"Jeff,
The actions of you and the rest of the BOCC over the previous 12 months take me back to the W.D. Childers days. It’s unfortunate that our elected officials tend to lose sight of what their duties and responsibilities are as it relates to supporting their constituents and overall needs of the County. Of course the latest debacle is over Commissioners retirement compensation as it relates to the County’s contribution and subsequent payout. It’s apparent that the Board feels their duties and responsibilities are more important and hazardous than our Public Safety employees. It’s evident the retirement language as it relates to the Board and upper management is not crystal clear and without ambiguity. Knowing this, why doesn’t the Board simply accept a rate that is more reasonable and commensurate with the part-time job they currently hold? Doing the right thing these days has become the exception rather than the norm – morals and ethics have become words of the past.
I would hope the BOCC will regain their senses and remember who they actually serve and support. If the Board feels they are entitled to this rate of retirement, then the military retirees have been severely under compensated.
XXXX,
Thanks for the frank and candid opinion you’ve provided
below. Thanks also for your military service, which I respect and
appreciate strongly—as I grew up in a military family with a dad that did 33
years in the Navy, a brother who is a retired Marine, and two of my children
who have now served or are serving in the US Military. Knowing what I
know about military retirements—I do believe they are deserved and very
generous. However—the public sector and the state and some local Florida
governments offer some programs such as a deferred retirement (DROP) plan as
well as pensions for many employees and classes of employees that are legal, appropriate,
and MUCH more generous than a military pension.
This all said-- I must strongly disagree with some of
the assumptions you have mentioned in your below email which no doubt have been
generated via media coverage of this debacle that has been one-sided,
incomplete, and downright dishonest.
So before you flippantly relegate me and my professional
reputation to the rubbish heap—I certainly hope you will hear me out, below, on
what the realities are surrounding the 401(a) plan.
First off—a couple of points of note worth
consideration.
Number 1—WD Childers was a dishonest, criminal politician
who was eventually indicted, tried, and convicted for his criminal
behavior. He spent time in jail. Years. Deservedly.
Conversely-I have spent 15 years in local elected office,
living under a microscope, and have not ever once even been accused of doing
anything unethical, immoral, or-----illegal. It’s because I follow rules,
do my job, and am a “Boy Scout” that plays it straight.
Number 2 is I have never taken one dime from the taxpayers,
not one red cent, that was not afforded to me as a salary, benefit, or
emolument of my position enumerated in the constitution of Florida and/or local
ordinance.
Number 3 is this: I do not take the 401(a)
plan. I am in the standard Florida Retirement System (FRS)
pension plan, just like teachers, deputy sheriffs, firemen, and other county
employees---which is a formulaic program that calculates an employee’s salary
average and length of service to determine a monthly stipend for the elected
official-- when such an official reaches retirement age. For me, that
will be when I turn 62.
(It is worth mentioning here that if the board decided to
voluntarily reduce the return rate on this 401(a) plan by even as little as 1%
for the three members who take it Bender, Barry, and May-----it would save
taxpayers’ dollars when juxtaposed with the costs of other elected officials
like me who are stuck in FRS with their overhead which is obscene!)
Number 4 is this: The 401(a) plan at issue----complete
with these concomitant payments with higher levels of interest rate returns for
some senior managers and those elected officials that have chosen this
plan----has been established in the County since 1997 and paid in full by our
current clerk and the former clerk, Ernie Lee Magaha. These plans are
ubiquitous around the state—in counties, cities and other municipalities.
This is not something Escambia just cooked-up one day out of the clear blue sky
for self-enrichment—regardless
of what the liberal PNJ and their cartoonist espouse.
Sadly—the current clerk’s recent and unilateral decision to withhold funding and constructively void this BCC contract appears to be a political one, and one that does not stand up to the scrutiny of legal
