At a special meeting Monday afternoon, commissioners decided the next step for Gilchrist County, and it doesn't include dishing out extra money to former administrator Ron McQueen.

"We need to get someone in the seat," said commissioner D.Ray Harrison.

Before commissioners fill any empty seats, debt to the county administrator they fired is the topic on the floor.

"I think we'd be setting a precedent in the future that we don't need to set," he said.

Former Gilchrist county administrator Ron McQueen can't expect severance money in his bank account.

McQueen sat down with the county's attorney, requesting 16 weeks of severance pay; about $24,000.

"That's what he requested, and it sounded reasonable to me, and that's what I brought to the county commission," said John McPherson, county attorney.

However, commissioners shot it down, saying severance is something this county has never paid to it's former employees.

"My basic thing was not to depart from what we have in our written policy, that is black and white on paper," said Harrison.

Paying out vacation, sick, and comp time. For McQueen, that's a little over $12,000.

"It's important we get someone in that seat as soon as we can. We don't want to rush into judgement," he said.

Commissioners approved a tight schedule that has a new county administrator on board by January 1st, but until that happens, a few employees will be taking on the extra work.

McQueen's daily responsibilities have been divided between chairman Randy Durden, the county's attorney and, clerk.

"They're not being paid additional salaries to do these jobs," he said.

If McQueen's seat takes longer than three months to fill,commissioners say, they'll cross that bridge when they get to it.

"Just hope we made the right decision for the people we represent," he said.