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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








Saturday, January 11, 2020

Another PNJ Editorial Explodes on the Launchpad......Part I: Logic that is Illogical

Sunday's PNJ "Editorial" is about as insightful as a rocket exploding on the launchpad, it is such an epic fail.....

Tomorrow in the PNJ there will be an exceptionally naive, ignorant, and uninformed "opinion-piece" from the 2-person editorial board.

It is a fire, ready, aim-devoid of the real facts-ad hominem cheap shot  aimed at three members of the BCC.

It is so bad and so ignorant that as I read it, I immediately thought about how this piece of garbage rubbish  reminds me of a rocket exploding on a launchpad, kind of like the Falcon 9 Explosion sequence above from September of 2016. Just a spectacular fail.

The difference, of course, is that the Falcon 9 pictured above and its associated payload was actually good and valuable-- worth $200 million....

Tomorrow's PNJ editorial, by contrast, is a worthless piece of tripe.  This article, it's associated analysis and recommendations, and $2.00 will get you a half-cup of gas station coffee......

Here is where and why this ridiculous hatchet piece fails:

1.)  I have learned that an employee of EMS was treated horribly--this was admitted on the dais the other night by Janice Gilley.  The PNJ should call Janice and ask her if the administration did, or did not, drop the ball in his case? Did the administration or did they not follow established board policy on harassment?  PNJ  won't do this because they're lazy, don't want to know,  do not want the truth, and facts don't matter to them as much as punching us in the groin unfairly with this garbage hit job.

Setting that all aside--the "professional" staff of the county did initially find that this employee was harassed and made recommendations that he be made whole in his employment status-------way back in June.  Then the issue got swept under a rug.  No mention of this in the "piece." 

I got involved only in November when this exasperated employee made a desperate plea to me for help.  I got the case moving again--but this time the conclusions fell way short of the mark according to everyone that knows the details.  Sadly--this employee will now use the court system to get his due compensation, and I believe he will prevail in the courts.  I certainly hope the crack team at PNJ will follow that and report back on the outcome of that.  And another thing to note:  I revealed the fact that there were multiple, additional unfinished harassment complaints uncovered during my brief query into Matt Selover's case--this was stated at the meeting. These additional complaints also failed to comport with board policy. The PNJ has not asked about this nor did they mention it in their garbage hit piece.  Why not??  (Oh, yeah, right.  It does not fit their narrative that I'm simply a "meddler.")

2.)  A stand alone appeal process, I believe, would have prevented this situation from dragging out as it did. More importantly--it would have been an inducement for staff to follow our policy with fidelity so such a glaring failure of duty to an employee's due process would never again go on for 7 months unresolved--so what is so awful about my wanting a discussion of this in light of  my finding as many as 6 harassment complaints (including a sexual harassment complaint) that have occurred over the last 18 months where our policy was not followed?  

Bottom Line:  In 2018 Escambia County paid a female employee in public safety hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle an ugly harassment suit that was not properly addressed by staff.  This was two years ago.  To help fix it at that time, the county commissioners immediately put in place a very prescriptive policy and ADMONISHED administration to follow it with fidelity.

And now we see in multiple subsequent cases (as many as six that I mentioned in a public meeting this week) --- our policy was ignored and employees suffered as a result.  So I spoke up to help employees.  So I spoke up and I recommended a discussion of better policy and additional appeals for employees--and for that--the PNJ writes a hatchet piece that demonizes me?!?  Ridiculous.

illogical PNJ "logic"

if Escambia Public Safety Department wants resources and help "DO IT NOW--or you are EVIL!!!!"

but.....

if Escambia Public Safety Employees desperately plead for help    "DO NOTHING--or you are EVIL!!!"

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, the PNJ says to trust your HR, Administrator, Lawyer and all other employees who disagree with you. So, Do not, ever, ever, question the deep state bureaucrats. No, no. No checks on them...until the PNJ, on some weird leftist whim decides otherwise. Understand? And, if you take up for an employee, it better be for one the PNJ approves of and endorses or else it's interference. Understand? See, The PNJ tells you who the winners and losers are. Understand? In fact, the PNJ requires you to consult with the Pensacola bald oracle, AKA ultra left looney toons Marlette (think the movie the 300), to make correct liberal decisions. Understand? Remember, Senator McCarthy, the original Russia straw man Torquemada? He's bad (I agree). Understand? Modern day democrat McCarthy's are noble and righteous. Uh, Right?? Understand? Immediately and completely Kowtow to the liberal left, accept and never question their Potemkin village of what is right/wrong, good/bad. Understand? Also, those who disagree with you are always right, especially and in a perverse gleefulness for liberal dems, RINOs. Understand? And, no matter what, you and other true conservatives are always wrong. Get it?! Got it?! Good?!

Mel Pino said...

You know, Jim Little has been doing such a nice job of reporting on County business lately that I have actually been recommending that people start following the PNJ. Then some anonymous ringer drops this pile of politically-motivated garbage for whatever power broker keeps trying to blow the County up for the City's benefit.

What's the word they used--"ham-handed"? Just about like the periodic attempts by the PNJ to explode the BOCC when the commissioners have been honestly grappling with a tough issue. Nice try, but most people see right through it. Guess we're just not Civic-Conny enough at the County for some people's taste.

So right. It's Steven Barry and Lumon May who are at fault here. Not the idiot Doug Underhill who is going to go down clawing everyone he can along with him. And it's Jeff Bergosh's manipulation and not a case of systemic and repeated failures of due process.

Ms. Gilley has a lot on her plate with straightening out this County, and to make matters worse she obviously has people who are lying to her. I guess that's kind of what I meant when I said "you need to figure out who is lying to you." It's not rocket science, but maybe the PNJ can hire a Common Sense Consultant to point out the obvious.

The board has *every* right to voice unhappiness at Ms. Rogers's decision to pursue outside counsel and file a motion to withdraw without consulting the BOCC first. That's a mind-blowing decision. Which she apparently understands and regrets. She may end up being a hero in all of this if one of her layers of ethical complication are that she reported Doug's dealings to the State's Attorney's Office herself, something I hadn't thought of before my remarks at the meeting. But that does not negate how bad a misstep it was to hire a firm and file a motion without even consulting the board first. Who would want their attorney filing motions without discussing it with them first? Nobody, that's who.

I'm sure Ms. Gilley and Ms. Rogers don't appreciate this attempt to pit them against their bosses. :( There are plenty who recognize exactly the attempt to sabotage those relationships. All under the guise of the moral high ground. It's disgusting.

I just hope the BOCC holds strong and continues to discuss these important issues, and doesn't let hit-pieces like this dictate their decisions and discussions. Not all of us want to live in Never Never Land Mixed Use Kingdom where everybody just closes their eyes to serious problems that are happening. Some of us prefer to inhabit reality. And prefer leaders who do, as well.

Many appreciate the board taking up tough issues lately and working through the challenges of truly moving this County in a positive direction. And are looking forward to the re-election of the commissioners this piece makes such poor work of targeting.


--Melissa Pino

Anonymous said...

Who ever wrote that, with asking for ***trust*** must ****trust** the wrong people for information.

ASSUME.
Sounds like a dougite parrot with veiled perceptions who clearly hasn't taken a deep dive into situations.

The loudest voice in the room hiding behind an editorial board is mistaken and uniformed and the saga infecting public safety last year.

Hopeful yes. Laser sharp, no.

Anonymous said...

Commissioner, you are doing the right thing! Keep up the good work. That culture you the board tried to tame...still exists. Sad but true! When we the people have to pay a sexual harassment case because public servants couldn’t help themselves and do the right thing it’s a sad day in the county! Grown men acting like that! Should’ve never happened. Shows true character of the people we are counting on to protect and serve.

Captcudd@gmail said...

What a shit article...the PNJ presumes that staff is great and the elected Commissioners know nothing about fair play and proper dealing with insubordination and dishonesty...
Seems like there is a BIG bias here..

Anonymous said...

Commissioner please delete any comments of mine about Dr.Edler especially since she has filed a harassment claim toward you for comments made. One would think she is a public figure and free speech to question and criticize would be a civil right. In light of the controversy around this delete comments from this poster rather than draw more people into this. It needs to end for the good of all. Handle it in house. Thank you.

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