Brent Batten: Brief exchange harkens back to bad old days in Collier government

Here we go again?

After years of relative amity, the relationship between the Collier County commission and the county clerk of courts is threatening to take a turn back to the bad old days of litigation and recrimination.

Signs of tension emerged late in Tuesday’s commission meeting when Commissioner Penny Taylor suggested Clerk of Courts Crystal Kinzel was injecting herself into board policy decisions and acting in an intimidating manner with Florida Gulf Coast University.

Kinzel quickly appeared at the meeting to deny the allegations and said her communications with FGCU were merely intended to ensure the university gets paid promptly as it embarks on a new partnership with the county.

To understand it all, you first must go back a decade or more, when the late Dwight Brock was clerk of courts, with Kinzel as his top lieutenant.

Brock and the county administration fought in court, mostly over Brock’s role as the chief auditor of county spending.

He insisted on having broad authority to audit contracts and monitor spending while the county’s legal team contended his powers were more limited and that his frequent requests for information hampered their ability to work.

Contractors complained about not being paid on time as Brock withheld checks until his concerns, often detailed and seemingly minor, were satisfied.

When a new slate of county commissioners was elected in 2016, they vowed to improve the relationship and things improved. Brock died in 2018 and Kinzel was elected to take his place.

The harmonious relationship continued — until Tuesday.

That’s when Taylor laid out a sequence of events she says disturbs her and hints that the clerk’s office may be returning to old habits of meddling in county policy.

More Brent Batten:Protecting the community from cops who fall short of ideals

On May 26, county commissioners unanimously approved a contract with FGCU that gives the university’s business school a role in running revamped small business incubator the county is trying to get off the ground. A previous version of the incubator was a favorite target of Brock’s who was never satisfied it was using taxpayer money appropriately or effectively.

On May 27, Kinzel’s office contacted FGCU seeking a meeting with university President Mike Martin.

The reason for the meeting, according to an email from Beverly Brown, executive assistant to Martin, was “The Clerk of the Court and the Inspector General would need clarification regarding the contract ‘to determine how FGCU would get paid.”’

The contract was only a day old and no invoices for payment had been submitted, Taylor noted. There was nothing to audit or question.

Read more Brent Batten:Most important school question isn't on the ballot

She likened the phone call to “bullying” and called it an abuse of power. It would tend to cast doubt on the county’s intention to make good on its obligations under the two-year, $754,000 deal, she said.

Kinzel said she was trying to be proactive, to make sure the university knows how and what to submit in order to get paid promptly. “I think we’re arguing about something that isn’t real. It didn’t happen,” Kinzel said of the supposed intimidation.

Commission Chairman Burt Saunders, who made improving relations with the clerk’s office a campaign issue in 2016, tried to mediate the dispute.

More Brent Batten:Delivery fees take bite out of restaurant revenue during pandemic

On the one hand, he said he wished Kinzel’s office hadn’t made the call. On the other, he asked Taylor not to make things personal by using terms like “bullying” and “intimidation.”

He estimated the taxpayers spent more than $1 million on the litigation between the clerk and the county over the years. “I made a commitment we weren’t going to get into that type of situation ever again,” he said, adding, “We’re going to work this out.”

After the meeting, Taylor said she’s still not convinced. “The jury’s still out on that,” she said.

Connect with Brent Batten at brent.batten@naplesnews.com