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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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An act relating to Emerald Coast Utilities Authority, 2
Escambia County; amending ch. 2001 -324, Laws of 3
Florida; providing requirements for filling vacancies 4
on the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority; prohibiting 5
certain members from reelection under certain 6
circumstances; revising personnel guidelines; removing 7
a personnel appeals board; revising the personnel 8
appeals process and procedure; revising the 9
qualifications for the executive director; removing 10
the exclusion of certain personnel from civil service 11
protections; providing an effective date. 12
13
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14
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Section 1. Subsections (b) and (c) of section 4 , 16
subsections (a) and (f) of section 10, section 11, subsection 17
(a) of section 12, and section 13 of section 3 of chapter 2001 -18
324, Laws of Florida, are amended to read: 19
Section 4. Governing body. — 20
(b) Members shall be elected, in the primary and gen eral 21
elections held in 1984, by districts under the district plan of 22
the Board of County Commissioners of Escambia County 23
(hereinafter referred to as the "Board"). Each member shall be 24
an elector of the district from which he or she is elected and 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
shall be elected by the qualified electors of that respective 26
district. Members elected for Districts Two and Four at the 27
general election held in 1984 shall be elected to a 2 -year term. 28
Members elected for Districts One, Three, and Five at the 29
general election held in 1984 shall serve for a 4 -year term. 30
Thereafter each member shall be elected for a term of 4 years. 31
Beginning in 1996, the term of office of each member shall 32
commence on the second Tuesday following the general election in 33
which such member is electe d. Upon the expiration of a term of 34
office, a successor to the office shall be elected as designated 35
in this paragraph; however, upon the occasion of a vacancy for 36
any elected office which vacancy occurs prior to the expiration 37
of the then present term of that office, a successor shall be 38
appointed by the Governor and the successor shall be a resident 39
of the district in which the vacancy occurred. Any person 40
appointed to fill a vacancy shall be appointed to serve only for 41
the unexpired term and until a succ essor is duly elected. If the 42
Governor fails to make an appointment within 90 days after the 43
date of the vacancy, the chair of the Board shall nominate two 44
persons from the district in which the vacancy occurred as 45
potential candidates to fill the vacancy. The remaining members, 46
excluding the chair, shall select by majority vote one of the 47
two nominees to fill the vacancy. 48
(c) Members shall be eligible for reelection. Any person 49
elected to two consecutive full terms as a member of the Board 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
subsequent to July 1, 2021, is not eligible for election to the 51
Board for the next succeeding term. 52
Section 10. Personnel. — 53
(a) The authority may adopt policies for the appointment, 54
removal, or suspension of is empowered to appoint, remove, and 55
suspend employees or agents of the authority and fix their 56
compensation, which policies shall be no less protective than 57
the protections required under part II of chapter 110, Florida 58
Statutes within the guidelines established by the Escambia 59
County Civil Service Rules . 60
(f) Employees of the authority are subject to the civil 61
service system of Escambia County and to the policies and rules 62
of the Civil Service Board. 63
Section 11. Personnel disciplinary proceedings appeals 64
board.—The authority shall conduct all employee or agent 65
disciplinary proceedings according to its policies adopted 66
pursuant to section 10, which shall be no less protective than 67
the rules of the Department of Management Services, or its 68
successor, adopted pursuant to s. 110.227, Florida Statutes, as 69
may be subsequently amended, including, without limitation, 70
proceedings for corrective action, termination of employees or 71
agents, and appeals. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing 72
contained herein shall be deemed to subject the authority to the 73
jurisdiction of the Department of Management Services, including 74
the authority within the definition of the term "agency" for 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
purposes of chapter 110, Florida Statutes, or to require appeals 76
to be handled by the Public Employees Relations Commission. The 77
authority may engage the services of administrative law judges 78
through the Division of Administrative Hearings to render 79
nonbinding recommended orders to the executive director for such 80
appeals. 81
(a) There shall be appointed a personnel appeals board 82
comprised of two members appointed by the authority, two members 83
chosen by employees of the authority classified below the level 84
of department head, and one member appointed by the other four 85
members. The members of the board shall serve a term of 1 year. 86
An appointment to a vacant position on the board shall be filled 87
in the manner of the original appointment to that position. The 88
board shall hear appeals from suspensions, demotions, or 89
dismissals or of employees of the authority classified below the 90
level of department hea d and not designated as other key staff 91
personnel by the authority as provided in section 13. The 92
decisions of the board on such appeals shall be final, subject 93
to review by the Circuit Court of Escambia County. The board may 94
investigate and make recommend ations to the executive director 95
of the authority on major policy and procedural questions 96
relating to personnel management and on individual grievances by 97
employees. However, the recommendations of the board on such 98
matters shall be advisory only. The boa rd may employ legal 99
counsel, and a reasonable budget for such purpose shall be 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
provided by the authority. The executive director of the 101
authority shall provide the administrative services required by 102
the board. 103
(b) Notwithstanding anything provided herei n or in any 104
special or general act to the contrary, the rights and benefits 105
herein granted shall be in lieu of and substitution for any 106
rights and benefits such employees may have had under any civil 107
service or personnel system of the City of Pensacola or Escambia 108
County. 109
Section 12. Process and procedure. — 110
(a) Any person wishing to appeal a termination of 111
services; assessment of fees, charges, or fines; notice of claim 112
of lien; or increase in security deposit an action of the 113
authority that directly affects his or her substantial interests 114
may file a petition for review within 10 days after of the date 115
the complained of action is taken. The authority shall consider 116
such petitions for review and shall take action at a public 117
meeting to grant or deny su ch petitions within 40 days after of 118
receipt. 119
Section 13. Executive director. —The authority shall employ 120
and fix the compensation of an executive director, who shall 121
manage the affairs of the utilities systems under the 122
supervision of the authority and direct the activities of the 123
employees of the authority. The executive director shall devote 124
his or her entire working time to the performance of his or her 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
duties and not have outside employment or business. The 126
executive director shall be a college graduate. The executive 127
director must either possess a degree in science, engineering, 128
business management, or public administration or, alternatively, 129
must be a licensed and registered engineer. The executive 130
director shall have at least 6 years of experience in the field 131
of engineering, operations, or management of a utility system of 132
size comparable to or larger than the water and sewer system of 133
the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority at the time of the vacancy 134
of the position City of Pensacola in 1981 . The authority may 135
allow the substitution of additional years of administrative or 136
management experience in lieu of the specific educational or 137
professional requirements set forth above. The executive 138
director, the assistant execu tive director, the department 139
heads, and such other key staff personnel so designated by the 140
authority shall not be included within any civil service system 141
or be under the jurisdiction of the personnel appeals board. 142
Section 2. This act shall take eff ect upon becoming a law. 143