'The end of an era': Verdenia Baker to retire as Palm Beach County administrator in May
WEST PALM BEACH — Verdenia Baker, the first woman and the first Black person to be Palm Beach County's top administrator, will retire on May 31.
"WOW WHAT A RIDE!" Baker said in her retirement letter, noting that she began working in the county as a budget analyst 38 years ago. She rose through the ranks to become deputy administrator and replaced Robert Weisman when he retired in 2015.
"It was just time," Baker said Sunday. She had more than two years left on her five-year contract that was extended in 2022. "I'm looking forward to doing some traveling and spending more time with family. The county will be in excellent shape when I leave. We have a great quality of life here. People want to live in Palm Beach County."
In her retirement letter, Baker said: "I will remain committed to the job, the county commission and theresidents until I depart this position."
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Baker began working for the county in 1987. She served as a deputy administrator under Weisman for 14 years. As county administrator, she oversees more than 7,000 employees and a $9 billion budget. Palm Beach County is Florida's fourth-largest county, with more than 1.5 million residents. It is one of 58 counties nationally to have a AAA bond rating, which allows it to borrow money at interest rates lower than most other counties.
'It is the end of an era,' said County Commissioner Maria Sachs, noting the county has benefitted from Baker's guidance.
'Our park system is nationally recognized, and we have that great bond raring. She has done a great job but, nonetheless, I'd expect the county to benefit from a reboot and from a fresh look at how we can move forward at addressing the issues we are facing."
Baker was about to underdo her first formal evaluation. County commissioners decided last year that evaluations should be done for the three employees they hire and fire — the county administrator, internal auditor and county attorney. They were expected to be completed in May.
With Baker retiring, County Mayor Maria Marino said she does not expect the evaluation to take place.
Baker had acknowledged this year that putting together the county budget this year would be challenging. The county is already struggling to find $45 million to pay for presidential security costs and and significant cuts in federal and state aid are expected.
Baker said the upcoming evaluation was not a factor in her decision to retire but she took exception to the process being used to evaluate her. "You need to know what you are being evaluated on," she said. "I am evaluated every day as I serve at the pleasure of the commission despite being under contract."
One area that needs to addressed is affordable housing, according to Baker.
"No one could ever have guessed that the market would have boomed the way it did," she said. "Homes that were selling for $100,000 now sell for $400,000 and our workers cannot afford to live here. It is a difficult situation."
Marino said it is premature to discuss how the position will be filled and whether it will be filled before Baker retires. If not, the commission will appoint an interim administrator. Marino said it is possible that a national search will be undertaken. Such a search was done when Baker was appointed.
At least two commissioners — Joel Flores, who represents the Greenacres-Palm Springs area, and Sara Baxter, who represents the western communities — have pushed Baker to develop a system to evaluate supervisors.
Flores, who took office in November, said at a recent meeting that he was surprised to learn that supervisors were not being evaluated regularly. Baker said it was unnecessary, claiming that she routinely observes their work performance. But Flores said he wanted to pursue the issue during this year's budget process.
Baker listed a number of initiatives she has been involved in during her tenure as county administrator. They included:
Guiding the county through the COVID pandemic and overseeing its recovery.
Creation of a workforce housing program and a first-time homebuyers program.
Attracting four Major League Baseball teams to the county's two spring-training stadiums.
Passing in 2017 the referendum to approve a sales increase to 7% from 6% to pay for repairs to roads, schools, bridges and county-owned buildings.
Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and issues impacting homeowner associations. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Verdenia Baker to retire as Palm Beach County administrator in May
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I'm a gay man. Pride has always been special, but this year it's so much more.
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Since then, things have only gotten more worrisome for queer folks in America and are downright terrifying for our transgender siblings. Rights and respect for LGBTQ+ people had been moving forward for the past few decades, but now those rights are being peeled away. And the moment the political headwinds changed, support for LGBTQ+ Americans started to feel very flimsy. Pride has always had a special place in my heart, but this year I'm feeling it so much more. Opinion: A trans athlete won in California. Her peers cheered – and exposed the truth. I'm worried and exhausted. Can you feel it, too? Growing up, my parents and grandparents taught to me to believe in and to love America – a country, a place, a belief come to life – an idea that in execution is often severely flawed, but ultimately strives toward the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all, be they an immigrant, gay, queer, women, men, trans, fat, thin, old, Black, Asian, disabled or able-bodied. But it seems our government, and as such, we the American people, are no longer striving – our country is feeling like a scarier, far less hopeful place. You can feel it, too, can't you? The exhausting weariness of trying to get by in a country where the truth, science and so many people matter far less than they did a few years ago; where the future for anyone who isn't a billionaire – and LBGTQ+ folks especially – grows darker and darker each day. Opinion: Hegseth stripping Harvey Milk's name off Navy ship is weak and insecure There are regular attacks on the middle and working classes through the increasing cost of living, cuts to Veterans Affairs, Medicaid and other health services and medical research. Attacks on trans and queer folks, and the executive orders policing the bodies of (mostly) women, transgender and nonbinary people seem to be the steps to a subjugation of queer people and, at some point in the not-so-distant future, of all women. Queer teen suicide ideation (already twice the rate of their straight-identifying counterparts) is up, along with the feeling that people just don't care about each other. And the odds of anything changing in the near term are down. Being an employed, White, gay, cisgender male with stable housing gives me some privilege, a bit of a shield against what's coming. But watching the erasure of trans folks, queer folks, women, people of color and more, I am very worried – concerned, confused and worn the hell out. I fluctuate between thinking I, or someone I love, will be disappeared or sent to a gulag, and thinking I'm crazy for worrying about being sent to a gulag. (A gulag, an El Salvadoran prison … without due process under the law, we are all at risk.) Share your opinion: Do you celebrate pride? Are you worried about Trump's impacts on it? Tell us. | Opinion Forum It's more important than ever to celebrate pride I don't know what the future holds, but I do know this … from Patroclus and Achilles to me and that dizzyingly dashing bantamweight MMA fighter, queer love has been with us since before recorded time, and it cannot be erased. It's not going anywhere. Alas, queer hate, using the smallest minority as a scapegoat to rally against, has been with us for nearly as long. And that's why we have pride. Pride Month is more than just a time to wave rainbow flags, show off cute outfits and watch a drag show while eating chicken-on-a-stick. At its very heart, pride is an event to gather with people who care, with folks who are sharing the same oftentimes lonesome and frightening experience, a place for all who are marginalized to feel accepted, heard and to be surrounded, supported and seen by people just like you. Just like me. Pride is a home, and you, queer reader, are pride. I don't know what we can do to save or reclaim our country, but maybe it's the same as what we can do to save or reclaim our sense of self: Rally likeminded individuals to support, to vote, to come together, to shout, to celebrate ourselves, our authentic existence, our lives, our liberty, our pursuit of happiness, our very survival and … our pride. Robert M. Nelson lives in Detroit. This column originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press.
