Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
The Jefferson County Commission will soon be losing both its advising attorneys, one for health reasons, the other because of age.
The two attorneys, Scott Shirley and Buck Bird, announced their intentions to retire at the commission meeting on Thursday evening, Mar. 3.
Shirley, who for years has advised the Jefferson County Planning Commission on legal matters and more recently the county commission, was first to announce his decision. He informed the board that he planned to retire effective June 30.
“I’ve had a prognosis of Parkinson’s Disease,” Shirley told the commissioners, adding that they had likely noticed his hand tremors.
Described by medical websites as a progressive and degenerative brain disorder that affects an individual’s motor movements, Parkinson’s can also cause other symptoms to manifest, including sleep disruptions, a decreased sense of smell and mood changes.
And although tremors are recognized as a common primary symptom of the disease, not all people with Parkinson’s suffer tremors, nor does the disease progress at the same rates in individuals, according to the websites.
“I don’t know how quickly it will progress,” Shirley said. “I am now in treatment at Shands Hospital. But I want to spend more time with my family and do things that I’ve wanted to do but haven’t been able to do because I’m working all the time for government entities.”
Shirley said he wanted to give the commissioners the early notification so that they could have sufficient time to find a replacement. He would also, he said, be willing to help with drafting the Request For Proposal (RFP) for the legal services needed.
For him, Shirley said, the issue of leaving was a very emotional one, given his more than 30-year relationship with the community and locally elected officials. Shirley first served as attorney for the Monticello Local Planning Agency and then switched to advising the Jefferson County planning and county commissions.
“It’s been a career-defining endeavor and a labor of love,” Shirley said.
He said he would be willing to assist on a consultant basis whomever the county hired as attorney until the latter was able to get his or her feet on the ground. But he could simply no longer carry on the demands of the job fulltime because it took too great a toll on his time, he said.
He would also never leave the county in a lurch, Shirley added. If worse came to worst and the commission couldn’t find a replacement attorney in the allotted time, his law partner was willing to help on temporary basis, he said.
Shirley said he had broached the subject to his law partner, a highly- qualified individual, and the latter had expressed his willingness to step in.
It was then that Bird made his announcement.
“I too will be retiring at that time,” Bird said. “Not for medical reasons but because I’m too old.”
Bird has been gradually relinquishing his role as county attorney in recent years, with Shirley increasingly assuming the responsibilities.
Bird, who is in his 80s, was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1963. He has been county attorney since at least the 1980s.
You must be logged in to post a comment.