So it seems that the Orange County Florida tax collector is 95 years old and makes $135,000.00 a year. Get that old fart out of office and cut the pay. He is never around anymore, but says “I make the big decisions and sign all the paperwork.” Screw you old man, Time to retire and let someone else do the job. ( I just may make this a regular feature, Oh Hell NO!!)
Here is the story..
OrlandoSentinel.com
Tax Collector Wood, 95, cuts his work schedule, but defends job
By David Damron, Orlando Sentinel
8:18 PM EDT, August 27, 2011
When Orange County Tax Collector Earl K. Wood ran for re-election in 2008, he conceded that at age 92, he wasn’t spending much time in the office anymore. He said he was earning his $153,082 annual salary mostly by promoting tax-office services at public appearances. But lately even that kind of work has tapered off. When a citizens panel met during the summer to decide whether to do away with his office, 95-year-old Wood was a no-show. Wood has proudly defended his position for many of his 46 years in office, but this year he sent his second-in-command.
Wood downplayed his absence in a recent interview with the Orlando Sentinel, citing schedule conflicts and adding that he feared the issue would turn personal because of his advanced age. “I haven’t shirked my duties,” he said. “I’ve signed all the papers, made all the big decisions.” Wood said he has been slowed somewhat by health issues, but for now, he hasn’t decided whether to run again next year. If he does and wins, Wood could be 100 years old at the end of another four-year term.
“It’s all based on who runs and, you know, my health at that time,” Wood said. Wood has one of the best-known political names in the county. That’s partly because his office handles property taxes and vehicle-tag renewals, so many voters end up scrawling his name on at least one check every year. As for his public duties, Wood doesn’t keep a calendar or any type of record of appointments, but he says he tries to make it into one of his offices three times a week.
His new top lieutenant, Kelly Goodwin, provided a list where her own schedule involved time with Wood, and the result was 17 overlapping encounters since April. It included about a dozen manager and staff meetings, plus a retirement party and an employee picnic. It also revealed that Wood attended former Orlando Mayor Carl Langford’s funeral and another meeting with Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs on budget issues.
But it was his absence in the fight over his office that surprised some people. In May, Wood was slated to speak to the Charter Review Commission, a panel that is considering various issues to put to voters on next year’s ballot. The consolidation of Wood’s office, along with other constitutional officers such as the Clerk of Circuit Court and Property Appraiser’s Office, is a subject that often comes up when the charter panel convenes every four years.
But Wood didn’t attend the charter panel’s meeting. And in July, when he was slated to appear again, he instead sent an eight-page memo of responses to previously submitted questions sent by board member Angel de la Portilla. “I was expecting him to be there, and I didn’t want to ambush him,” de la Portilla said. “I was a bit surprised he wasn’t there. “In August, a group of charter board members met to discuss the consolidation of constitutional officers’ duties again, and it was Goodwin who appeared before them, not Wood.
De la Portilla said that the charter panel decided not to give voters the option of consolidating Wood’s office because the savings to taxpayers would be too small to justify the effort. The uncertainty of Wood’s own political future, though, has already prompted two political unknowns to file paperwork to run against him next year. And the name of former Orange Mayor Rich Crotty also regularly surfaces as someone who might be interested in the position.
That speculation grew after Crotty’s longtime executive assistant, Jan Trauger, recently started working in Wood’s office. But Crotty said he’s focused on his own consulting business, although he has not ruled out future public service. Wood said he’s confident he can win another election because residents like the job he’s done. “I know two [tax] collectors who got elected in a wheelchair,” said Wood, who uses one himself to help get around. “The public is very smart. They know my record, and they know me.”
Rob In His Bunker 