09/20/2023 Agreement EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
BETWEEN MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA
AND
SUE BURKE
FOR POSITION OF
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO COMMISSIONER JAMES K. SCHOLL
THIS AGREEMENT is entered into upon the date last below written by and between
Monroe County, Florida, acting through its Board of County Commissioners ("Board or
"BOCC"), a political subdivision of the State of Florida, whose main business address is 1100
Simonton Street, Key West, Florida 33040, and Sue Burke ("Employee").
WHEREAS, the position of Executive Assistant to County Commissioner James K.
School, District 3, has become open; and
WHEREAS, Employee has interviewed and been selected for the position; and
WHEREAS, negotiations between the County and Employee have resulted in this
mutually acceptable Employment Agreement ("Agreement"); and
WHEREAS, Commissioner Scholl wishes to hire this candidate as his Executive
Assistant.
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises contained herein the
County and Employee set forth herein, it is mutually agreed as follows:
l. EMPLOYMENT. Employee shall be employed by the County as executive
assistant to County Commissioner James K. Scholl ("Commissioner"). The first date of
employment shall be September 20, 2023. The status of the Employee shall be a Contract
Employee as that term is defined in Section 2.03 of the Personnel Policies & Procedures Manual
("Manual").
2. DUTIES. Duties of the Employee will be as set forth in the Job Description
attached hereto as Exhibit A, the provisions of which are incorporated herein by reference.
3. COMPENSATION. In return for performance of the duties set forth in Exhibit A,
including but not limited to specific duties assigned by the Commissioner from time to time,
Employee shall receive an annual base salary in the amount of seventy-two thousand seven
hundred fifty-eight dollars and forty cents ($$72,758.40) ("Base Pay"). The Employee will also
receive all benefits set forth in the Monroe County Personnel Policies & Procedures Manual
("Manual") as said Manual may be amended from time to time. County and Employee agree
that the position of Executive Assistant will be a full-time position deemed non-exempt under the
Fair Labor Standards Act. Work hours performed, annual leave, personal leave, and sick leave
hours taken will be documented on a form or forms to be provided by County.
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4. SOLE EMPLOYMENT. The Employee agrees that he or she will not perform
any work, consulting services, or other activities for any other person or entity, whether for
remuneration or at no charge, without the prior express written approval of the Commissioner,
5. TERM OF AGREEMENT; TERMINATION; CANCELLATION; GENERAL
RELEASE. The Employee understands that the appointment is a relationship that is highly
dependent upon the personal and confidential relationship between the Employee and the
Commissioner. In entering into this Agreement, the Employee therefore understands that he or
she serves at the pleasure of the Commissioner; that there is no set term to this Agreement; and
that the Employee can be terminated at any time upon twenty-four hours written notice by the
Commissioner, with or without cause, but that in any event the Agreement will terminate when
the Commissioner leaves office, except that(a) at the conclusion of employment, the Employee
may either elect to receive a payout of annual or sick leave or compensatory time on the books,
or may choose to use existing annual or sick leave or compensatory time to extend the last date
of employment beyond the term of office of the Commissioner, but only up to a maximum of
four(4) weeks' of employment, and (b) in the event that the current Commissioner leaves office
mid-term, the Employee may, subject to the consent of the Employee, designated to remain the
position by the County Administrator for an indefinite period of time but not to exceed the time
when the position of Executive Assistant for the successor Commissioner begins employment.
The Employee further understands that in the event of termination, the Employee is free to apply
to the County for any other position then currently open and the County is free to consider the
Employee for any open position, but that the County has no obligation to place the Employee in
another position, and specifically has no obligation to place the Employee in a position of
equivalent or comparable salary, grade, or benefits. In entering into this Agreement, the
Employee therefore specifically waives the right to utilize the grievance procedure set forth in
Sections 9 and 10 of the Manual; House Bill No. 2658, Chapter 69-1321, the Monroe County
Career Service Council; as well as any rights to which a Monroe County employee would
otherwise be entitled under Chapter 447, Florida Statutes. As used in this paragraph, the term
"for cause" will mean (a) dishonesty with respect to the business and operation of the County;
(b) confirmed violation of the County's drug policy; (c) refusal to cooperate in an investigation
regarding any aspect of the business or operation of the County, including but not limited to an
investigation which is conducted by or at the express direction of the BOCC; (d) conviction of
crime which is classified as a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude; (e) gross neglect or
willful and intentional misconduct; (f) conviction of a crime; (g) violation of a provision of the
Monroe County Code; or(h) breach of any material term or condition of this Agreement by the
Employee.
6. ATTORNEYS' FEES AND COSTS. In the event of any litigation initiated by
either party, the prevailing party shall receive reasonable attorneys' fees, costs of litigation, and
related expenses, both at the trial and appellate levels.
7. GOVERNING LAW; ATTORNEY'S FEES AND COSTS; VENUE. This
Agreement is made in the State of Florida and will be governed by Florida law. This Agreement
may be signed in more than one counterpart, in which case each counterpart will constitute an
original of this Agreement. Paragraph headings are for convenience only and are not intended to
expand or restrict the scope or substance of the provisions of this Agreement. Wherever used
herein, the singular will include the plural, the plural will include the singular, and pronouns will
be read as masculine, feminine, or neuter as the context requires. Monroe County, Florida will
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be the proper venue for any litigation involving this Agreement. This Agreement is not subject
to arbitration.
8. OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS,
A. Except as set forth herein, the Employee is subject to all terms and
conditions set forth in the Monroe County Personnel Policies & Procedures Manual ("Manual")
as may be amended from time to time. To the extent there is a conflict between the terms of this
Agreement and the Manual, the terms of this Agreement shall prevail.
B. If any provision, term, or portion of this Agreement shall be held to be
unconstitutional, illegal, invalid, or enforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the
remaining terms, conditions, and portions shall remain in full force and effect as if originally
agreed to without the term, condition, or portion that has been determined to be unconstitutional,
illegal, invalid or unenforceable.
C. The waiver by either the County or the Employee of a breach or violation
of any term or provision of this Agreement by the other party shall not operate or be construed as
a waiver of any subsequent breach or violation by the other party.
D. The County and Employee acknowledge that each has shared equally in
the review of this Agreement and, accordingly, no court or administrative hearing officer shall
construe any provision of this Agreement more strictly against one party over the other party,
and every term, condition, covenant, and provision of this Agreement shall be construed simply
according to its fair meaning. Employee further acknowledges that she or he has had the
Agreement reviewed by an attorney, or has been given the opportunity to do so and has waived
that opportunity.
E. This Agreement incorporates and supersedes all prior negotiations,
correspondence, conversations, agreements, and/or understandings applicable to the matters
contained herein. It is further agreed that there are no commitments, agreements, inducements,
or understandings concerning the subject matter of this Agreement that are not contained herein,
and no deviation from the terms hereof shall be predicated upon any prior representations, offers,
promises, inducements, or agreements, whether oral or written, and by whomever made.
F. The text herein constitutes the entire agreement between the Employee
and the County, and this agreement cannot be amended except by a written document mutually
agreed to and executed with the same formalities as this Agreement. The rights and obligations
of this Agreement are personal to the Employee and cannot be assigned or transferred.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have set their hands and seals, in the
County of Monroe, Florida, this loth day of September 2023.
On behalf of Monroe County, Florida
By
Roman Gastesi, County Administrator
WITNESS: Employee:
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B <w '
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[Prin i arne:]w `. � . . Sue Burke
Approved as to form and legal sufficiency:
Monroe County Attorney's Office 9-7-2023
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Exhibit A
MO �NROE COUNTY
FLORIDA
Job Description
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the essential job functions satisfactorily.
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the primary job functions
herein described. Since every duty associated with this position may not be described herein, employees may be
required to perform duties not specifically spelled out in the job description, but which may be reasonably considered
to be incidental in the performing of their duties just as though they were actually written out in this job description.
Job Title: Executive Assistant - BOCC
Department: Board of County Commissioners
Pay Grade: 307
FLSA Status: Non-exempt
JOB SUMMARY
The primary function of this position is to perform specialized office and administrative work
within the department.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS
• Compiles and coordinates BOCC agenda items.
• Assists in budget preparation and monitoring expenditures.
• Composes correspondence for review and signature.
• Schedules appointments and make travel arrangements for department personnel.
• Maintains paper and electronic files, copies, scans documents; composes and responds to
emails; and transcribes minutes.
• Keeps track of Commissioner calendar and conference room calendars.
• Processes invoices, purchase orders, and requests to purchase.
• Answers telephone and greets public.
• Distributes mail to other individuals in the Office.
• Maintains office stock supplies.
• Researches and develops material.
• Acts as liaison with local government officials, municipalities, local agencies, and State and
Federal government legislators and agency representatives on behalf of Commissioner.
• Performs other related job duties as assigned.
• In the event of special, emergency, or disaster situations, employee may be required to work
schedules other than those for which they are regularly scheduled in any capacity deemed
appropriate.
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UALIFICATIONS
Education and Experience:
Vocational or Technical School. 3 years minimum of prior related work experience.
Special Qualifications:
None.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
• Ability to work from a general outline of duties and responsibilities.
• Ability to perform entry-level professional work including basic data analysis and
synthesis, report creation, process performance, and regulatory or compliance activities.
• Knowledge of statistics, operations analysis, or forecasting.
• Ability to determine problems and create individual solutions for issue.
• Ability to work with more than ten coworkers who mostly engage in the same activities.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
The work is light and requires exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10
pounds of force to move objects. Additionally,the following physical abilities are required:
• Feeling: Perceiving attributes of objects, such as size, shape, temperature or texture by
touching with skin, particularly that of fingertips.
• Hearing: Perceiving the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without
correction. Ability to receive detailed information through oral communication, and to
make the discrimination in sound.
• Mental Acuity: Ability to make rational decisions through sound logic and deductive
processes.
• Repetitive Motion: Substantial movements (motions) of the wrist, hands, and/or fingers.
• Speaking: Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word including the
ability to convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately and
concisely.
• Talking: Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word including those
activities in which they must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other
workers accurately, loudly, or quickly.
• Visual Acuity: Have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and
analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; and/or extensive
reading.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
Work is performed in a safe and secure work environment that may periodically have unpredicted
requirements or demands.
Monroe County has the right to revise this job description at any time.
This description does not represent in any way a contract of employment.
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1"m loyee SigIlatUre Date
Step(rkisor or Director Signature Date:
Director of Employee Services Signature Date:
E.O.E. Monroe County does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age,
disability or military service in employment or the provision of services.
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