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NSBNews.net file photo / With municipal budget season around the corner, New Smyrna Beach City Attorney Frank Gummey's annual pay is being called into question.NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Realtor Bill Roe has caused a stir with his questioning of the $188,000 salary paid to City Attorney Frank Gummey. Roe, principal owner of Ocean Properties in New Smyrna Beach and a blogger for NSBNews.net, contacted WFTV, which portrayed him as a "tax watchdog" in a story and video package posted Tuesday on its website.
"Why do we need an attorney that's the highest priced attorney in Central Florida to run 22,000 people here,” Roe told WFTV, adding, "He's a good attorney, but he's just another attorney."
Mayor Adam Barringer said Gummey's contract was agreed to nearly half a decade ago by the city commission led by then-Mayor Jim Vandergrifft and then-City Manager John Hagood. Barringer sees no need to dump Gummey, who has been a steady legal adviser while Deltona has gone through several city attorneys, with a $132,000 salary.
Gummey has declined comment, referring questions about his salary to the mayor and city manager's office.
"He's doing the job," Mayor Adam Barringer told NSBNews.net, reinforcing what he said to WFTV. "He is not an issue."
Severance would be twice as much as Gummey's annual salary. The contract is open ended with Gummey staying on as long as he wants if he is competently doing the job.
Three years ago, the commission tried to have Gummey terminated for cause with then Commissioner Randy Richenberg claiming he failed to properly represent the city's interests in ongoing issues involving the New Smyrna Beach Utilities Commission.
Then-Mayor Sally Mackay and Commissioner Lynne Plaskett were critical of Gummey, but when it came to a vote, Richenberg and Commissioner Lynne Plaskett were outvoted by Mackay and Commissioners Jim Hathaway and Jack Grasty.
Richenberg was then crushed in the 2009 municipal elections by Judy Reiker and Barringer narrowly defeated Mackay. She and Richenberg were one-term incumbents.
You can read WFTV's story and watch its video by clicking on the link: http://www.wftv.com/news/28273326/detail.html