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| Tomorrow morning we will hold our 31st Coffee with a Commissioner event in District 1. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend! |
Tomorrow morning we will hold our 31st Coffee with a Commissioner event at 6:30 AM at the McDonalds Restaurant in District 1 at 5 S. Blue Angel Parkway, Pensacola Fl 32506 .
These meetings allow for constituents to interact, ask questions, and provide feedback to me and staff in an informal, non-structured setting where all topics related to the county are open for discussion.
It is also a good opportunity for staff and I to provide updates on specific projects that are underway in the county--including budget issues, and other matters of importance.
With staff present at every coffee event we organize--we have been able to solve many minor issues for citizens on the spot. Maybe we can help you, too.
We begin promptly at 6:30AM and we typically go an hour.
Also, I video the meetings so that those who cannot attend can watch the video of the meeting on facebook live.
I look forward to seeing you all there tomorrow morning
19 comments:
When are you going to fix public safety? They've been telling the commissioners for years now that they need more money but you won't listen cause you think you're a fire chief I guess. This isn't the school board so maybe you should listen to the people who do it for a living. Now public safety is a complete disaster. People are leaving weekly, can't find anyone to work here cause of the pay. Who would want to come to work or stay working here when your own commissioners look down on you and blatantly don't like fireman for some reason. For someone who would risk their life for you it seems you would have a little more respect. Thanks and enjoy the coffee while fireman keep looking for jobs elsewhere so they can work for people who appreciate them.
Anonymous: By all means come to the coffee so we can discuss your perceived issues face to face. They are untrue, By the way. Public Safety is not a disaster here, we have some issues but they are being worked through and you probably know this because I have a hunch you are a paid firefighter that dislikes me because of my staunch support for volunteer firefighters. Perhaps you are one of the 8 or 9 union members who were at the interview I attended last Friday. Predictably, you all will endorse one of the other candidates in my race--one that told you what you wanted to hear (e.g. we will raise taxes on Escambia County Homeowner Families that make on average about $50k per household so every firefighter can make no less than $100,000.00 and maintain their inexpensive but exceptional Blue Cross Insurance and retire with 75% of his/her pay at age 45) I told you the truth, not what you want to hear: We support all first responders, we are in bargaining now and we are working to improve pay and we will establish a replacement cycle for the apparatus and we will re-structure the department as necessary to live within our means and not over spend the budget. I value the contributions of the volunteer firemen and the savings they bring the taxpayers--so yes I want to expand the utilization and recruitment of the volunteer ranks. We will not raise the MSBU on homeowners nor will I vote to raise year over year tax rates on property owners so that starting firefighters can make $100,000.00 yearly like in New York and Los Angeles. We can't afford that.
I have a friend of the family who is a firefighter. He was in the Naval service as a young man and in his 20s became a career firefighter. He tells us it was the best move ever. 1 day on 2 days off ( he has a successful side business now because of the schedule). He is grateful for the better pay, better benefits and better retirement he gets a firefighter, plus no dangerous deployments to overseas locations away from home. He says in the service, he’d get a 50% retirement of base pay so about 2,000 a month he estimates. Now, as a firefighter, he gets 3% per year for retirement, plus Defered retirement plus other Union perks and estimates his retirement will be 6,500 a month in today’s dollars in his early 40s. Fully retired with almost 100% of his pay. He says he hears some guys whining in the station, but can’t tell them how good they have it compared to others because the Union bullies him. He says many senior firefighters make almost 100,000 a year and complain. He loves his job, but hates the politics of it. He hears these Union complainers strategize how they will blog against politicians in other areas to get them to raise taxes and make sure they get more money and the Union guys in the other counties will blog against the politicians here to try to force tax increases for more pay here. He says it’s dirty and it’s greedy. He feels called to serve and wants a good living like anyone else, but he doesn’t want to raise taxes and knows compared to the military or any other private sector job, his benefits and lifetime almost 100% pension is the best. Keep telling the truth. Also, it’s a public record, list the pay and retirement percentages and dollar amounts of those firefighters ( and any other county employees) who retire yearly. I bet it would be an eye opener for the local taxpayer.
Some thoughtful citizens and employees that know the union firefighters attempted to take over public safety via the vote of no confidence last spring with Underhill are afraid to speak up. Do you realize the harassment is still taking place?
The D2 commissioner's wife has apparently online cyber stalked and collected screen shots from a citizen and is posting it on her public page f/b page. They were on the fund raiser for the highest paid employee in the county to sue the activist. He often hides behind skirts to bully. What is wrong with those women. Are they actually unable to see things for themselves?
Thank you for laying out the position of the intelligent reasoning for budget decisions. It truly is discouraging to be in the midst of such misinformation online and the cruel measures and lengths others will go to to quash people who try to expose their lies and unethical behavior.
Most don't have thousands of dollars to defend themselves in a court of law.
We are depending on you to lay it out like you just did.
Thank you.
Politics
The PNJ announced Lu Timothy was running before it was announced on the supervisor of election site and also Underhill has publicly posted a professional photoshopped meme of the two brothers on his so this must have been planned in advance.
Note Underhill's aide's wife works from Rinke.
You have to wonder is D4 holding off on the votes for the roundabouts that might cost 20 million dollars until they get all their puppets in place.
We thought the take over would come from D1 and D5 but it looks like they are working on D3 instead, so far. and of course your seat.
Can you believe his followers actually believe him...about public safety.
I remember he sent you know who down to plead for the BOCC to raise taxes for the sheriff while he tried to get the round abouts on the agenda in 2017 and she wasn't typing out the meeting threads so all the people on ECW that depend on her didn't even know that was what was going on. Barry was chairman said NO..Underhill said he was doing it for Grover. July 2017.
I wonder if she knows what happened to the deputies raises.
People have eyes but can not see.
Either you are misinformed or your "friend of the family" is a liar. My husband, who has served in military as well, has been a fireman for over a decade and none of what you describe above is true. He retires at 75% after 25 years of service. No where close to 6500 (not by a long shot), and our blue cross blue shield benefits for family are minimal. No, you are definitely misinformed. My husband works on average 3200 hours a year vs the 2000 hours you and I probably work for equal or less pay. Facts are facts and this commissioner loves to twist them in a way to confuse and mislead people. Please do not aide him by putting incorrect numbers out there. It's disrespectful to my husband, my family, and all of those who spend 1/3 of their adult lives away from their families to protect others.
Stop Berg.
1. Do you know why they earn $100k? because OT, that's why.
2.do you know why there's that much OT? understaffing of fire engines.
exceptional insurance? ok. most have insurance thru their wives because it's better. surrounding dept's are paying the individuals benefits. all of them. retire at 45 w/ 75%? a few. how about retirement after 8 years @ 75% like you and the rest of the bocc? this shows your absolute ignorance. it's not just ignorance, it's blatant lies and deceit. you find out just enough to support your case and that's as far as you want to go. you don't even bother to understand how PS works. "keep em, running, keep em rolling". what a ridiculous statement. you have no idea what they encounter on a daily basis. you've never had to shove breakfast, lunch, dinner down your gullet while responding to an emergency or even leave a meal and reheat it more than a few times or not get to eat at all. you don't face the families to tell them their child, mother, father, brother or whomever has died after they've done everything possible. you haven't needed an engine to put out a fire or cut someone you love out of a mangled mess of a vehicle. if you do three firemen will show up first and have to do the best they can while your house Burns and they wait on help to do an initial search unless there is a confirmed individual inside. guess who confirms no one is inside? the firemen. only with 3, by law they cannot enter however, they are in a moral dilemma because if they do go in they're breaking the law and policy. if they don't go in and someone is in there the residents were unaware of, how do you expected them to live with that?
Do you even know a ff's or EMS's schedule of hours. 24/48, one day on, two days off. thank God for the two days off because that allows them to get a second job to get by. hopefully their significant other has a decent paying job and can help. so Monday they work and OT happens to come up Tuesday. now they are on 48/24. have you ever done anything like this? I doubt it. if you have it's been for a short time. a 53hr work week in a seven day time frame. 106 in a 14 day time frame. now throw in a couple OT shifts during that time frame. you see where this is going.
same with ems only they work 12hr shifts, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off. yes, they signed up for it. they didn't sign up to get shafted by elected officials who don't care to know how they operate and function or how operations work.
also, did you know you're little pictograph about the 5 mile rule is moot. its road miles not radial 5 miles. so essentially if you live further than 5 traveling road miles from a fire station, you essentially you score a 10 according to ISO. so basically you have no fire protection.
you laud the volunteers, oh sorry, paid-on-call, ff's. you sling.thw term volunteer around like a sword. they get paid. tell the good people about the potential increase on the stipend for poc ff's. you should treat all your ff's the same.
While pay is certainly an issue, it isn’t the main reason people are leaving EMS. Under the previous administration the department was rapidly improving, full-time staffing was near 100%. It’s hard to argue with real facts and numbers. EMS and Fire are grossly underpaid, especially EMS. The fire union has been able to alter the argument. Do we need more fire fighters? Maybe, a few. But the main daily mission of public safety are medical emergencies, over 175 per day on average. Fire runs a small fraction of that and most of those are medical and yet their staffing and budget are larger. Mr. Bergosh has Atleast recused to be bullied and has dug into the toxic world that the medical director has created. I do wish he would bring in a professional administrator. This one has proven she is in over her head and is continuing some of the action of Jack Brown. There is another scandal brewing over at EMS though and is the direct result of the loss of leadership. Just wait for it.
Underhill and his wife are posting about their minor child and an incident at school along with the video. The wife blamed it on Pino and you and your brother and politics. I imagine the employee who filed the report on the behalf of his son may be in a precarious situation. In the video the victim is being held by the neck. It would not be an issue of public concern but they have made it so. Don't you think this is a case for the county ethics committee to get involved? Surely that is not normal behavior. You don't have to post this. I just wanted to alert you and ask you to be involved. This pattern is escalating of bullying then shifting the blame. It is wrong. Apparently the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree, and they are trying to get their child to participate in the same type of behavior of not taking responsibility for their own actions and blaming it on others.
Who does that? It seems like a very dangerous pattern of behavior. It hasn't stopped.
I suppose it's not the communities concern but they made it to be and I actually fear for yet another county employee in the embattled public safety arena.
It's coming, Some are wondering if he is of sound mind and may need a psych evaluation.
And this is relevant to this post how??
Anonymous 6:10--
Obviously some of the comments struck a nerve with you. Good! And let me correct your disinformation: As elected officials we do accrue 3% per year toward a retirement--just like you do if you are a first responder. But after 8 years for us that is 24%--not 75%!
for you to say a commissioner retires after 8 years with 75% of his/her pay is a lie and you know it.
Put down the rock pipe and do some simple, basic mathematics. Don't be a liar.
We respect all first responders that's why you all get pay raises every single year.
We get it, your union is bargaining with us right now so you are agitated and lathered about that. You're upset about the current restructuring to get the budget inline. I understand, I get it. But It will be alright though, we are bargaining in good faith.
And after a career of 25 years you can retire with 75% pay (of your high 5 years) for the rest of your life. AND--if you choose to go an extra 5 years and work until you reach 30 years--you'll get a lifetime retirement of 90% of your high 5 years plus you'll get a payout from the state that in many cases exceeds $200,000 dollars (DROP). Feasibly, you could be 50 and retired with 90% of your high five pay forever! Plus you sell back your sick time and leave--and it is a nice lump sum going out the door and you know it whoever you are. That's why there are very FEW vacancies for firefighters in Escambia county (only 4 presently according to the administrator with whom I spoke yesterday)
Thanks for what you do to keep us safe--and I certainly appreciate what you do to keep us safet and I do not begrudge anyone for earing great money and a great retirement-----but how about acknowledging the fact that the retirement, medical, benefits, and other aspects of this employment are tremendously generous compared to the VAST private sector citizens and the majority of citizens who pay taxes to support your pay and benefits?
And you want us to raise taxes to boot?!?
$100000 a year! I worked 157 24 hour shifts last year, 36 of which were over time. I made no were near that much. Guess I should contact payroll.
If you buy your military time, assuming you enlisted at 18 and served for 4 years and get your job as firefighter soon after leaving the service, you can serve 30 years (3% per year retirement), which is 90% at 48 years old. Then DROP for 5 years, retired at 53 with almost 100%, 12 years earlier than most. Of corse, you spend the night at the station, so hours add up, but military deployed for 12 months (24 x 365=8,760 hours a year) with no seeing family, come on. Find out what the senior firefighters in DROP now are making now. You will find it’s close to $100,000 a year. Come on. Be real.
Elsewhere maybe but not escambia county. Unless they work quite a bit of OT.
Misinformed. Your retirement is set before you get in the drop. You don’t keep earning. Get with your “family” member and Please get your facts correct!
Quite a discussion about traffic etc. in D1 over on ECW. facebook
I think the OLF 8 deal was already in the works as well as the Navy Federal deal way before you came on the board. Not sure about the subdivisions' time lines, and it does seem to take a tremendous length of time to get a road built. My idea is not "vote them all out" in fact actually a LOT goes into being a commissioner.
So D1 race contenders have their work cut out for them. From where I sit I prefer you to stay and I think they are blaming you for things you can't control. I was glad to see TB explain the master plan when the OP went on about "compromise..what compromise."
I suppose many don't know about the back and forth and gnashing of teeth to get the helicopter field in the possession of the county. I thought it was a brilliant land swap myself.
So yeah they may have out the pitchforks. I never travel that way, so I don't see it from their perspective.
I see you were at a great conference about regional concerns.
I understand the value if we do have an "at large commissioner."
Either way no matter the outcome of the election this fall, you've been a fantastic commissioner and there may be bigger and better things on the horizon either way.
I really don't think it's a good idea for the county to have the D2 aide elected or the other brother. But we will see how it turns out. Hopefully S.Barry will stay but I think some changes need to be made as far as land use and conservation. Some productive discussions will come out of all this.
Yes, DROP locks your retirement. If you buy your military time, it takes you back to 18 years of age, so don't retire as a first responder at 25 years at the age of 43. No. Stay the 30 years and retire at 48 at 3% of your pay for 30 years is 90%. You will still be young. Then go into DROP for 5 years plus your retirement grows with COLA every year if you're an old timer before Gov Scott changed that. I worked a lot of overtime and got the buddy hookup with getting promoted for the last years of work. My COLA grows at 2% per year. When I retire after the full five years, my pay will be 100%. The next year it will be 102% Then 104% and two percent per year as long as I live. It is a great deal. Starting off is lower pay, but at the end it is better than the military or any private sector job. There is a firefighter who complains about his low pay a lot on social media, Scott Hunsuker, who is in DROP and privately brags he makes almost $90,000 a year, it's a public record open to inspection, anyone can ask and the county has to tell you. Plus he gets a COLA bump in his retirement each year. And There are firefighters who make more than him. It's hard to get a firefighter position. There are few openings ever as it is a great deal.
Looking at the Selover case and the county asking for time to respond and Quint Studer's article about leadership in the PNJ 2/29 seem related. Time will tell.
TO 6:33
It is relevant because they are blaming Judge Bergosh, Jeff's brother, for holding the school bully accountable-- Politicizing the event using a minor child like they use everybody. They shift the blame and enlist others in their misguided attacks and do not take responsibility for their actions.
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