problem.
Titkanich said he was aware of Balter’s background and, while concerned about the DUI-related arrests, his interview for the director’s job went smoothly.
“He was initially hired by the county with the two DUIs on his application, and he had one pending when I got here,” Titkanich said. “The fact that the county had kept him on, he had addressed his legal issues, and he was doing his job … There was no indication of any other such problems.”
It wasn’t that Balter’s criminal record wasn’t a factor, but Titkanich and his leadership team also considered U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recommendations.
“The multiple offenses make it more complicated, but you have to look at criminal history in how it relates to the job,” the administrator said. “He’s not driving a county vehicle.”
But Balter was commuting to the office, where he appeared to be growing into the highest-profile job of his life – until last week.
That’s when Balter became the lead character in a still-unfinished, made-for-Hollywood script about end-of-life care and assisted suicide.
Balter, 35, was arrested Aug. 4 in Palm Bay and charged with sale or delivery of a controlled substance and forgery, third-degree felonies that each carry penalties of up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Police have accused Balter of illegally giving his grandfather Zolpidem – a sedative commonly known as Ambien and usually prescribed to treat insomnia – at their Palm Bay home earlier this year.
The alleged crime occurred while Balter’s grandfather, Gilbert, was receiving at-home hospice care. He died on Feb. 1.
It was on that day, according to the arrest affidavit, Balter said in a phone conversation with a longtime friend that he “killed” his grandfather by giving him some of his personal Ambien pills.
Police then arranged a controlled phone call between Balter and the friend, and Balter admitted he gave his grandfather “one pill” and defended his actions, saying, “That’s what hospice is. They load them full of (expletive) pain meds and ease their way out.”
A transcript of the call quotes Balter admitting he contributed to his grandfather’s death, saying, “I didn’t kill him. I helped him out.”
It was the friend’s call to police that prompted the investigation, but, as of Monday, Balter had not been charged with causing his grandfather’s death. He was released from the Brevard County Jail on Aug. 5 after posting a $22,500 bond.
A medical examiner’s report stated the grandfather died from heart disease, but the cause of death was listed as “undetermined.” It also revealed that morphine, Lorazepam and Ambien were detected in the grandfather’s blood.
Only the morphine and Lorazepam had been prescribed, however.
“The combination of morphine, Zolpidem (Ambien) and Lorazepam toxicity cannot be ruled out as contributory to the death,” the report concluded.
An independent toxicologist, though, reported the amount of Ambien found in the grandfather’s blood was “within a therapeutic range of dosage,” preventing any testimony that the Ambien “did or could have caused the death.”
As for the forgery charge, police have accused Balter of falsifying a quit-claim deed in January to transfer ownership of his grandfather’s home.
“It’s quite a story,” said Indian River County Commission Vice Chairman Deryl Loar, who served as sheriff here for 12 years. “Somebody brought up the DUIs during the promotion process, and I questioned it, but Balter apparently interviewed well.
“John will say Balter was doing a good job, and maybe he was,” he added, “but it has been less than a year.”
Loar said Balter’s arrest last week has created a stir at the County Administration Complex.
Then this happened.
“We were blindsided,” Titkanich said. “I’m not going to litigate right or wrong, but Chris is gone and all we can do now keep going, keep moving forward, and make sure we don’t miss a beat.
“Chris was involved in a lot of projects, so there will be challenges,” he added. “We just have to do our job, honor our commitment to the community and not participate in the rumor mill.”
