Already identifiable at public meetings because of his trademark bow tie, John Titkanich might’ve been more appropriately attired had he donned a tuxedo with tails for his masterful manipulation of our Board of County Commissioners last week.
The timing, tone and articulation of the embattled county administrator’s successful pitch for a contract extension were worthy of comparison to the virtuoso performance of a concert pianist.
In fact, he played the commission like a concert grand, orchestrating what was a sudden and unexpectedly early vote on his future employment with the county.
“I still don’t understand the urgency to get this done now,” County Commission Vice Chairman Deryl Loar said of Titkanich’s push to extend his contract when more than five months remained on his original three-year deal.
“And I don’t understand why I didn’t know this was coming until it appeared on our agenda on Thursday, five days before our commission meeting,” he added. “You’d think someone seeking a contract extension would want to talk to us about it at least a couple of weeks in advance.”
Loar said he had met with Titkanich at least twice in the two weeks before the administrator added the contract extension to the agenda for the commission’s Nov. 4 meeting.
It wasn’t until the day before the meeting that Titkanich mentioned it to him, Loar said, adding, “At that point, I told him I’d talk about it at the meeting.”
To be sure, not all five commissioners were swayed by Titkanich’s presentation – just the three he needed to secure his second three-year contract, which became effective immediately and included an annual salary of nearly $241,000, plus a generous benefits package.
It was obvious from the moment the show started that the administrator had the staunch support of commissioners Joe Earman, Susan Adams and especially Laura Moss, the former Vero Beach mayor who too often conducts herself as if she were Titkanich’s publicist.
Titkanich also knew Loar and Commission Chairman Joe Flescher weren’t fans of his body of work and that, after 2 ½ years of sometimes-harsh criticism, he had little chance of winning them over.
So he played to his audience, not his critics, and proceeded to fill the room with expressions of his commitment to the county, examples of his accomplishments, and reasons why he deserved to have his contract extended to November 2028.
“It truly is an honor to serve as county administrator, and I believe renewal is merited – not only as a recognition of our shared progress, but also as a message of stability and direction to our organization and the public,” Titkanich told the commission.
He would go on to admit, “I’m not perfect,” but said he and his staff are “learning, adapting and moving forward.”
As expected, Titkanich’s backers on the board embraced the moment, singing his praises and welcoming his request for a three-year encore.
Moss said she was proud of all Titkanich had accomplished since taking the reins of the county administration in April 2023, listing a series of initiatives and plans that had not been addressed in many years, if ever before.
The administrator’s fiercest ally on the dais, she repeatedly punctuated her remarks with the phrase, “Thanks to this man!” And it was Moss who put forward the motion to extend his contract.
Earman said that while there was “room for improvement” – particularly in the pace at which projects were being completed – Titkanich had “tried extremely hard” and “excelled exceptionally well” in other aspects of the job.
“In the end,” the commissioner added, “everything I’ve asked him has finally gotten done.”
Adams wondered how much more Titkanich could have achieved if he hadn’t been forced to confront distractions. Though she didn’t mention names, she was clearly referring to Flescher and Loar regularly expressing dissatisfaction with the administrator’s job performance.
All three of the commission’s Titkanich loyalists were quick to defend him.
“What does not serve our citizens is constant destabilization,” Adams said. “Leaks and political games don’t just hurt one person. They shake confidence in the entire organization and distract us from the real reason people elected us.”
While Flescher has expressed disappointment that the $34 million Titkanich has spent on consultants hasn’t produced enough tangible results, Loar continues to see problems with oversight and again scolded the administrator for his lack of communication.
Loar, who served 12 years as our sheriff before retiring from law enforcement in 2021 and running successfully for a commission seat in 2022, said he hadn’t seen a weekly report from Titkanich in five months.
He also cited Titkanich’s failure to inform the board well in advance of putting his contract-extension request on the agenda.
“We talk about everything else – from waste management to manatees – but for some reason THAT wasn’t brought to my attention,” Loar said. “To say I was shocked on Thursday afternoon (Oct. 30) when I got the agenda? … It was a bit troubling, to say the least.”
One of the reasons Titkanich gave to the board for wanting his contract extension to be resolved now was that he and his family needed to know what he called the “direction of this commission.”
In a text-message exchange Friday, Titkanich wrote: “I believe it was important to the organization, specifically staff, and to the community. I also believed it was important to my family and me that the decision be made prior to the holidays.”
Titkanich stated that he did not have another job opportunity lined up, if the commission vote had gone the other way.
“He knew he had the votes,” Flescher said.
Probably, he did.
Certainly, the three commissioners in his corner appeared to be well-prepared for battle.
The chairman tried to have the contract-extension item removed from the agenda and the discussion postponed until the commission’s Nov. 18 meeting, but Adams, Moss and Earman voted to address the matter last week.
That vote – by what has become a sharply divided commission on all issues involving Titkanich – was a harbinger of the 3-2 decision to approve the administrator’s new contract.
“You’d think the administrator wouldn’t want a 3-2 vote,” Flescher said, “but he seemed happy to get it.”
He was.
“I’m grateful for and extremely appreciate the board agreeing to a new contract,” Titkanich wrote in a text message, adding that he welcomes the feedback provided and looks forward to “working with the board to continue the progress that has been made.”
Again, he hit all the right notes.
“You’ve got to hand it to him,” Loar said. “It was well-played.”
Take a bow, Mr. Titkanich.
