Orange County Comptroller and longtime LGBTQ ally Martha Haynie bids adieu

Orange County government has seen a strong advocate for LGBTQ rights in County Comptroller Martha Haynie, even as a registered Republican.

Haynie, who will step down after this year to be replaced by former Orlando City Commissioner Phil Diamond, is reflective upon her exit after 28 years of monitoring a county economy that’s grown from just under $1 billion annually to just under $4 billion presently.

“2016 has left me with little time or energy for reflection,” Haynie says. “But now as I have been taking Comptroller-elect Phil Diamond around our offices, introducing him to folks and explaining our operations, I have been thinking ‘Wow!  This is a fantastic group of people and we have done a lot of cool things. I think I am going to miss it!'”

Haynie says there are lots of big things for her to be proud of: a successful local collection and protection of the tourist development tax, not losing any public money when the investment world went haywire, getting the largest settlement from an online travel company of any local government after years of fighting, saving the county hundreds of millions of dollars and protecting the independence of her office, just to name a few.

“But frankly the most satisfying part of this job for me has been the everyday: making a citizen’s life a little bit easier, creating a caring environment for my staff; taking the time to fully explain a complicated situation to a reporter; getting a comment from a citizen about how well they were treated by someone in my office,” she says. “Some the most surprising things have been learning to deal directly with conflict, realizing that I could use my voice on issues not directly related to my office and being called brave when I was simply being honest.

“My fantasy retirement plans were to play with my grandchildren, sleep late, travel, drink wine with my friends and read lots of book. However, the events of  2016 have convinced me that 2017 will be a year when I will need to stay active, involved and loud. It’s going to be fun. In my opinion, the folks who work in the Orange County Comptroller’s Office are unsung heroes, and I am very proud to have been ‘the boss’ for so long.  It has been, by and large, a wonderful 28 years.”

She continues, “For all the highs, there have been a lot of difficult, even painful, lows. From my experience I knew that in any organization the accountants and the internal auditors rarely win popularity contests. Add politics and power struggles and publicity, and the likelihood of clashes is unavoidable.  The creation of the office of Orange County Mayor and the restructuring of county government, the growth of the county and the stupendous success of the convention center and our tourism industry, local collection and enforcement of the resort tax, the internet, online travel companies, the refinancing frenzy of the 90s, the bankruptcy of Orange County California, the Great Recession. It has been my privilege to work with hundreds of smart, dedicated public servants who simply wanted to treat people well and do things right.  Knowing how hard they work, and how seriously they take their responsibilities, it is painful to hear people trash government employees.

“Twenty eight years ago I was lucky to have some persistent and persuasive friends who had more confidence that me than I had in myself.  They convinced me that the county comptroller’s job was a good fit for my CPA experience and my interest in politics. With their help, I ran for office for the first time, and beat a two term incumbent.  And my friends were right: being the county comptroller turned out to be a good fit.”

 

Haynie survived a Tiger Bay roast at the Country Club of Orlando on Dec. 13. She leaves office on Jan. 2.

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