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| “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.“ Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions." S. Alinski |
So I have gone into this budget with an open mind and with open eyes. I've done budgets for more than a decade, and the process so far as I can tell is moving along toward completion...... We have gone through a zero-based departmental review, and we have cut multiple positions and we have also shaved expenditures for outside, charitable entities (while not eliminating them entirely). Our employees are not slated to receive raises this year, and we are working on a plan to try to save money on our out-of-county inmate housing. In short--we are trying to find ways to increase the ECSO budget.
But the process has now been made personal, regrettably.
I have stated that I want to work to see raises not just for LEOs, but also for dispatchers, corrections officers, EMT's, Fire Fighters, and Paramedics. I value all first responders. Would it be appropriate to find money for one group over the others? I think not.
Although I have expressed a willingness to work cooperatively to find a compromise, this has been met with ridicule and condescension.
I have asked to meet with the sheriff after he initiated contact with me personally via a series of sarcastic text messages--and he has said NO. I have asked him four times, in writing, and he has either ignored the requests, ridiculed them, or denied them by saying "I don't participate in futile efforts."
The sheriff has rebuked our Administrator's efforts to meet with him (as the BCC had directed) saying only "we'll see you in Tallahassee." The sheriff has stated he will appeal his budget to the Governor unless the BCC fully funds his 8% year over year budget increase. "All or nothing!" this is what we are hearing from the ECSO.
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| The BCC asked Jack to meet with the Sheriff to discuss a compromise......this (above) was the result.... |
(I personally do not believe such an appeal, if it occurs, will end successfully for ECSO should it actually be conducted; it is not like the People's Court where one side walks out with a verdict in a tidy, 30 minute process.....) But this decision is totally up to the sheriff--it is his right to do this-I simply think working cooperatively to find a solution is the better route.
Maybe that is not possible this year though...
Lately, the BCC (and me personally) have been featured on billboards and on facebook videos--portrayed as people that do not value law enforcement, do not "like" the sheriff, do not understand the needs of the sheriff's office, and do not care about public safety. We've been ridiculed, I've been called a "Bullshit Artist" on a radio program, been told I can't read, can't hear, don't "get it", can't find the nose on my face, etc. etc.
I truly want to work to make this year's budget work for everyone involved--but it's hard to do while
absorbing wave after wave of personal, ad-hominem attacks on our character and integrity. I do not understand the anger, the vitriol, the hate that is spewing forth toward us this year. Here is a newsflash: I did not promise anyone anything--other than I would do my best to look out for taxpayers I represent and that I would not raise year-over-year property tax rates on citizens.
If "someone" made a deal about a salary study---bring me the details in writing--I made no such deal and don't know anyone who did at the BCC. The report is still in draft form and has not been finalized.
If "someone" made a deal to immediately implement, unilaterally, all recommendations from this salary study--I'd like to know who? Tell me who would agree to this because I don't know anyone with an IQ over 50 who would agree to do this without first contemplating the budgetary ramifications.....
If "someone" made a deal about fixing your compression problem this year--bring me the details in writing and name names--I made no such deal and don't know anyone who did at the BCC.
Nobody, and I mean nobody except the BCC acting as a body has the authority and the power to back up such "deals"--and I am now a part of this equation. Show me who made the deal--because if they did, they are the ones who brought a "blank checkbook" to negotiate.
And finally--I want to say this for the record: I'm not taking any this personally, although it is upsetting. I'm documenting everything truthfully in this blog post so that people understand the sort of environment we are dealing with right now. I will conduct myself in a professional manner going forward (just as I have been all along) and I will vote on the budget and bring it in for a landing despite the attacks and negativity----even if the ECSO continues to run commercials on TV featuring wounded deputies in the effort to foment anger toward the BCC to leverage support for its budget request.
I think these commercials are dishonorable and disrespectful, but the decision to utilize public funds to air such commercials lies solely with the ECSO.
10 comments:
So your quote implying the Sheriff is using neo-Marxist tactics, your Facebook likes of everyone that posts something negative or calls him a name, those are your rules for professionalism? Inaccuracies in your blog posts? That's professional? Listening to the worst of the haters and assuming it as true? Also professional? Also you keep using the word "bull____" as that is the word the sheriff said. A) it isn't true. B)it violates your blog rule of off color language.
You are stuck on percents commissioner but you don't talk about the massive percentage increase over the same time frame at the jail or fire department. How much did the other constitutionals budgets increase when you add what they get from the state and fee revenue? How is the Sheriff the largest recipient of LOST when the BOCC themselves get hundreds of millions?
No one is asking for an instant implementation of the salary study. Of course it will need to be phased in. How about a commitment to phasing it in? How about going ahead with a raise for your own first responders this year? What was the total you cut from the budget after all the discussion this year? How much do you have for raises? We aren't expecting a quick budget solution in Tallahassee but we are expecting a solution. The BOCC stance was/is no raise this year, none likely next year, no implementation of the salary study. And we were told this 4 business days before the presentation. We were ambushed in that meeting and certainly in the lost meeting and now you don't understand why it's where it's at. No responses to letters or emails. No corrections of false information put out. No scheduling of meetings when the sheriff requested them. But you wonder why the process isn't going smoothly. Give me a break.
And the previous post was from me. I must have scrolled to anonymous instead of by name, but I don't post anonymously on the internet.
Eric,
If "someone" made a deal about a salary study---bring me the details in writing--I made no such deal and don't know anyone who did at the BCC. The report is still in draft form and has not been finalized.
If "someone" made a deal to immediately implement, unilaterally, all recommendations from this salary study--I'd like to know who? Tell me who would agree to this because I don't know anyone with an IQ over 50 who would agree to do this without first contemplating the budgetary ramifications.....
If "someone" made a deal about fixing your compression problem this year--bring me the details in writing and name names--I made no such deal and don't know anyone who did at the BCC.
Nobody, and I mean nobody except the BCC acting as a body has the authority and the power to back up such "deals"--and I am now a part of this equation. Show me who made the deal--because if they did, they are the ones who brought a "blank checkbook" to negotiate.
Commissioner, Chief Nonsense's claims are irrelevant and untrue AS USUAL. Sir David is grasping at straws. He is also not seeing the big picture. If the Governor steps in, his money practices (waste via LET FUND) will be under a microscope AS IT SHOULD BE. The emperor is wearing no clothes and the Governor who has received MANY complaints about Sir David's slush fund, will be the one to show the citizens that are as delusional as Chief Nonsense. Eric, you can't delete this comment. Doesn't that pass you off?
Your copy and paste answer answers none of the questions, much like your other blog post exchange. It also doesn't even acknowledge what I said about the salary study being implemented over time. Trust me, I won't be surprised when the county gets a study back and doesn't implement it. That's the norm.
Eric--understand one thing about me. I am optimistic, and I'm willing to work and to compromise. I have been steadfast in my assertion that I want to try to find a way to increase pay for all first responders. For this, I have been ridiculed and treated poorly by your office in the press and via other written communications. Yes, I was called a bullshit artist--albeit in a more nuanced, radio friendly way. But if I call you a "Richard-Head!" you know what I'm calling you, right? Rewind the tape from the WCOA morning interview from 7-19-2017 and you tell me what I was called. The point is, the personal attacks are un-called for and I think you know that. The negative commercials are un-called for, and I think you know that, too. Why attack the BCC when we are legitimately attempting to do the right thing? And finally---the commercials with the wounded officers is disrespectful and I hope you understand this. Not just my opinion either. Poor taste.
Its disrespectfully to tell officers who are getting shot on your behalf that when they retire in 2023 they'll be making less than a deputy who retired in 2008. It's disrespectful to give money to discretionary items when they watch the communities around them give significant raises and starting salaries to their law enforcement. It's disrespectful to allow a pay structure implemented by the BOCC after they took away their civil service to have our supervisors making $20,000 less annually than a PPD supervisor. It's disrespectful to their intelligence to tell them the sheriff was given money that could be used for raises when the BOCC took the exact same amount to give the exact same raises. I could go on and on about the BOCC's disrespect for the ECSO. It's not just my opinion that the BOCC is not legitimately trying to do the right thing. You are trying to negotiate a bandaid for this year when both our employees are dying on the operating table. It's a very elementary question that apparently no commissioner or staffer can answer. What is the get well plan? Perhaps the word fluff, non substantive, or distractionary would've been more friendly than bovine scatology? The point is the same. There is a lot of talk--no action--no plan.
So Eric, let me get this straight-the right thing is to give YOUR BOSS a blank check? How about a ba-zillion dollars? Even then, based on HISTORICAL INFORMATION (past money given to ECSO that made it into 4 peoples' paychecks when it could have supplemented a LOT more), your boss is falling into his old behavior. I am referencing his military record. More interestingly, someone is quoted in November 10, 2008 PNJ article, "Before we have ATV's on the beach and everybody in administration having a car and a county gas card & all those sorts of things, we are going to make sure those areas are manned up fully." While ATV's & county cars/gas cards are not the problem, you could easily insert full media team for ATV's and ridiculous raises & excessive personnel for the administration. David Morgan said that.
It is DISRESPECTFUL FOR YOU, CHIEF DEPUTY HAINES, TO INSULT EVERYBODY'S INTELLIGENCE BY SAYING THE BOCC IS THE PROBLEM. YOU, CHIEF WILL NOT TAKE CARE OF YOUR DEPUTIES IN ANY FORM OR FASHION. You could get a ba-zillion dollars funded to you by the taxpayers and still the deputies would be the last to see any sort of pay increase. The problem is the mindset of the administration that cannot see the forest for the trees. People DON'T WANT to work for people who stalk them on social media to make sure they are politically correct, people who think Amber, David Craig, David Ingram, and Andy Hobbs are worth the pay they receive, people who focus more on making mini-videos to put on social media rather than getting out into the community itself, people who play Santa Claus with taxpayer's money to the elite of the community who have "pet" projects. Why not put that "Aid to Private Organizations" into getting the deputies in a promotional activity to get the deputies and community together & that the Sir David will attend? Build bridges in the trenches....stop scorching the Earth with your political cattiness. When was the last time you or Morgan went on a ride-along? Or do you not bother to mingle with common folk? WHEN YOU RESPECT THE COMMUNITY YOU SERVE, MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, THE COMMUNITY WOULD RESPECT YOU.
Comm Bergosh, learn from Steve Barry, Ignore the fools.
Haynes is a snowflake. Trump I mean Bergosh has been in office for less than 1-year and all the problems caused by the 9 year sheriff haven't been corrected. What a whiner. Haynes and his boss want you to raise taxes. I say hold the line. Let them whine. Haynes needs to get a dozen snowflake doughnuts from Krispie Kreme and drink it with a gallon of sheriff kool aid. Oops, it looks like he already did.
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