A special Board of County Commission meeting called on Dec. 9 introduced Hunter S. Conrad as interim county administrator. Prior to accepting the position, Conrad served as St. Johns County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, which he will resign from during his term as administrator.
During the meeting, Conrad addressed the Board, saying, “As I stand before you now, I want each of you and the people of St. Johns County to know this, I am devoted to helping you through this transition and giving 110% to helping in leading us in the right direction.”
The special board meeting to draft an employment agreement for Conrad came after the Board voted unanimously to end County Administrator Michael Wanchick’s contract on Nov. 19, which was effective immediately. The decision surprised many St. Johns County residents.
Commissioner Jeremiah Blocker of District 4 introduced the motion to terminate Wanchick’s contract. In a Facebook post, Blocker cited his decision as dissatisfaction with Wanchick and staff’s inability to follow Commission direction, notably, in the recent controversy of Mickler Beach’s closure.
“As I stated in my remarks, I have lost confidence in Mr. Wanchick’s leadership and in his ability to lead our employees,” said Blocker in a subsequent Facebook post. “The County Administrator’s job is to ensure that the decisions made by this Board are implemented and followed. That has not happened, and the responsibility lies with Mr. Wanchick. In the last several months, I have observed and become aware of a number of systemic leadership problems that are concerning and have led to my loss of confidence in our administration. What I have observed is profoundly disappointing and has led me to this decision today.”
Recently, Mickler’s Beach was closed due to a private project to build geo-tubes along the beach in an effort to offset sea-level rise and erosion. The project was funded by the 13 beachfront homeowners who live near the public beach access.
The commission recently criticized Wanchick for his handling of Mickler Beach’s closure, which caused many residents to accuse the board of improperly closing the public access for private purposes. During a meeting following the closure, Blocker stated that he would have never signed an agreement for the project had he known the construction would cause the access to be completely closed. The county has since adjusted the site to offset the access’ closure.
“I will not be undermined by our employees, either passively or actively, when they fail to follow our direction as a Board,” Blocker stated on Facebook. “And I will not tolerate this Board being undermined. No true leader should or would tolerate insubordination.”
While the Mickler’s Beach issue may have given rise to the decision to terminate Wanchick’s contract, the board gave indication that they were unsatisfied with his work prior to that.
In May, the board initially voted not to renew Wanchick’s contract, then later approved a one-year extension to Jan. 1, 2021.
While the commission has noted disaffection recently in Wanchick’s ability to keep the Board informed on certain issues, in the past Wanchick has been given credit with leading the county through the recession, which he took on shortly after being hired in 2007.
District 5 Commissioner Henry Dean said that although he believes the commission made the right decision, Wanchick has “done a wonderful job over the years--including leading the County out of the Great Recession. He has served admirably as our County Administrator.”
Wanchick’s last contract, which went into effect in January of 2017, listed his base salary at $213,973. Because Wanchick’s termination wasn’t due to misconduct, his contract calls for a severance pay of current pay rate, payment for accrued and unused vacation and sick leave and continuing insurance coverage for him and his family for 20 weeks.
