Postscript on Harmer's hiring

It’s not productive to harp. But we need to correct and clarify some of our comments in this space last week regarding the Longboat Key Town Commission’s hiring of Tom Harmer as the town’s next manager.

To be clear, while we opined “how the town landed Harmer wasn’t exactly a model for open, public business,” we also should state we didn’t question whether Town Manager David Bullock followed the commission’s directions. He did.

More important, we made an issue of: 1) Harmer signed his employment contract prior to the commission’s approval; and 2) there was nothing in the contract expressing Harmer’s hiring was subject to commission approval.

As Mayor Terry Gans and Bullock later pointed out, we failed to note that on the last page of Harmer’s contract there was a place for the mayor’s signature to ratify and complete the contract (see photo). 

As Gans told us: “Harmer may have signed the contract, but there is a blank line on it which made the contract not official, not final until it was signed by the mayor of Longboat Key, and the mayor of  Longboat Key was not going to sign it until there was commission approval given at a public meeting.”

Bullock also noted in an email: “As you know, a contract is not a contract until both parties sign it … When we present contracts to the commission they are generally signed by the other parties, and the commission is the last one to approve/disapprove.” We erred.

Regardless of our comments on how the process transpired — which Gans humorously described as asking, “Did the angels dance on a pin in a certain way?” — Longboat Key landed a proven, solid candidate in Tom Harmer. Congratulations to Bullock for recruiting Harmer. And … welcome, Mr.  Harmer to the best small town in Florida.