(Breaking news) Commissioners ax Comfort

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Charles County commissioners on Tuesday let go their highest-ranking staffer just weeks after dismantling their communications office.

The commissioners exercised their option to terminate County Administrator Paul W. Comfort, an at-will employee who was hired in May 2007 after an exhaustive search. Comfort left his job as Queen Anne's County administrator to take the$165,000-a-year position in Charles.

The dismissal takes effect July 3. Comfort's top aide, Roy E. Hancock, will serve as acting county administrator until a permanent replacement is selected.

In a one-paragraph press release issued late Tuesday afternoon announcing the decision, the commissioners said Comfort's "dedicated service to the citizens of Charles County is greatly appreciated."

Comfort could not be reached for additional comment by press time.

The firing came without warning and only days after Comfort returned from France on an economic development mission with Commissioner Gary V. Hodge and Economic Development Director George L. Robertson.

"I was not in the majority on that decision," Hodge said on Tuesday, declining to comment further.

The other commissioners could not be reached for comment.

As county administrator, Comfort supervised approximately 700 employees and oversaw the county's more than $300 million budget. Numerous department heads, including several longtime county employees, resigned their positions during his roughly two-year tenure.

Comfort ran unsuccessfully in 2002 for Queen Anne's County state's attorney as a Republican, but there is no indication that politics played a role in his termination. All five county commissioners are Democrats.

Late last month, the commissioners razed its communications office, eliminating the positions of press secretary, media relations officer and media relations assistant, which saved the county $242,000 in employee salaries. The county's press operation will be restructured in the coming weeks. In the meantime, former Comcast executive Joe Lehan is serving as the county's communications consultant and acting media contact.

As the county grappled with a $2.3 million budget gap for fiscal 2010, it was Comfort who announced in May that changes would occur for about 5 percent of the county's workforce.

Hancock, a 35-year county employee, is not unaccustomed to serving as temporary administrator. Following the resignation of longtime administrator Eugene T. Lauer in October 2005, he filled that role for 16 months until deciding to resume his duties as the county's planning and growth management director, partially because he did not want to serve in an at-will job so close to his being eligible for full retirement benefits.

In November 2007, he was promoted to the position of assistant to the county administrator.

abrody@somdnews.com