No True Bill: Exoneration and Vindication Part I

Tuesday of this past week I was fully and completely exonerated of doing anything illegal associated with the news articles and allegations surrounding the stolen and improperly released county files and text messages that had been used as some sort of "evidence" I violated the Florida Sunshine Law.  

I was investigated for months and months over allegations I did things I did not do--- and accusations that I committed crimes I did not commit. 

Of course I knew I was innocent.  I follow the law.

This past Tuesday an 18 member Grand Jury looked over all of this and declined to prosecute due to the fact there was no evidence I committed a crime.  They issued a "No True Bill."  I have requested this public record from the clerk and she and her attorney have refused to send a signed copy of it to me.  Instead, I have obtained the above copy in the interim from the office of the State Attorney.

So how did this happen? 

Back in December several false accusations were made about me very publicly in an orchestrated "hit"  designed to effectively ruin my reputation and destroy me politically.  Reckless, Irresponsible, and reprehensible.   

Making matters worse--these histrionics were perpetuated by a then employee of the county, Steve Stroberger, and his boss, sitting county commissioner Mike Kohler.  

Sure, everyone saw it for what it was.....It was a set up job from the get go, played to maximum effect at what was supposed to be our jovial and festive Christmas meeting, the last meeting of the year somewhere before Santa Clause Spoke and then again after the Grinch gave the BCC cookies and a proclamation.  Stroberger's cringe-worthy antics can be viewed in minute 13:53 of this video. Then his boss, Mike Kohler, piled on with this garbage at minute 12:40 of this video.

These two, the commissioner and the secretary, took their best shot at me, writing letters and emails to the Governor demanding I be removed from office and simultaneously demanding an investigation of me by the State's Attorney over what these two geniuses decided unilaterally was a "Sunshine Law Violation" and a "clear case of Gerrymandering!" (of course they were dead wrong, but I digress...)

This was the conclusion these brainiacs reached after they read a PNJ hatchet job and some stolen county text messages that had been manipulated.

"You should resign!"  Said the commissioner's secretary. (He was hoping I would to make his run for my seat all the easier.  Not going to happen)

The real reason this happened was that Steve Stroberger wants to win my seat so He and his boss together can run the west side of Pensacola--and like Doug Underhill and Jonathan Owens in 2020--they want D2 to run D1.  So they took a kill shot at me with baseless allegations I committed a sunshine violation based on stolen messages that were manipulated.  Truth?  Who cares about that!  They just want to win an election!

Ain't going to happen.

So, within a week of that ugly spectacle of a meeting  right before Christmas-- the Office of the State Attorney committed to looking into the matter and issued a press release stating this.  Multiple news articles covered their announcement.  And they did investigate.  And they subpoenaed my unadulterated copy of my iPhone backup. And they referred the issue to the Grand Jury.

Meanwhile, I cooperated every step of the way and understood that everything on my iphone's backup that had been stolen (60,000 + text messages and more than 1,600 color photographs) was subject to inspection for evidence of any crime.  

I had actually already signed an unconditional writen release allowing for this unfettered search of these files six months earlier (nearly a full year ago now) when Law Enforcement met me and the County Administrator in my office on June 11th of last year.  They were there with the FBI confiscating county servers and files after it was learned that someone at the county stole confidential, privileged and personal identification information from the county's IT office and disseminated it inappropriately and unlawfully, unredacted, to multiple persons over state lines and to multiple lawyers at multiple firms actively involved in litigation against the county.  And yes--you guessed it--some of the data in the stolen files was protected attorney-client privileged information related to that particular litigation.  (That is the reason former D2 Secretary Jonathan Owens is now facing a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge and as much as a $20,000.00 sanction at the Florida Division of Ethics because in their opinion probable cause exists that he violated Florida Statute 112.213(8).)

 Much more interesting and current information on this weird and surreal situation in part II.

ATU 1395 Union Votes Against Latest County Offer 23 in favor to 27 opposed

 Escambia County has successfully closed all of the books on all of our bargaining units with the one, sole exception of the ATU 1395 union representing ECAT.  This is a shame because staff and the commission have worked hard to bring this one in for a landing.  Although I was hopeful the last articles and the overall agreement would pass (which would allow for us to provide these employees the raises we have already approved and funded)--I was not optimistic, sadly. 

And Sunday this hunch of mine  was confirmed....

From Union President Michael Lowery:

"At  3:01 PM on April 16, 2023 with witnessses present throughout the entire vote (8:00AM to 3:00PM) the ballot box was opened and the number of ballots matched the number of verified voters who signed in.  There were 50 ballots cast out of the potential 63 total in the bargaining unit.

In favor of tentative CBA--23

Not in favor of tentative CBA--27"

COX Communications Files a Bid Protest on the BCC's Broadband Selection

Late yesterday afternoon COX Communications filed a formal bid protest regarding last Monday's decision by the board to move forward with EREC's proposal for phase one of the county's Broadband

construction in the north end of the county.

The nine page document from the Gunster Law Firm on behalf of COX lists multiple reasons why COX and Gunster believe the decision made Monday by board vote  should not only be walked back by the board, but that the Board should also, affirmatively and  unilaterally reverse course and AWARD the project to COX.

From the firm's letter of 11-30-2022:

"The County is obligated to provide Cox recourse following the County’s materially extensive RFP revision and arbitrary blackout suspension for only a select two of the shortlisted proposers. If the County persists in awarding EREC the RFP and fails to invoke the discretion the County’s Purchasing Ordinances provide, Cox will be unfairly and inequitably excluded from consideration despite having submitted a technically sound proposal covering the entire service area requested. Allowing such a deviation from standard procurement procedure to stand taints the entire RFP process the County has established.  Therefore, the City must uphold Cox’s protest and award it the contract pursuant to the RFP."

Much more to come on this.  I will publish the full document once the county attorney agrees with me that this is a public record which can be released.  I believe it is, but am awaiting her confirmation before I release it.

Read it, below

I'll be on "Real News with Rick Outzen" Tomorrow Morning at 7:10

I've been invited to appear on "Real News with Rick Outzen"--the area's most listened-to, most informative morning news show in Pensacola--- tomorrow morning at 7:10

 

I've been invited to appear tomorrow on the area's #1 rated, most highly respected and trusted morning drive news program, "Real News with Rick Outzen" on 1370 WCOA.

We will be discussing the homeless count issue and other takeaways from the BCC's Thursday meeting last week.

We will more than likely also discuss the tomorrow evening's budget hearing--plus any other interesting topics that arise.

Listen live at 7:10 or catch the podcast.  Once Rick releases it, I will post it here.

What are the BCC's 3 Biggest Funding Requests for the Upcoming 2022 State Legislative Session?

 Look at this information card, below, to see.  This was worked up by staff based upon the BCC's discussion/direction.

Meeting With the Superintendent....Another NEW School Coming to Beulah?

I had an excellent meeting with Superintendent of Schools Dr. Tim Smith Yesterday.  New Schools, School Discipline, Concurrency, possibly a Boarding School--the conversation was wide ranging...

Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit down and speak with the Escambia County School District's new Superintendent of Schools for about an hour at my office.

The meeting was facilitated and organized by District 1 School Board member Kevin Adams.

It was good to meet Dr. Smith and hear some of his ideas for the future of the district.  And discussions soon turned to the topic of the need for another school out in the fast-growing Beulah community of District 1.  The school district has shown interest in the OLF-8 property for a school site--however the ask of a minimum of 25 acres seems high.

Kevin Adams stated he is interested in constructing a K-8 facility on OLF-8.  (Ironic, I also thought a K-8 was the right move for Beulah and on OLF-8 back in 2013--but I was over-ruled and the middle school in Beulah was built instead, after which the students from the closed Woodham Middle School were "zoned" into the new Beulah Middle School--which I did not support doing.....oh well, win some and lose some--it happened and I lost that one 8 years ago....)

According to Superintendent of Operations Shawn Dennis, whom we briefly  conferenced into yesterday's discussion--a minimum of 25 acres would be needed for such a facility.  The Superintendent asked Mr. Dennis to look into vertical designs for such schools--in an attempt to lower the required number of acres.  Dennis indicated he would do so.

In the background of this meeting, I see a growing chorus of online posters who want "Beulah High School."  Would the district build a new K-8 and then "repurpose" the huge Beulah Middle School as a High School?  Who knows?

But does the student population (which has been declining steadily for over a decade for various reasons) even justify construction of another, a brand new, high school--if all of the existing ones have excess capacity (with the exception of Tate, WFHS, and B.T. Washington High?)

I mean--what is the % Capacity for PHS, Escambia, and Pine Forest?

I want to assist with the school district in every way I can from my current position as a commissioner.  I attended and graduated from these public schools, as did all of my children.  I am a MASSIVE public school supporter.  So this was my pledge to Superintendent Smith at yesterday's meeting--to be a big

The School Board Is Requesting 25 Acres of OLF-8 for a School

Our offices have received the below request from the School Board.

On WCOA's Good Morning Pensacola Today talking Debris Removal from Private Subdivisions

I was on WCOA's Good Morning Pensacola today discussing the FDOT bridge debacle and debris pickup from gated, private neighborhoods.

I was asked to speak today on WCOA's Good Morning Pensacola radio program with Don Parker, and so I happily agreed.

We had a good conversation about the thorny issue of picking up Hurricane Sally debris from all around the county AND the difficulty facing our efforts to pick up from some private subdivisions due to Federal red-tape.

I discussed this issue with WEAR ABC Ch. 3 yesterday.

We also talked about the ongoing saga of the FDOT's contractor's  barges trashing our three-mile bridge--creating an absolute nightmare in our two county area.

You can listen to the segment from today's show here

Thoughts on the Primary Part IV: Was I Overly Magnanimous When I Said My Opponents Didn't Go Negative?

 

A picture of an Andy Marlette cartoon similar to this one (above) hangs currently outside the office of the District 2 Escambia County Commissioner.  This one, above, is a much better version of it though!

After it became apparent I won the election on August 18th, I was called first by Jonathan Owens who congratulated me on the victory and conceded the election.  A short time later, I received a similar call from Jesse Casey.  He and I had a great conversation and we discussed the potential of collaborating on a number of issues going forward for the betterment of the district and the county.

So naturally, when called by the media that same night, I was in high spirits and a great mood, and I was gracious and magnanimous when quick to point out my perception that the race was by and large a "clean, issues-focused contest."  This was my perception based upon the fact that I had blinders on and I DID NOT look at social chat sites in this election for the most part--- and instead I remained focused on my race and the finish line and the checkered flag on August 18th. 

So was I overly magnanimous when I said my opponents didn't go negative?

Since the election, I have now had the opportunity to peruse several web sites, Facebook sites, etc.  I also watched a "Blab" TV special one of my opponents was apparently running during the election. Sadly--the local realtor who was the "host" of this "program" made some statements about me and my family that were straight up lies.  Outright, bald-faced lies.  And this particular opponent DID NOT correct his host as he should have done.  This is disappointing.  This was a negative attack by proxy based upon false information--a set-up job.  This opponent ultimately came in third place, being beaten badly by both myself (by 17 points) and by Jesse Casey (by 8 points).  This same individual posted pictures and videos with characters wearing ridiculous monster costumes and #hashtag signs talking about what he deserved.....blah, blah, blah.  

 

Dancing in monster-costumes with ridiculous hashtag signs in the streets

didn't help this year's 3rd place finisher.  He still lost, and he lost badly...

It meant nothing and worked for him about as well as a belly-flop from the high dive in a pool drained of water. Newsflash:  In local contests folks do not like negative ads and they do not work!  And by the way, as Clint Eastwood famously quipped in one of his movies---"deserve's got nothing to do with it!"  and this opponent in this election was dispatched, handily, along with the costumed creatures and ridiculous hashtags..

I've also come into possession of some campaign literature from my opponents that I did not know existed on election night.  I was not aware until after the campaign that the second place finisher in the election put my picture on one of his mailers exclaiming that I "bicker" instead of work.  Sorry to see this---because listen--if you have to resort to putting an image or likeness of your opponent on your mail-piece--that is going negative.  Believe me, I wouldn't do it ever because it is an attack--even by the picture that is used it can be construed as an attack.  And it should not be done--people don't like this.  This particular opponent came in 2nd place.  For the third straight election.....

An example of a negative attack on opponents contained in one of the mailers from 2016 3rd place finisher (of 3 candidates in that race) in the D1 Commission primary Karen Sindel--where she attempted a silly "report-card" style shtick utilizing the worst pictures available of her opponents combined with ridiculous claims

So let's talk about a positive campaign versus a negative campaign, and what a negative attack campaign is.......

A positive campaign never mentions one's opponent and does not bash him/her.  A positive campaign describes the attributes the candidate will bring to the position, his/her experience, his/her vision, his/her strategy, his/her endorsements, his/her education and achievements, etc. etc.  These are the types of campaigns I have consistently run in every campaign in which I have participated.  I have NEVER ONCE printed an image of an opponent on any mail piece or on my website.  Because to do so is negative.

Negative campaigns come from candidates that are desperate and lacking vision and/or resources and/or a message that resonates with voters.  Some common themes of negative campaigns are:

--Lying about an opponent's record.

--Using surrogates to attack an opponent to keep hands clean.

--Putting an opponent's likeness on campaign literature

--Naming (by title or name)an opponent in a negative light--disparaging him/her.

Unfortunately--as I now take the time necessary to look at the multiple websites and literature of all my opponents in this race--it appears that I was overly magnanimous in my assessment of the election.  I was simply unaware of the savage attacks online and on mail pieces that were happening during the campaign.

Nope, this was a dirty, ugly campaign after all--that did not have to be.  Truly disappointing.

But hey, in 4 years and 2 months we can do it all over again if folks want to.  In 50 months--we can go again!  (wow that is a LONG time--reminds me of Leslie Nielsen's scene in Creepshow--"I can hold my breath for a long time!....")    

I'll be ready, I'll be waiting, I'll be POSITIVE, and most importantly---I'll once again be victorious should I choose to run again for this office.

50 Months... Jeez, that's a long, long time from now......

53rd Coffee with the Commissioner Event will Occur in Two Weeks

 

We are going to continue our online, virtual "Coffee with the Commissioner" events until it is safe to once again resume these in person out in locations throughout Escambia County's District 1.  Our next Coffee event, our 53rd edition, will occur two weeks from this Wednesday--on September 2nd.

This week, we will not have our event due to the election (in which I am a participant)  and I will also be out of state visiting my son Nick who will be starting his second year of law school at Marquette on the 24th.

So our coffee on the 2nd will be all about COVID-19 and how we are reporting the statistics to you, the citizens of the county.  I will have Janice Gilley, County Administrator and Eric Gilmore, Escambia County Emergency manager on the webinar with me on the 2nd.  And I invite you to submit any questions you may have on any aspect of the county's response to the COVID-19 Pandemic to me in advance as either a comment to this blog, an email to me ( District1@myescambia.com ) , or on my Commissioner's Facebook page   https://www.facebook.com/CommissionerBergosh/

Importantly--I will and have been pursuing an important new metric for our dashboard:  Recovered Rate.

I believe this is a critically important data point to present along with all of the other information because as we continuously add the new case numbers to the dashboard--folks are seeing this huge number out of context in my opinion-----as many may falsely believe that number represents the current number of citizens stricken by this virus--even though this number includes cases from as far back as March.  And other states and municipalities have begun taking a 6-week heuristic and applying it to new cases.  Although this is not a perfect, foolproof method for illustrating a "recovered rate"--it is better than what we are doing currently in my opinion.

Simply stated, applying a six week standard to all cases (because after 6 weeks post diagnosis--the vast majority of patients recover with a very small percentage remaining hospitalized past 6-weeks and an even smaller number succumbing to the disease and dying.)  So, to illustrate the recovered numbers better--this sort of a protocol should be added to our dashboard so folks see a more realistic number of local citizens who are infected at a moment in time-----not the TOTAL number diagnosed since the beginning of the pandemic.

This will be a big part of the discussion on September 2nd--I look forward to it.  

 The 52nd Coffee event will take place this Wednesday morning from 6:30-7:30 AM.  The replay will air on Myescambia.com.   Join us live, and ask your questions in real-time on facebook!

To join the event live Wednesday morning, September 2nd-- simply go to https://www.facebook.com/CommissionerBergosh/

 "See You" online!

The Incredibly High Cost of an Arbitrary "NO".......

Sometimes citizens demand we say NO MORE [fill in the blank] when in actuality it is something that our codes and ordinances permit.  When we say NO to what should be a YES---there often will be a high price to be paid for doing so....as illustrated below.

We make decisions that make people mad.  We make them at nearly every meeting.

Sometimes, there are no easy answers.  One thing that is universally understood is this:  You can never please all the people, all the time.  Nobody can.

So issues come before us that are challenging and there are typically competing interests at stake.  Most of the time we are up against a tough vote, it usually centers on a land use decision the board must make.

So when confronted with doing what appears to be appropriate, what comports with our current land development code, what has been approved by the state, and what has been approved by the planning board and county staff--there really are no options for us to take if we want to be efficient, decisive, follow the law, and be fair to all parties.  We should vote yes when it is obviously a YES decision given all the facts.

But that does not always happen--and there are not always happy endings.

Often there will be an active and vocal minority of citizens present to oppose doing what is proposed, what is right and what comports with the law.  Sometimes these loud voices of an extreme minority opinion can push a vote down the road, delay a project, send it back to the planning board, etc.  Cans can get kicked for months and months--costing petitioners money and time.

Sometimes there's no rational reasoning for the push for a NO.  Often it comes from groups that want no changes in their neighborhoods, or no new growth, or no "XXXX" type of business near them [Fill in the blank].

Sometimes, these voices push so hard that a project that should, by every measure conceivable, be a resounding "YES" turns into a "NO" to mollify a loud and vocally opposed constituency.  So what appears to be a politically expedient, "for the people" decision to say no to something that should have warranted a yes will have consequences, because there is an incredibly high cost of an arbitrary "NO".  Or to put a scientific spin on it-we can channel Isaac Newton--"for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."

Take for instance the NO vote that was rendered for a legitimate business operation in Escambia County a couple of years back.  The BCC said no for reasons that could not withstand actual legal scrutiny, and the requestor hired an attorney.  He then proceeded to clean our clocks in circuit court where the judge took the highly unusual step in her decision of not simply siding with the plaintiff--but  actually "ordering" the BCC to issue the permit we had previously denied this individual petitioner.

Now, after getting destroyed in court with that ruling--apparently we are still not doing what was ordered by the judge with respect to the permit---and we are about to get pilloried again. (Picture the most vicious, brutal "ground and pound" UFC cagematch beatdown you can imagine......us on the bottom)

Add to this the fact that we have not yet received all of the legal bills and lost revenue claims that we will be paying from the first go round with this individual because we said "no."

Now, unfortunately, it looks like that meter will continue to run; in a letter received this week, a new issue with the judgment and the county's reaction illuminated the fact that the bill is being drawn up and it will soon be coming to us (taxpayers) for payment--complete with new fees if we don't issue the correct permit expeditiously.  from the letter:

"If the permit correction is not made, we will have no choice but to recommend seeking further judicial enforcement of the proper classification of my client's permit. If the County is unwilling to comply with its own code, we will be forced to take legal action to enforce my client's rights, including but not limited to a declaratory action seeking a declaration that the permit issued to my client properly falls under the XXXXXXXXXX classification XXXXXXXXX.

In addition, I note that we already have a substantial damages claim for the delay in the initial permit, to which entitlement exists as a matter of law, caused by the County's previous denial of due process. Further, attempts to deny my client the permit to which they are entitled are added due process violations compounding those violations which have already been adjudicated against the County. The already existing damages and their substantiation are forthcoming and will be submitted for the County's review and payment shortly. Failure to correct the permit at this point will add to those recoverable damages."

Hey--That is Quite A Hornet's Nest!

Sometimes a "Hornet's Nest is a figure of
speech referring to an explosive issue or problem. 
Sometimes, like this week and
in relation to this 6-foot tall hornet's nest in D1,
It literally is about an actual "Hornet's Nest"

 Thursday morning was very hectic, as the Escambia BCC had two back-to-back meetings scheduled on some very important and pressing topics.  Early that morning, before the meetings, I received a Facebook instant message from a constituent that was concerned about a large bee's nest on Perkins street.  So I replied to this gentleman that I would forward the issue to staff, which I did.

Then we had the meetings on multiple subjects that are swirling around the county.  Road Swap, master plan, environmental issues, transportation issues, etc. etc.

So with so much swirling on my radar, to include several brewing issues with homeowners angry with their developer in multiple locations--when I received a call from Channel 3's Hannah Mackenzie early Thursday afternoon--I fully expected the question to be about the road swap, the jail, storm water, the budget, Perdido Key, Perdido Bay, traffic, 9-Mile Road, Crime issues, or any one of a dozen or more topics.

"Hey Commissioner, that is quite a hornet's nest" the conversation began when she called me after the hectic meeting(s).  My literal response to her was "Which ONE?!?" [INSERT RIMSHOT] as I laughed.

I honestly thought she was speaking of some known problem in the county, one of the many issues we had discussed at the morning meeting(s)--because God knows we have multiple issues that could be considered "kicked over hornet's nests."

Only after a subsequent exchange with Hannah did I realize that no, she wanted to know if I knew what was going to happen with the Actual Hornet's nest on Perkins street? (Unbeknownst to me, the resident who contacted me early Thursday on Facebook had also contacted Channel 3 about the nest, and WEAR Channel 3 had gone out and filmed it for a story)

So I did engage staff, and multiple personnel, about the issue of the actual, real Hornet's nest issue.
Here is the bottom line, latest information, from staff that visited the site and assessed the situation:

Take- Away (s) From the Ombudsman's Report, Part (1)

Yesterday afternoon, County Commissioners were provided a final written report on the Public Safety Department from former director of Public Safety and special Ombudsman Janice Kilgore

Commissioners were provided with BCC Ombudsman Janice Kilgore's written report on issues within PS late yesterday afternoon.

The report section is actually a very succinct 6 pages, followed by the complete PowerPoint Presentation that was given the board last Thursday.  The final portion of the 37-page report is exhibits and attachments.

The entire report is actually a very short read-- but her bullet points of suggestions and areas for improvement going forward provide great information for the board and the administrative leadership to consider.  And there are some issues that need to be addressed that are covered in this report--from better resource allocation from the BCC to the division, to better use of employees within the division, to the need to update some policies and procedures.  The important thing to consider is that the information is useful, timely, and benficial.

Again I will re-iterate my thanks to Janice Kilgore-- a retired veteran of the Escambia EMS Department--for her hard work in producing this information for the BCC.  It is unfortunate that some in the media, and some in leadership, sought to sabotage this effort before it was even able to be concluded.

Upon reading the report--I think even the skeptics will note that it provides useful, unbiased and important data and that Amy Lovoy's initiative in bringing in Mrs. Kilgore to do this assessment was a solid and beneficial one..

MY BIG TAKE AWAY FROM THE KILGORE REPORTs :

1.  The Last Escambia EMS random state inspection in July of 2018 was passed with flying colors--from the report:

"The Florida Department of Health conducted a routine inspection of EMS on July 31,2018. Areas inspected included personnel records, service records and facilities inspection, ALS and BLS vehicle inspection and equipment test results. No deficiencies were found.  Further, the inspector noted this was an outstanding inspection with excellent employee and service records as well as a good Quality Assurance Quality Improvement (QA/QI) program"  (see the written evaluation here)

2.  Not every firefighter agreed with the no confidence vote taken against Mike Weaver.  from the report:  

"The Fire and EMS unions provided public statements regarding a vote of no confidence for Director Weaver. During discussions, some indicated the vote was due to the resignation of Chief Nail. Others mentioned they did not feel Director Weaver was properly presenting the needs of Public Safety to County Administration and the Commissioners. In a conversation with the President of the Volunteer Fire Association, he indicated they did not hold a vote of no confidence and did not agree with the one taken by the career firefighters.  He said they supported Director Weaver in his position."


3.  The Employees that do the job are doing the job well and are certified to do the work they do.  from the report: 

"...These employees are dedicated, caring individuals properly trained and certified for the job. Every day they are helping people in emergency situations and it is unfortunate the good they are doing is seldom heard.  Continued support and appreciation from County leaders as well as from the citizens they serve is needed."

I'll discuss several of the management and financial issues highlighted and challenges we face that were spotlighted in this document in follow-on posts.

Surprise! Our ISO Rating (For Fire Service as a County) has IMPROVED!

Our ISO Rating Improved over our last review from 2012.  This is a good news story....

To hear the consternation and gnashing of teeth lately surrounding our fire service locally--an unbiased bystander might think we are facing dire consequences and on the verge of collapse as a system.

But to the contrary-our system has improved significantly over our last ISO rating in 2012.

On a 1-10 scale, with "1" being the best and "10" being the worst--our county moved UP from a 5/5 to a 4/4X.

(here's the report from 2012)

According to today's presenter from ISO--this puts Escambia County in the top 30% of the 70% of Fire Systems ISO monitors nation-wide.

Can we improve, can we do better?  I believe the answer is yes.  But the matrix utilized to measure our effectiveness as a fire service depends upon a host of complex issues, some of which are not under the control of the county at all (water availability from local water providers is a factor upon which we are judged but upon which we have little to no control, for example.  This metric alone makes up 40% of our overall score)

Staffing, training, call-center technology,  response times, and community outreach/education on fire prevention all factor into our score.  We can control these areas and I know we will continue to improve in these areas.

Proximity to a fire station is also a factor.

For example, no matter what a county's overall score, if Your House in particular is more than 5 Miles by road from the nearest fire station, you score a 10.  If you are more than 1000 feet from a fire hydrant, you score a 10.  This is applicable anywhere, in any county that ISO measures.

So with a large geographic area to cover and limited control over where the utilities place the water lines--the fact that we are improving should be a good news story.

As my counterpart Commissioner Barry stated today in no uncertain terms--the numbers of paid personnel in ECFR over the last 6 years has nearly doubled- jumping from 88 to 152 paid.  The budget has increased 62% from just over $10 Million to over $17 Million over this same period.

So he was right when he said this board is adding resources both in personnel and budget---again a good news story that should be reported but that probably will not be reported.

We know we need to keep improving, and we will.  We know we need more resources to keep improving, and I believe we as a board will find a way to do this without raising taxes.  That is my prediction and this is the way I intend to move as we go into budgeting---just as we did with the 4-year deal for ECSO.

Because first responders are important and they are a priority.  And today's good news should be roundly welcomed by everyone--citizens, paid fire personnel, volunteer fire personnel, and staff.

It's a Good News story!

Deer Run in Beulah: Wetlands Damage Remediation Plans moving Forward Quickly

County staff and developer DR Horton are working toward a resolution of multiple environmental issues at Phase I of the Preserve at Deer Run in Beulah.

Over the last several days there has been a flurry of activity on Phase 1 of the Preserve at Deer Run subdivision in Beulah.

Several Issues have plagued that development over the last several months, culminating in penalties being assessed by the North West Florida Water Management District (NWFWMD)

(The four holding ponds in phase one were not/are not draining properly--that issue is being worked via a re-design and that work to correct the issues with the ponds is moving forward so far as I have been told)

A consent order between NWFWMD and DR Horton, the builder, is slated to be signed by this Friday.

Meanwhile, county staff and the environmental engineer hired by DR Horton (Wetland Sciences) have been going back and forth via email.

A very detailed draft mitigation strategy document has been put forward by the DR Horton's environmental contractor, and county staff has read it and added additional stipulations that must be met before the county issues Certificates of Occupancy (CO) for five homes that are poised for closing before the month's end.

(County staff are standing firm that the CO's will not be issued until the remediation plan is accepted by all parties and the work to remediate the wetlands and wetland buffer zones begins)

Stipulations that the county is requiring, over and above what has been put forth in the document from DR Horton's environmental engineer, include the following:

• Monitoring for the restoration areas shall be for 5 years, including annual reports, and annual replanting (if needed) to assure 80% survival during each reporting period
• For areas proposed for restoration within the wetland buffer, weed free mulch that is a minimum of a 2” thick, 18” diameter shall be installed around each plant unit to enhance survivability and minimize competition*  
• With the proposed sizes of trees and shrubs offered, trees should be on 12’ centers and shrubs on 6’ centers*
• A alternating planting diagram will need to be submitted and approved to be able to verify counts and appropriate location
• All nursery stock shall be Florida Grade 2 or better and documented as such

* If larger plant stock is proposed, then plant unit spacing and mulch requirements may be reconsidered

Information Provided Validates the Questions that were Raised.....

A week ago today I had a conversation about the new downtown field house concept with a person intimately familiar with this initiative.

I asked this person if they supported the plan for a field house downtown--and the answer was a resounding and forceful "No."

I wondered aloud..."Why not?"

During the course of the ensuing conversation, the reasons for this individual's hesitation would be framed and detailed;  the lack of support hinged on multiple issues and financial concerns--which eventually this person would detail.

#1.  Some financial irregularities should be looked into, according to this source.  Chief among these was the $150,000.00 purchase of a website domain name for www.pensacola.com. "It's not that they spent money to buy this domain,  it's not even about the price of the domain, although I think it is a lot of money--it's the fact that their board didn't authorize the purchase in advance which they should have done.  At least one board member was not happy about this the next month when the full board were notified about the purchase."  

After looking at the minutes for Visit Pensacola from June 27th--the claim about the purchase being made absent board approval appears to be true.  Furthermore, it looks like the board did not even take a vote after the fact to approve the purchase which is odd.  Nobody has been able to tell me definitively, yes or no, the answer to this question:  "Did Visit Pensacola's Board ever authorize this purchase?"  Apparently, from the comments she made in the PNJ,  the clerk of the court believes this purchase was not inappropriate.   From the PNJ: "Pam Childers, Escambia County Clerk of the Circuit Court whose office reviews all county expenditures, said in a text message to the News Journal Thursday evening that there was no malfeasance surrounding the purchase of the domain name."  For what it is worth, I never used the term malfeasance--that was my counterpart in district 2 that used that word.  I said "inappropriate and irregular"--which I believe are the better words to describe this event; because I still have trouble with the fact that the purchase was not approved in advance.  Regardless of what one chooses to call this--it appears that this purchase was, in fact, "irregular" if nothing else....

#2.  Several consultants are being paid by PSA to lobby the BCC for more money for a field house--according to this source.  "They have several guys making thousands per month on contracts to lobby you to spend more on studies for the field house." said this individual.



After receiving the information from Visit Pensacola and the Pensacola Sports Association on Monday---it appears that this additional concern is also a true statement.  It appears that Visit Pensacola has a total of four consultants being paid at the moment tied to the effort to bring a field house to Pensacola. It also appears as if these positions were not solicited via an RFP or RFQ but rather the persons chosen were name-selected. One consultant gets $4,000.00 monthly, one gets $3,000.00 monthly, one received a fixed price to do a study, and the fourth consultant receives $125.00 hourly on a contract not to exceed 210 hours.

In looking at PSA's last two budget requests--I do not see these costs as a part of the request to the BCC.  So the question I have is where is this money coming from, the money to lobby the BCC to

Pop-Up Tent Sale Prohibition Ordinance Passes 1st Public Hearing via a 4-1 Vote...

Some folks and their acolytes say "I'm not personally aware of any problems, therefore there must not be any problems"  which is ridiculous.  We are aware of many complaints in this "pop-up tent car sale" arena--- and the board made the wise vote 4-1 to move this regulation forward

The pop-up tent car sale ordinance passed on Thursday by a 4-1 vote.  Next month it will come back to the board for a final vote where I predict it will pass via another 4-1 vote.  One interesting comment came up during the deliberations before the vote.  One of my counterparts said he was personally unaware of "anyone coming to the BCC complaining of this issue."  But as I explained to him at the meeting--just because he doesn't know about issues with these sales--does not mean there are "no problems" with these sales.  I am personally aware of one person who recently purchased a lemon from a South Florida dealer here locally--and she is paying the price now for this "great deal!"  We also had dealers, at the podium, holding page after page of unflattering reviews of these pop-up dealers.  So, just to be clear, if one Commissioner does not know of something, this does not mean that something is not happening (as if nothing can be real unless he has PERSONAL knowledge of it)  Newsflash to this commissioner:  Large trees fall all the time in the forests--and when they do, they make noise even if you don't hear it.  But to those that believe what they hear this one person say unflinchingly--check out this email that ALL commissioners received just one day after the vote.


"Dear Sirs,
I understand you're considering whether to ban or restrict out-of-area auto vendors who set up tent sales in Escambia County.
I am all for keeping them out.
A year or two ago, I received a postcard promising a prize if I'd come by the tent to check my numbers or some such. When I went by, I was told that I'd won a gift card but they were all out. They'd send me something, the salesman said. I gave him my mailing address (which they had from the postcard, theoretically). I never received anything.
Using the scant information on the postcard, I dug around online and determined where the business was based. They used a network of business names to make it tough to track them down, but once I had it figured out, I filed a complaint with their local Better Business Bureau.
The dealer responded and promised again to send the gift card, and the complaint was quickly closed with "resolved." Again, I never received anything.
Sure, that was just a $5 or $10 gift card, not worth even the effort I put into it. However, the whole situation speaks volumes about the business.
Why wouldn't they put the name and location of their dealership on their advertising and promotional dealerships? I had to look the name up they used on Sunbiz, find the principals' names, and search for other businesses they were associated with to narrow it down.
Why would they make promises they had no intention of keeping? Twice! They set the rules for their promotion. They could have made sure that only a set number of cards had the "winning number." They could have added the notation "while supplies last" (and I never would have wasted my time going to the tent). Then they assured me they would send the gift card and never did.
If they can't handle a simple promotional giveaway and treat a potential customer fairly, I have no doubt that they would misrepresent the cars they are selling and the terms for any financing they might offer.
We are better off without them.
Thank you for your time.
XXXXXXXX   XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX  XXXXXXX St.
Pensacola, Fla."

Fixing the Fire Service Budgeting In Escambia County Part II

Is there a way to more intelligently budget for the fire service in Escambia County?  Answer--yes...

It is disappointing when a subject of universal community importance and concern becomes weaponized against those of us that make policy and set budgets using limited resources. 

Unfortunately this happens and it happens frequently in politics at the local level. 

When I was a school board member, when negotiations were not going the way the teacher's union wanted them to go, our meetings would become packed with union members wearing red shirts.  We would have dozens of speakers warning of the dire consequences of not adequately funding education.  Some speakers would become quite animated and aggressive.  It was ugly.  We got through these events, though. We compromised, and education in Escambia County continued.  But at no time did we ever NOT value teachers and education--we just had to make tough budget decisions.

Then in my first year as a county commissioner, the BCC was ridiculed and attacked viciously and unprofessionally in commercials, online, and on billboards when we did not immediately acquiesce to unrealistic and unsustainable salary increase demands from the Sheriff's department.  We went back and forth, did mediation, and eventually we reached a compromise agreement and a 4-year deal. We got the Law Enforcement Trust process fixed and we increased salaries---  But no matter what anyone said about us, no matter who said the board didn't respect and value law enforcement--those statements were always lies and that rhetoric was always pure propaganda--none of it was ever true.  (Unfortunately some very gullible folks actually believed this.  Sadly, some still do.  But it wasn't true--isn't now and it never was.)

So now we come to 2019 and the fire department budget is in the red.  Union negotiations are going on and some members of the career firefighter ranks are pushing us for more resources.  Some are getting aggressive online and at the dais.

Are there legitimate concerns about fire service equipment--yes?  And yes, the MSBU is not fully funding the budget of the fire service.

So now what?

Some folks would just love us to raise tax rates on command.  They say "we need the money, now raise taxes!"

But I'm never going to vote to raise the year over year tax rate on Escambia county property owners if there are other viable solutions to budget issues. I've never voted to increase rates in 12 years in public office--and I'm not starting now. We have to live within our budgets just like households and small businesses do.  And I do believe there are viable options available apart from raising year-over-year tax rates.

FIXING THE ISSUES WITH THE VOLUNTEERS

As I said in Part I of this series, we need to take some steps to help our yearly fire service fund increases become more predictable and larger--I went through some steps to do this in this earlier post.http://jeffbergoshblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/fixing-fire-service-budgeting-in.html

But now I want to take it a step further and mention some additional measures that I feel need to be taken to make the agency more efficient going forward.

--First, we have to cut the bureaucratic red tape that is currently creating an unnecessary blockage in the training pipeline (e.g. right now there is a backlog of at least 15 additional volunteer firefighters that only need a live-burn certification to be fully qualified to run calls.  I'm told some of these volunteers have been waiting for 5 months for this certification. Some have gone or are going to neighboring counties for this training because they cannot get through the bureaucracy here in Escambia--which if true is unacceptable.  One knowledgeable individual with whom I spoke had a stark assessment of the reason for the hold up "They can't afford to pay the stipends if all the

What is the Value of OLF 8 in Beulah, Part III

Just because the hypnotist gives you bad information does not mean you have to be one of the sheeple that actually believe the fiction

As I have explained in part I and II--just because one person and his entourage want to make you believe a valuable piece of property is not valuable does not make this fiction into reality.

Just because less than one year ago someone told you a 636 acre piece of prime real estate was "only worth $4.75 Million" (when as it sat, at that time, it was worth $20+ Million)--does not mean that person was right.  He was wrong.

The fact of the matter is that the OLF 8 property in Beulah that the BCC is poised to take possession of next week, is likely worth more than $30 Million dollars.

We know this because we have now received back 2 estimates for the value of just 100 acres of this 636 acre parcel.

Our initial appraisal from last week pegged this  portion of the  property at $45K per acre.  Our second estimate just came back Thursday at $51K per acre.

Extending these values out to 636 acres gives a total potential value of between $28.6 Million and $32.4 Million.

And so it begs the question--how could one person be so wrong about something this profoundly important?

Almost as important:  how could so many people have believed this false and incorrect information?

Moral of the story--don't always believe what the hypnotist tells you, trust your own intellect and eyes.  Don't listen to the pom-pom girls and cheer squads that parrot the incorrect data.  And when someone starts to rack up "misses" one by one, one after another, all over the place--perhaps it is time to actually start looking to other sources for the right and factual information instead of being one of the sheeple that blindly trusts the hypnotist over his own instincts.

That's just my two cents worth....