County Administrator Looks Elsewhere for Work : Employment: Norman Hickey has applied for two government posts as he waits to hear how his stalled pension negotiations progress.

County Chief Administrative Officer Norman Hickey, whose controversial employment contract has languished incomplete for 15 months, has applied for top government posts in two Florida cities.

Hickey, the county’s top administrator since 1986, is among 16 candidates being considered for the city manager’s post in St. Petersburg and has applied for a position in Miami Beach, according to government sources. Hickey acknowledged that he also may be under consideration elsewhere, but would not elaborate.

Hickey’s decision to allow a headhunting firm to circulate his name for vacant posts comes amid stalled negotiations over an unusual clause in his proposed contract.

The provision would have allowed Hickey to step down from his post in January, 1993, but remain as a $26-per-year special employee for the ensuing three years, giving him the 10 years of service he needs to be vested in the county pension plan.

The proposal sparked angry public debate when details were revealed in November, and county supervisors, who serve as Hickey’s employer, never voted on it.

The matter is particularly sensitive during a year when the county has asked each of its more than 15,000 employees to take a week off without pay because of a shortfall in the current budget.

It also comes during a year when Supervisor Brian Bilbray faces reelection and Supervisor Susan Golding is running for mayor of San Diego.

Though there has been some subsequent discussion of Hickey’s pact in closed session, action on the package has stalled, with three supervisors in favor of awarding Hickey the pension plan and two opposed, Supervisor John MacDonald said.

“It created a lot of turmoil,” MacDonald said. “The problem is we can’t come to a conclusion on the part of it where we give him the” retirement plan, said MacDonald, who is in favor of awarding the package to Hickey.

In the meantime, Hickey, who was scheduled to receive a new contract in October, 1990, but agreed to defer the issue for a year, has been running county government on a handshake agreement. Popular and well-regarded by the board, he is paid $134,000 a year.

“The decision made a year ago (last) October hasn’t gone to fruition,” he said. “I’m not angry. I’m not upset. But it gives me an opportunity to look around.”

With years of government service for various Florida governments, Hickey said he might be able to negotiate a deal that gives him enough time served to be eligible for one of the retirement systems there.

Throughout the controversy over his retirement, Hickey has maintained that his sole aim is to ensure his wife’s security should he die suddenly.

The couple still maintains a home in the Hillsborough County, Fla., community of Apollo Beach.

Hickey insisted that he is not exploring the job market as a direct result of the failed negotiations over his retirement package, and is not trying to pressure the supervisors to come to a conclusion.