When Naysayers are Wrong, Part I

Naysayers have been all around us since the beginning of time.  They are often wrong......

Naysayers are part of life.  From the beginning of time and throughout history there were and are to this day naysayers.  The thing about Naysayers is they are sometimes right in their position, sometimes.   But just as often they are wrong.

History tends to sort out the truth and whether or not the Naysayers were right or wrong on a particular topic.  One thing I'll say about naysayers....if the predictions turn out to be right, they have a lot more credibility than if they were/are wrong all the time...

Take, for example, the first explorers who set out to find the new world in the 1400's.  Naysayers of the time said they would fail.  Worse yet, naysayers back then said these early explorers would fall off the end of the earth because "the earth was flat..... "  We all know what happened there.

Closer to home and on a more personal note, there were naysayers in my last election--one of whom in particular predicted I would "lose spectacularly!"  Of course, those naysayers and the one in particular were all absolutely 100% wrong;  I actually won my primary election putting their hand-selected candidate in last place before going on to win my general election race with nearly 70% of the vote over my Democrat opponent. (I actually won with the highest margin of victory of any local Republican candidate on the slate, on a percentage basis,  up against a Democrat opponent in the 2016 General Election).  So yes, those naysayers got that one about as wrong as humanly possible.  What a hoot!

About the same time as the naysayers were predicting, inaccurately, my political demise--one naysayer was also loudly predicting that a highly successful, local economic development initiative that I strongly supported at that time(and still support) was going to fail.  Here is what this naysayer said, verbatim, about the VT MAE (now ST Engineering Aerospace) airport MRO project back in 2016....

"VT MAE is a huge failure.  It is an attempt to capture crumbs off someone elses [SIC] table because we lack the leadership to figure out our own vision for our community.  Has anyone articulated why

On WCOA This Moring

I always appreciate the opportunity to come on the radio to discuss topics of interest with the listeners of AM 1370 WCOA.

Today's topics on "Good Morning Pensacola" included the following:

--Massive traffic gridlock in Beulah during construction on Mobile Highway--what caused it, what can be done to ameliorate this problem

--Weapons being fired near Wymart Road near West Florida High School--with bullets turning up in the bottom of pools, in people's cars, etc.   Who is doing this shooting?

--Our Budget situation, and can/will the Governor force the BCC to raise tax rates to pay Sheriff Morgan's budget demand?

--Our recent sign ordinance discussion, and issues surrounding the degree to which a recent supreme court ruling has limited our ability to regulate signs locally

--Priorities going forward as I assume the chairmanship on November 30th.
                   --efficiency of time in meetings
                   --civility in our process

--The ruling allowing Sean's Outpost to continue to operate in the Satoshi Forest area

hear the entire interview here

I always enjoy being asked to come on the radio, and I appreciate WCOA for having me on the show on a regular basis

Escambia County Clerk returns Nearly $1,000,000.00 to BCC!

Escambia County Clerk of the Court Pam Childers returned $914,107.81 to the BCC yesterday.

Escambia County Clerk and Comptroller Pam Childers returned $914,107.81 dollars to the BCC yesterday--excess revenue that by statute must be returned at the end of each fiscal year by her office.  It is important to note that although the board does frequently receive money back from the constitutional offices at the end of October yearly (Clerk's office returned $723,000.00 last year) the exact amount of this revenue was neither known nor anticipated by the board prior to the BCC finalizing the FY2018 budget last month so far as I understand this situation...

In a letter that accompanied the check (above), Mrs. Childers described the revenue, explaining that it came from two sources--Finance and Official Records.  From the letter:

"The first is the savings of the finance budget, and the second is the effect of additional revenues generated in the official records function..the savings in the Finance department totals $429,042..the Official Records department has excess funds of $485,065 which is predominately the impact of an upward turn in the economy."

The board, in conjunction with recommendations from the Administrator and the staff, will ultimately decide where these excess funds will be spent.

Equivocation is Easy....

In a classic scene from the 1981 comedy "Vacation" --Rusty is being attacked viciously by his cousin's dog, and Rusty's mom glibly states "Rusty, stop playing with the dog"--insinuating Rusty is somehow to blame for the mauling while simultaneously downplaying the dog's role in the attack and the seriousness of the attack....the scene was so patently absurd that it produced bellicose laughter among the audience--because it was so ridiculous!

Sunday’s PNJ editorial encourages the Sheriff and the BOCC, as it relates to this year’s budget and subsequent appeal and response, to “Grow Up and Get Over It!” imploring us to solve the issue like “leaders.”

On its face, this editorial and it’s message seems reasonable and rational.  However, upon a more stringent, reasoned analysis—it seems like the author has taken the lazy, easy path—and equivocation in this instance is both convenient and expedient.  It is immediately apparent that whomever wrote this piece did not read the county’s response to the Sheriff’s budget appeal, because like a wrecking ball going through an abandoned building set for demolition, the BCC response cuts devastating swaths of destruction through the Sheriff’s argument(s).  Had the author read the response, he/she would have known this, and perhaps some intelligent themes could have been expounded upon/infused in the editorial, such as:

--The Sheriff has said on many occasions that his men “went7 years without a pay raise”..but wait---Attachment 13 of the ECSO’s own appeal clearly shows that ECSO employees have had raises in 7 of the last 11 years, and in 14 of the last 18 years!  Why the disconnect—in what 7-year period did the deputies not receive raises??

--The Sheriff has said our budgeting process this year has been “arbitrary and capricious”—but paragraph 1 of page 4 of our answer to his appeal succinctly vaporizes that claim.  Did PNJ read this paragraph and the case cited?

--The BCC’s public comments and statements, so far as the public record clearly indicates, have been professional, courteous, and respectful toward the sheriff and his officers.  The Sheriff, by contrast, has engaged in a summer of name calling, personal attacks, and ad hominem insults directed at individual commissioners and BCC staff. The sheriff has insinuated that the administrator is dishonest, he has referred to the BCC as out of touch, saying we “can’t read, can’t hear, can’t find the nose on our face.”  The Sheriff even called me a “Bullshit Artist” on WCOA radio. (he used a radio-

Fixing the Law Enforcement Trust Fund Expenditure Process Locally, Part III: Asking the Question

The BCC voted to reform our process locally to more of a competitive process like that which is used by Sheriff Scott Israel in Broward County....

The County Commissioners have voted unanimously to ask the Attorney General specific questions about our current process for allocating funds from the Law Enforcement Trust Fund.  There have been numerous complaints about the process, and at the last meeting the commissioners voted not only to ask the AG for an opinion--but the BCC also voted to reform the process to more closely mirror the excellent process utilized in Broward County.  Here (below) is the four page letter that was sent out to the Florida Attorney General today asking for her opinion....

Click READ MORE to see PAGE 3 and 4, BELOW

Clause for Outside Agency Funding Agreements Generates Concern

Charitable entities and 501(c)3 organizations that receive funding from the BCC recently received notification like this one above-- about a clause that will be added to their agreements to address a potential BCC contingent liability...

At the conclusion of our budget meeting a few weeks back, when we were discussing the funding of outside agencies, the BCC decided it would be good to have a mechanism in our funding agreements with these agencies to address a contingent liability that may be hanging over our collective heads.

As we have all heard, the Sheriff has stated that he intends to appeal his budget allotment to the Governor--he wants an additional $2.7 Million over what we gave him (his total demand was for an 8% year over year budget increase which we could not afford) The BCC compromised-- and funded his office such that all ECSO employees would get 3% pay increases (the fifth year in a row that his men have been funded by the BCC for 3% raises)--but he still wants additional money.

Although it is unlikely that the Governor would compel the BCC to fully fund the Sheriff's request-we nevertheless need to prepare for any eventuality.

Raising property tax rates on existing property owners in the county is not something I will support, and I doubt the full BCC would raise tax rates to fund any shortfall either.

Therefore, the  BCC added a clause to all agreements that allows the funding to such outside agencies to be cut and pulled back in the event of an adverse financial outcome for the BCC as a result of the Sheriff's appeal.

The discussion that day on the dais made it clear that this (pulling money back from charitable entities and 501 (c) 3 organizations) would only happen as a last ditch effort, if a worst-case scenario came to be.  Alternate funding, or other grant funding, would be sought for these groups in the event an appeal by the Sheriff is upheld by the Governor's administration commission--that was my sense of the conversation that day.  We truly do not want to pull money back from any of these groups.

Be that as it may, we had to let the outside agencies know what was happening, and therefore an email like the one above was sent out to the appropriate contacts at each of the agencies that received the funding from the BCC.  The total amount of the funding for outside, charitable entities and 501(c)3 organizations was just a bit over $1.6 Million.

What Do You Do When You Are Trapped Under Ice?

Imagine being trapped under ice?  No, I'm not talking about the Punk-Rock band or the Metallica song--but actually being personally trapped under the ice in a flowing river?  First thing you would have to be is smart or you would be dead.

You would have to be focused on getting downriver to where you could see an opening.  If you could hold your breath long enough to get there, you could come up for air, pull yourself out of the river, and potentially survive.

But what if you were indecisive, upset about being trapped under ice and wanting to swim backwards, against the current, to get out where you fell in?  Would that be smart?  I don't think so.  Once you are trapped under ice, you would have to think quickly and act quickly to make the smartest possible decisions or death would be inevitable.  There would be no time for idle thoughts, abulia, or inaction, such as stopping your swim to contemplate how you found yourself trapped under ice...

"They told me the ice was thick enough to hold my weight--how could they do that?"

"I should not have fallen through the ice, I do not accept that I did, I refuse to accept this situation"

"I'm going to get that person who told me the ice was thick enough!"

etc. etc.

Here is the thing:  In this scenario, you are where you are, and the only thing you can do is make it to the next opening down river.  You can't go back in time and make the situation not occur.  You are not Stephen Hawking, you do not own a time-machine, you are not Superman (who could fly around the

Going to Jail

Friday Evening I toured Escambia County's Jail with staff

Friday evening I went to Jail.  Others in our community at 5:30PM on a Friday were going to happy hour, heading home to the family for dinner, a movie, or a date with their significant other--and I went to jail.

I went to the jail to tour it with staff that included Tamrya Jarvis, Director of Corrections, Selena Barnes, Jail Commander, Bill Cross, Court Liaison,  and several other staff members.  I appreciated the staff's willingness to take me on a tour of that facility and to highlight some of the issues of overcrowding that the jail faces.

Several of the pods had cells with three inmates, when the cells are designed to accomodate two inmates.  In these cells, the third inmate sleeps on a mattress on the floor.  Many of the inmates were in rooms without bars on bunk-bed style racks.  In one such room, the staff asked before we proceeded in  "Do you want to go in here, the inmates are out and about?"  I initially hesitated, because the shirt I was wearing is embroidered with "Jeff Bergosh, District 1"--and I wondered to myself how many of the inmates in the jail may have been put there by my brother, Judge Gary Bergosh?   Would this be trouble, would they mistake me for him or recognize my name?  "Several of the Judges have toured the facility--Judge Bergosh has taken the tour" said Karin, a counselor on staff