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I am one member of a five person board. The opinions I express on this forum are mine only, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Escambia County Staff, Administrators, Employees, or anyone else associated with Escambia County Florida. I am interested in establishing this blog as a means of additional transparency to the public, outreach to the community, and information dissemination to all who choose to look. Feedback is welcome, but because public participation is equally encouraged, appropriate language and decorum is mandatory. Although this is not my campaign site for re-election--sometimes campaign related information will be discussed, therefore in an abundance of caution I add the following : Political Advertisement Paid for and Approved by Jeff Bergosh, Republican, for Escambia County Commissioner District 1








Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Kool Aid Chuggers....

Some People Love to Chug Kool Aid--even if it makes them look foolish to do so....


Some people are true believers, they love to chug the Kool Aid.  In fact, they love the Kool Aid so much they shotgun it by the pitcher like frenzied spring-breakers shotgunning  canned-beer at the beach in six-tubed bongzillas....

Some of these folks, had they been around in 1978, would have rushed to the front to chug the Kool Aid in Jonestown.  They would have knocked Jim Jones out of the way and said "Me First!"

These are the Kool Aid Chuggers.  

Chuggers are simpletons that are gullible, believe the propaganda they are fed, and spew out talking
from wikipedia "The vast majority
of parrots are cavity nesters" human parrots 

share this characteristic.

points based upon their flawed notion of reality--- as if what they have to say is somehow coherent at all, or that it is meaningful in any way. Sometimes chuggers know what they say is rubbish, but they say it anyway just because they can.  Sometimes these chuggers can't comprehend the reality of anything so they just regurgitate talking points like a squawking, annoying Parrot sitting in a cage.  Nobody really cares about what the Kool Aid chuggers think, though.  Nobody takes them seriously because people that know can spot them fast.  They are just amusing to watch in their folly and ridiculousness.

Take for example the guy I discussed in a previous entry to this blog.  He talks a lot about how he makes no money, gets no raises, thinks nobody wants him to get raises, etc. etc.  To hear it from this guy, you'd almost think he is on food stamps, working weekends at the Flea Market selling apples from a cart, buying his clothes at the second-hand rummage shop, and eating from the soup kitchen on skid row!  But wait!!, lo and behold, I come across his W-2s for the last several years and what do you know---he has clocked an average of  a 10% year over year pay increase for each of the last three years in a row!  10% per year!!!  (Who in the world would realize ten percent pay increases, year over year, for multiple years running in a string, and then beyatch about someone who got a 4% raise once in three years?  Who the hell would do this?!?, Well the answer is-- a Kool Aid chugger would!

But now I'm told that this same individual is "upset" because other constitutional officers (like his boss the sheriff) received raises totaling a little over 4% this year.  Okay, I'm not Einstein, but here's a quiz:   What is a better pay increase...4% or 10%?  Doesn't take a genius to work that one out, unless you are a Kool Aid Chugger going through life with blinders on like a horse at the racetrack running around in circles forever.....

So again, to refresh this Kool Aid guzzler's memory, here was his pay for the last several years:  Put down the Kool Aid and pay attention:

2014

$40,420.66  (total compensation paid excluding side work which is accounted for via 1099 form that is provided by any private company that pays off-duty wages)

2015

$45,665.39  (total compensation paid excluding side work which is accounted for via 1099 form that is provided by any private company that pays off-duty wages)

2016

$49,884.67   (total compensation paid excluding side work which is accounted for via 1099 form that is provided by any private company that pays off-duty wages)

So yes, this guy clocked increases of 10% per year over the last several years ( I do not have his latest W-2 yet, for 2017)

Okay, now here is where the chugger (and fellow travelers, uh, I mean chuggers) must  pay attention--here are the BCC pay increase percentages over the last three years, and the sheriff's pay increases over the last three years (which, by the way neither the sheriff nor the BCC has any control over--these salaries are set by the state.....)

Pay increases Sheriff:                                                 Pay Increases BCC 

2014     $144,171.00                                                   2014    $76,697.00
2015     $144, 521.00  (.028%--approx.)                       2015    $76,960.00   (.028%--approx.)
2016     $144,940.00   (.03%---approx.)                        2016    $77,270.00   (.03%---approx.)
2017     $151,139.00   (4.25%--approx.)                       2017    $80,664.00   (4.25%--approx.) 

3 yr. avg increase = (1.436%---approx)                         3 yr. avg increase = (1.436%---approx)

So, I guess if this guy still can't figure out he is clocking much bigger increases year over year than his boss and the rest of the constitutional officers like Commissioners are realizing--maybe there is no helping him.  Although he is entitled to his own opinion--he is not entitled to his own facts because #Factsmatter.




4 comments:

Eric Haines said...

You seem to be enamored by your own intelligence. In your last post on this topic you at least admitted you didn’t know what the increases were. Which is better 4% or 10%? Well, the answer is “There’s not enough information.” Was he promoted? Did he work his butt of with overtime? Was there a leave buy back? Is he on the SWAT team? Was he an FTO? Here is a better question Commissioner. If this person were say a twelve year Sergeant at the ECSO what does the salary study say he should make? Considering it’s saying a starting sergeant should be making $52k a year (Still less than PPD) that even with his overtime, promotion, and assignment pay he is still behind. BTW, As we march toward the governor’s decision posts like these are invaluable to our argument. The language, the condescending comments, the talking as if you know what LEO’s should be making or what they get paid for. More please.

Jeff Bergosh said...

Eric – stay on task, quit making insults, and stop conflating issues. It all about calling people out when they lie. One of your guys lied and deliberately did it in a way it would get back to me, so I answered his lies with truth that neither he, you, nor your boss can dispute. Lie # 1: “we went 6 years without a raise” (truth, ECSO has been funded for 3% raises for the last 6 years running, funded for raises in 7 of the last 8 years, and funded for raises in 14 of the last 18 years.—this information, BTW, is from ECSO’s own budget appeal document, tab #13. So, in what 6-year period in the modern era did ECSO go without raises, Eric?) Lie #2: “Jeff Bergosh doesn’t want ECSO to get the raises.” (truth, I brought the item to the BCC to give ECSO another 3% raise for this year—I brought the item that garnered three votes and provided your men with raises this year—you know this, right?) So, you can talk about all these other issues, Fox Lawson, the salary study, leave buy-backs, The civil service board, the jail battle, overtime, the former sheriff, the moon landing conspiracy etc. etc. etc. ad infinitum. How about answering this one, Eric? This guy made 10% in total compensation increases, on average, year over year for three years running. Three years on, and he is making 30% more than where he was. Now, take out the overtime, the education pay, the longevity pay, the shift differentials, the uniform pay, the assignment pay, the boot pay, and everything else in your negotiated labor agreement that might have contributed to his significant pay increases over this period. Just take his base salary over those three years, and add what the BCC funded for raises for those three years, being 3% yearly for three years or 9% total over the three-year period. Is that or is that not a higher percentage increase for three years than the sheriff, the BCC, the School Board, and the other constitutionals received? Easy question, should make for an easy answer. I’m not the one complaining though, I knew what I was in for when I ran for school board, and when I ran for commissioner. Did you know this one Eric—there are state employees that went 10 years with no pay increases? Did you know that? So, once you answer this question I have put to you above---you and everyone else knows this: This guy lied, period, in what he said. Anyone (you, your boss, or any employee) who says ECSO went 6 years without being funded for pay raises by the BCC is lying. It is a bald-faced lie. The average person also knows this—most of us in professional positions in the work force work hard every day, we work long hours, we work evenings, early mornings, and weekends. Many professionals get a weekly wage, no overtime, no defined benefit pension, and expensive (if any) benefits and yet many of us still put in 50-60 hours weekly. The average salaried Pensacola area professional in the private sector doesn’t get leave buy-back, overtime, side-work at $25.00 hourly, and a lifetime (75% of high five years) pension after 25-30 years on the job—retiring at 50 years of age if one so chooses with a nice big DROP pay-out to boot upon separation. But check this out---I support that and I support law enforcement, the military, teachers, and all first responders receiving generous benefits and defined benefit pensions. Careers like these, if worked for a full career, have many very generous benefits that many in the private sector will never enjoy---but there will be limitations on the income side---no matter where one works—if he/she chooses one of these occupations. But God bless first responders-I support all first responders; this is why I brought the proposed 3% raise for all first responders that was passed by the BCC this year. I’m proud of that. It is why I’m continuing to work toward a budget compromise/solution. Nevertheless-- I will continue to draw a thick, crimson-red-line when people lie and push fake narratives and obfuscate the facts. And yes, posts like this do help our side in Tallahassee. Keep it up.

Anonymous said...

What I find interesting is how quickly these guys respond on your blog. It's fun to see. I think there is a special internet group at the ECSO who do nothing but monitor the Internet and attack anyone who disagrees with them. This is a chief deputy ( 1 of 2) that probably has more pressing duties, but plays internet monitor all day long. If I were a governor, I would be unimpressed with the claim of underfunding when anyone can see the bloated agency has full time Internet team always on the attack. But no funeral service because manpower/funding. Sure. But I asked my bank off duty deputy how many deputies worked at all branches of the bank as side work and he said 12 extra duty deputies everyday. And I know there are more at other places, but they can't work funerals because of manpower. I think this is all a trick to inflict pain on the community to make people angry about the issue. It only hurts families and the military. If it was a manpower issue, the how can we have 12 rental deputies working at just one bank franchise. I'd love to know how many side deputy jobs are worked every day, week and month by deputies. If I was governor, I'd make sure to know, as it's manpower. Or it's pay? Or really, really it's poor moral, right? And poor moral is the issue for true leaders, right?

Jeff Bergosh said...

Anonymous-yes, it is amazing. They hit my blog and facebook like woodpeckers on a keyboard. They answer immediately anything I post about the budget or salaries etc., however they never answer specific questions put to them--more like dodging and conflating. However, I found it interesting that when on facebook and also on a previous post on this blog the discussion moved toward the fiasco at the Civic Center and the horrible way the Secret Service was treated during Trump's visit and the ensuing, embarrassing spectacle that followed (Where the County Sheriff was told to leave the arena and he did so) --yeah they disappeared from that discussion faster than someone drops a hot rock or exits a burning building. Guess there was no way that self-inflicted disaster could be spun. Fascinating.

Political Advertisement Paid For and Approved by Jeff Bergosh, Republican for Escambia Commission D1