Commissioners address “gray areas” in fire chief benefits after WINK investigation

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. (WINK) -- Potential discrepancies first uncovered in a WINK investigation are now being addressed by leaders at the North Collier Fire Rescue District.

Last month, WINK Investigates reported on questions surrounding vacation payouts for Fire Chief Eloy Ricardo.

Now, those concerns are being discussed publicly by commissioners as they move forward with extending his contract.

During a special meeting, commissioners approved a two-year contract extension for Ricardo, while also acknowledging concerns about “gray areas” in his current contract —specifically involving benefits and vacation payouts.

Those concerns were first highlighted in a months-long WINK investigation, which reviewed timesheets, vacation and sick payouts, and district policies. The records raised questions about how benefits are applied, like vacation payouts.

Records show Ricardo cashed out up to 320 hours in two different fiscal years.  His contract caps vacation payouts at 200 hours, while a district Standard Operating Procedure [SOP] allows up to 120 hours for exempt employees.

In March, Ricardo said he believes he is entitled to a combined vacation payout from both his contract and the SOP. 

During an interview last month, that interpretation was also supported by Chairman Christopher Lombardo.

During a special meeting on Wednesday, commissioners referenced that same issue, marking the first time the matter was addressed in a public meeting since WINK's investigation.

Commissioner Stephen Popper said he wants future language to eliminate confusion.

"So, we can ask for clarification in the contract, the new contract, so that some of the questions that were raised before will, you know, are no longer?" Commissioner Stephan Popper asked Chairman Lombardo. "I believe we've talked about some of the things, like your [the Chief's] benefit and if other exempt benefits happen that piggybacks on top of what you have."

Lombardo responded saying, "We're going to look at how we make it a little more flexible when it comes to that. But again, and like I've said previously, he's an exempt employee, and that means he has contractual rights, and he has the contractual right to have the exempt employee benefits. That's the deal," he said. "Whether that's the deal that we'll do in the future, remains to be seen."

District leaders say the current contract, written in 2019, is outdated and does not fully align with current policies and procedures. They say the next version will aim to better define how benefits are applied and avoid overlapping interpretations.

"A fresh and new contract is definitely warranted and needed for the operations," Ben Van Klingeren, the Chief Financial Officer in the meeting, said. "For, you know, making sure everything is tied out between our SOP policies, what's included, what's not."

Commissioner James Calamari chimed in asking, "That will be clear, that there be no gray areas?"

Klingeren, who is involved in drawing up the new contract, responded, "Correct, that's the goal and intent for any contract, is that the research is done from many perspectives."

The board also acknowledged completely eliminating ambiguity may not be possible.

"I hear your comment about, 'So, there'll be no gray area,'" Chair Lombardo." It's virtually impossible to suggest that as of today, we could write a contract that's going to last two, five, seven years that may not, in years in the future, create a gray area that we did not anticipate."

Still, some commissioners emphasized they want clearer terms moving forward.

"In the future, if we see something like that, we probably ought to pause and say, 'Okay, let's look at the chiefs contract and see if we need to do an amendment to the chiefs contract,'" Lombardo said.

The board unanimously approved a two-year contract extension to allow time for negotiations. The chairman said his goal is to finalize a new contract within 90 days, though there is no guaranteed timeline.

WINK Investigates will continue to follow this story and provide you with updates.