New Seminole County Elections Supervisor Michael Ertel made major changes to
his staff last week, including the firing of former chief deputy Debra
Garrambone.
Garrambone, who worked as the No. 2 administrator in the office under former
Supervisor Dennis Joyner, was offered four weeks of severance pay.
She later gave Ertel a copy of an employment contract, signed by Joyner, that
gave her seven weeks' severance pay. Ertel said he probably would honor the
contract.
"The amount of money we would spend to defend our honoring or not honoring
that contract -- it's sometimes easier just to pay it," Ertel said.
Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Ertel to a two-year term earlier this month. He
replaced Joyner, who resigned for health reasons in January. Garrambone had been
considered a front runner for the appointment after receiving Joyner's
endorsement.
Garrambone said earlier she would ask Ertel for a contract or to be let go.
Garrambone, an accountant, said if she was going to be fired, she wanted to
leave before the end of tax season. She could not be reached for comment
Thursday.
Ertel does not plan to hire a new chief deputy. Instead, he promoted two
current employees and fired two voter-services clerks. One of those positions
will not be filled, Ertel said.
He also created a new position -- voter-outreach deputy -- and hired the
former vice chairman of the Seminole County Bush-Cheney campaign to fill the
post.
Alex Setzer, who was also one of Ertel's campaign volunteers and a former
president of the Seminole County Young Republicans, will be in charge of
implementing an aggressive voter-outreach program. Setzer most recently was a
fire protection systems designer.
Ertel also brought back Charlene Pike, a longtime elections staffer who
resigned last summer, to become administration/candidate services manager.
Eliminating Garrambone's $86,000 salary and the clerk's $19,000 position
provides more than enough money for Setzer's and Pike's positions, Ertel
said.
In addition, he said, "our new organizational structure is much cleaner."
