Century Town Clerk Leslie Howington Resigns; Town To Hire Interim Clerk

May 22, 2024

Century Town Clerk Leslie Howington has resigned.

In mid-April, Howington took a temporary leave of absence.

She told NorthEscambia.com Tuesday that she submitted her resignation due to medical reasons.

“This was a blow to the town,” Mayor Luis Gomez, Jr. said. “We wish her well.”

Howington was Century town clerk from 2010-2018 before resigning for another position. She was rehired in 2021.

Tuesday night, the Century Town Council voted to authorize Gomez to negotiate with Lakisha Burch (pictured left) for interim town clerk services.

Gomez said Burch has extensive experience in municipal government administration. She has proposed a rate of $26 per hour for up to 30 hours per week, with additional hours billed at $40 per hour. She will work remotely.

According to her Linkedin profile, Burch served as town clerk for the Town of Loxahatchee Groves for just over five years and was the Florida Association of City Clerks Clerk of the Year in 2022. She holds a master municipal clerk designation.

The council also approved a job description in order to begin the search for a permanent replacement for Howington. The salary range for the position will be $71,000 to $91,000, more than Howington was paid.

Pictured: Century Town Clerk Leslie Howington uses her phone to find information for council members during a Century Town Council meeting. NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

16 Responses to “Century Town Clerk Leslie Howington Resigns; Town To Hire Interim Clerk”

  1. A Hopeful Citizen on May 31st, 2024 10:00 pm

    I see a lot of comments that are having issues with the pay. The average Clerk in this state makes more than $26 an hour. Furthermore, as much as the Clerk department, and the Town as a whole, is behind, she definitely has her work cut out for her, and deserves to be compensated fairly. Also, before you all try to be disrespectful, how about doing your research on Ms. Burch as I have, and you’ll see that her experience and education makes her pay more than fair.

  2. Eddie on May 23rd, 2024 2:27 pm

    This is awful. The citizens in this town are sitting by letting a complete morrow ruin our town. I’ve tried to get involved but was beat out in a vote of the people. He Gomez ghad the best interrest for century on his mindot out and supported the other candidate because she gives into his agenda. I thought when I tried to get involved that Gomez but I’ve seen he is flushing the town down the drain he has done nothing but cause trouble for this town .The people in century needs to stand up get rid of him and his sister in law they are ruining this town

  3. fisherman on May 23rd, 2024 9:52 am

    This smells like kick back all the way.Gomez is saying no one in Escambia county can do this job so he heads to South Florida for hiring.Wait till the 10-15 hours a week over time begin.It’s not just Gomez it’s the entire council.

  4. Thomas.Paine on May 22nd, 2024 11:46 pm

    There’s a pattern here even the blind can see and the third world stooges running the town are rubbing it in the nose of the citizenry.

  5. Dollar Bill on May 22nd, 2024 10:28 pm

    When Gomez gets his pockets filled and all the connections to people in Palm Beach, he will resign and head south. Kinda like smiling all the way to the bank!

  6. Emma on May 22nd, 2024 10:20 pm

    $26 hr up to 30 hours. $40 hr after that? Who gets to negotiate that type of pay, on a remote job? Is Century even equipped with the technology to monitor this candidate’s daily work activity?

    The mayor of Century pushing for an employee not even living in the tri-county area with an inappropriate pay structure seems suspicious.

  7. derek on May 22nd, 2024 9:45 pm

    Here we go again!

  8. Bigblock345 on May 22nd, 2024 5:50 pm

    @Willene. No, it’s time for century to be fenced off from the rest of the county. Or move the state line to century’s southern border. The rest of us that lives in the unincorporated part of the county don’t want it. We’re already taxed too much. We don’t need to add century’s debts to it. THEY created them. Let THEM fix it.

  9. Willene on May 22nd, 2024 4:49 pm

    So sorry to see Leslie leaving, but Leslie if you read this I really understand. Sad to say but time to turn Century over to the county.

  10. Jus Me on May 22nd, 2024 3:42 pm

    Way to go Gomez. Another person you ran off due to your shady actions, crappy business and I also want to say way to go supporting South Florida’s economy. You suck..

  11. Freddy on May 22nd, 2024 1:16 pm

    Gomez is very very corrupt ….it won’t be long & he will be exposed …..People are working on it as we ”SPEAK’

  12. IMHO on May 22nd, 2024 12:43 pm

    I seem to remember several businesses or projects that wanted to come to Century and Mr Gomez voting against them because they wouldn’t provide enough local jobs. Now he’s hiring people from South Florida for extraordinary money to work remotely! Not a penny to be spent locally.

  13. Kane on May 22nd, 2024 12:22 pm

    One day the whole town of Century is going to “quit” and be quietly replaced by a more expensive interim town we can call it Decade. XD

  14. James on May 22nd, 2024 9:22 am

    Seems rather pricey for a clerk position, especially for the size of Century. And for the council and mayor to agree to a rate more than the normal 1.5 times regular overtime even though she isn’t going to even work a full 40-hour week is ridiculous and has scandal written all over it.

  15. Redfish on May 22nd, 2024 8:44 am

    And so it goes! Another South Florida person on the payroll remotely soaking up the Century citizen’s tax dollars!

  16. N F on May 22nd, 2024 5:59 am

    WOW! For a town that is already in financial troubles and can’t pay their bills, this is a huge pay for a clerk position. Don’t we all want to do that now??





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