Final Legal Analysis Listed Potential Selover Award Damages at More Than $800K

The County saved potentially $600K or more (according to attorneys working the case on behalf of the County's insurance carrier) due to our settlement with wronged first responder Matt Selover.  PNJ did not report that; instead, their article on the front page of this morning's paper essentially blames everything about this case on Jeff Bergosh......

Unlike the dishonest, feckless partisan fake news PNJ, their writer Jim Little and their rancid trash heap article in print on the front page of today's paper---I will link the documentation I have that illustrates the totality of the problems with the County's defense of the Paramedic Matt Selover's Lawsuit the county settled for just under $200K last month.

Fake news PNJ cherry pick a 35 page document from January of this year to find a couple of paragraphs they believe to be unflattering to yours truly, and they make a story of that only and exclusively.  

And, they conveniently do not link their source docuement--a 35 page memo from the Lydecker-Diaz law firm delineating all the multiple problems with the defense and urging a settlement in the case to reduce financial exposure to their real client---not the BCC---the insurance company that ultimately paid the settlement.

PNJ didn't show the document, but I did.  

And PNJ's subsequent post on their facebook page was panned by readers unanimously and universally---including by Matt Selover himself, you know, the first responder at the center of the matter.  He went in and made some very apropos comments correcting the PNJ's flawed narrative on their own facebook page.

But setting that wreckage aside--there was a follow-on memo from the same firm sent over to the BCC's deputy county attorney Charlie Peppler in early May---and that memo apparently didn't get leaked to the PNJ as the previous one did.  I wonder why?  (I know why, and so will those who read it!)

Actually--none of the board members knew about it so far as I can tell--which is problematic as we should have been given it ahead of our last shade meeting in early June.  It might have influenced decisionmaking.  But it was withheld from the board, we did what we did, and it is all over now.

But that memo, linked here, did describe our potential liablility as potentially exceeding $800K--and again urged a settlement for a myriad of good reasons---the same ones and more from their first memo---yet none of these valid reasons made it into the fake news PNJ article.  Nope.  Just "Jeff Bergosh's fault"  (I wonder why?).  No, I don't wonder why, I know why. PNJ are biased, weak, lazy, owned by the powerful, and fake to their rotten core.  That's why.

From the memo the PNJ didn't show you:

"individuals at the County thought restricting his [Selover's] privileges may be discipline and trigger due process. This prompted John Dosh (Dosh), former Interim Public Safety Director, and Matthew Coughlin, former Interim County Administrator) to seek a legal opinion regarding Dr. Edler’s authority to demote Selover. As such, Deputy County Attorney Charles Peppler, drafted same and concluded that Dr. Edler lacked the authority to demote Selover.  Critically, this is a weakness in our case as our defense is that the actions taken by the County do not amount to a disciplinary action." 

"Should a jury find that the County is liable, but believe Plaintiff’s expert’s economic loss findings, we estimate Plaintiff’s recoverable damages in a range between $788,162.00-$820,162, not taking into account attorney fees."  

"Overall, we have concerns regarding the atmosphere at the County at the time of Selover’s complaint, the turnover occurring with the administration and having things fall through the cracks, the differences in opinions evidenced in emails, and the County failing to follow their harassment policy.  For example, the County failed to follow their harassment policy timeline, but did not let Selover appeal again despite the County taking six months to issue their opinion on Selover’s complaint. Moreover, at the time Selover’s privileges were restricted, there was a disagreement over whether restricting Plaintiff’s clinical privileges or any paramedic’s clinical privileges was considered “discipline” thereby triggering due process. We have two county attorney’s opinions stating that it was discipline."

 "Critically, she [former HR Director Jana Still] testified that after rendering the final opinion, Selover asked to appeal, but since the complaint was a harassment complaint, and subject to the unlawful harassment policy only, it only provided for 5 days to appeal—which Selover and Dr. Edler had at the

PNJ Shenanigans with the Truth Paint me in a False Light Deliberately

PNJ is always engaging in their machinations against those with whom they disagree, or with whom they dislike.  Or with whom their advertisers and patrons dislike.

As they have done in the past to me, they are once again painting me in a false light with actual malice.

How so?

After a recent meeting, there was hearsay that the PNJ ran with intimating some commissioners had said things that were offensive about our clerk of the court Pam Childers.  It was not true, and I categorically denied it at the time.  It blew over when the clerk herself brushed it aside and deflected when asked who said what and who heard what.  It was over.

But in their rush to publish that salacious, inaccurate article built on hearsay--they (PNJ) put my picture on the caption in the headline online---even though I was not one of the commissioners even accused of saying anything in the first place.  When called about the accusations---I was the only commissioner who even took the time to take the PNJ's call and give an on the record comment.

And then they did this to me.....  See screenshots of my conversation with Lisa Nellesen Savage below.

She tried to explain and to fix the issue--but this is at least the second time they've done this to me.

Coincidence?  

I don't think so, I don't believe in them.  Not with the PNJ.

Thoughts on the Primary Part I: "Tool-Boy" Marlette and PNJ have NO Say, and NO Sway :)

Andy Marlette and the PNJ, although they tried, exerted ZERO influence in this year's elections--mine in particular......NADA, Zilch...Hopefully this holds true in November as well.....

In the waning days of my recent successful primary election campaign, I must admit I was somewhat astonished that the PNJ in general, and their cartoonist Andy Marlette specifically, had not attempted to interfere more openly in my election.  There's a history between me and the PNJ---and after they pulled this disgusting, unprofessional stunt on me earlier this year--I expected more attacks.  

Then came Friday, August 7th and an out of the blue,  non-contextualized attack cartoon by Marlette against me. (below-photograph taken 8-29-20 from PNJ online site of PNJ cartoon published Friday 8-7-20).  

Just out of the clear blue sky this cartoon arrived.  The day they published it was the day before the start of 8 days of early voting for my election.  Now, I chuckled to myself when I saw this garbage cartoon  pop on the Friday before early voting--thinking Andy had probably toured my district and seen one or more of my 19 billboards deployed in D1.  Given PNJ's proclivity for attacking me-- I naturally assumed there would be an attack editorial in the subsequent Sunday paper.  But there wasn't.   Instead--they attacked two different Republican candidates (actually three different Republicans).  Anyhow--I did another Marlette Manipulation (above) and actually succeeded in properly contextualizing the dishonesty and duplicity of this publication and their cartoonist in particular--along with what is really true about them that should be plastered on billboards around this town.

And now that I have decompressed from the primary and I begin serving (if the Good Lord wills it and I do not die) what will be at a minimum the next 51 months as Escambia County's District 1 Commissioner (that's a LONG time PNJ)---I see in today's paper a "letter to the editor" is published "praising" this cartoon from 8-7-20 bashing me from before the primary.

So now is the time to challenge this misplaced "praise."  And to call out PNJ for what they are....

First off---The PNJ and their editorial board are dishonest, fake news.  

Everyone know this. They publish extreme viewpoints that alienate the majority of their ever-dwindling subscriber base--bashing Jesus Christ and Christianity, bashing public officials (exclusively conservative ones) and they promulgate viewpoints that, at least  to my district according to MANY I speak with, come off as extremely left-leaning, liberal, and out of step.  I guess PNJ doesn't understand this, but my goodness--with print-media revenues declining you would think they would at least be a little more covert with their outright contempt for the center-right majority in Escambia County.  

But no.

More troubling, though, are the personal attacks that are unfair and untrue.  For example and #1.) --the cartoon they published on 8-7-20 deceptively misleads the reader to think that I am a pawn of the folks in the community that write campaign checks--the so-called "downtown crowd." I'm not and they know it. I have routinely voted against contributors' wishes and for what was best for the people I represent--and I will continue to do so when appropriate. Meanwhile, though, every other incumbent commissioner--and several challengers in multiple other races--also got contributions from these same folks.  So why attack me exclusively?  More importantly---the only incumbent Democrat commissioner in the race got contributions from the SAME folks who wrote me checks (and he got a LOT more money from them).  The very same donors Andy apparently hates donate to us all.  But the Democrat is not scrutinized and bashed (and he should NOT BE) for taking the same money ----but I am?  That is dishonesty in media.  Dishonesty and duplicity.  (Here's a newsflash for the PNJ....there is a small, small pool of check writers locally that pay attention to politics and actually fund candidates they believe are good public servants--because they have interests affected by our decision making.  Most citizens that could afford to participate and contribute simply do not do so..... PNJ fake-news, failed logic alert:  "If these folks give to Jeff Bergosh--it is BAD!  But when the same donors give money to candidates we favor, this is FINE and we will not cover it."

#2.)  The implication that I am somehow "anti-environmental" is a lie.  PNJ knows this. I grew up fishing on the west side of Pensacola, I was a Boy Scout, and I am an environmentalist at heart!  They attempt to tie me into the issues of International Paper and their FDEP discharge permit---knowing full-well the county has NO play in that permit process--that is a Federal and State-Level Issue.  PNJ also never reported that I independently toured IP's facilities in both Cantonment and Beulah on multiple occasions and wrote extensively about these visits and what I learned.  They also never report the FACT that Perdido Bay's Health is BETTER now than it has been in the last 20 years.  No mention of this from PNJ....nope.  Goes against their narrative.  (Incidentally--when I toured IP's facilities last year, I asked and was told that neither Andy Marlette nor anyone from the PNJ had requested and taken a tour of their facilities and polishing wetlands like I did...)  Not a surprise to me--they have their minds made up already:  IP= Evil Capitalists!

#3.)  PNJ shadow banned me from writing viewpoints.  I've written dozens of these over the last 14 years and they hate it.  They just do not like it, so they simply started saying NO---- citing a policy that  ".....they do not publish the op-eds of candidates with primary or general election opposition..." [paraphrased].  But wait a second--- they did just that on multiple occasions---allowing viewpoints from at least two (2) other incumbent officeholders during this election cycle to be published in the PNJ--- even though these same officeholders had primary and general election opponents!

There is much more I could say about all of this, and there will be plenty of time for this now that the election is over.

So no, I'm not a fan of PNJ.  But they are here and so am I, so we will simply co-exist.  I'll have to deal with them, and they'll just have to deal with me.

But I will continue to call out their ridiculous partisanship, dishonesty, and duplicity for at least the next 51 months because this is America and I have the right of free speech just like they do.  And I have a platform to do it!

PNJ Won't Even Acknowledge My Email--Meaning They Won't Print this Rebuttal

I sent this email to the PNJ editorial team Monday Evening in response to their Sunday editorial that was a complete hatchet piece on three of the commissioners--as of today no response at all, no acknowledgment that I even sent it.  It doesn't surprise me, I did not think they would print it......

Attached to this email I sent them, above, was this 600 page rebuttal, below, to Sunday's Editorial.

EDATES--Good for our Economy, Part II

EDATES allow the county to give valuable incentives to targeted industries in exchange for job-creation and footprint expansion.  This is not a bad thing, this is a GOOD THING!

In part one of this series I talked about the recent baseless and ignorant attacks on EDATES from the local media.

In this post, I want to talk specifics about EDATES....who gets them locally, what it costs the taxpayers in unrealized ad valorem revenue, and the value created by the BCC approving these agreements.

The complete list of all recipients of EDATES locally are contained on the spreadsheets here, here, here, and here.  The spreadsheets, provided to me by the county's budget and finance department, highlight the areas where we exempt taxes;  County, Library MSBU, and the Sheriff's MSTU.  In the header of the vertical columns, you will see the value of the  subject property to be exempted, expressed in three ways:

1.   Market Value of the Property
2.   Assessed Value of the Property
3.  The Amount of the total Assessed Value that will be Exempted via the EDATE

At the far right, the value of the exemption received is listed, and at the bottom of the sheet the grand total of all exemptions is listed.  For the four years I have included, the average yearly total of these exemptions given (which equates to the unrealized tax revenue)-is roughly $1.7 Million Annually.

Some things to consider when looking at EDATES as an economic development tool:

1.  The period of the incentive is capped at 10 years, after which time full tax is paid on full taxable value of real property.
2.  There is a ying and a yang to these agreements; something is given by the county, and for that something is given by the entity receiving the EDATE (additional jobs commitments usually)
3.  The local School Board receives full tax revenue on the full taxable value of properties that the County provides EDATES to, from day one of the agreement (school taxes cannot be diminished via EDATES under statute, and neither can the Fire MSBU)
4.  The county does not have to give EDATE exemptions on the full amount of the taxable value of a property; the BCC can give an exemption on a portion of the value and collect taxes on the rest--and this happens frequently.

Look over the list of recipients on the spreadsheets I have linked.  These are good companies, that pay good wages and support thousands of jobs locally!

When IP received their EDATE in May of 2008 (before any current member of the BCC was on the board)--it was given in exchange for a massive expansion of their production and an investment of over $200 Million dollars to their plant.  It was supported unanimously at the time, and signed by my predecessor's predecessor, Mike Whitehead, then chairman of the board and D1 Commissioner.  It did give IP an exemption of roughly $1.6 Million yearly for 10 years.  And this exemption has expired as of 1/1/2018.  With IP supporting 500 personnel and 100 contractor personnel and having an economic impact in our area that is calculated to be $250 Million annually over the last ten years--I believe what the BCC did in 2008 was a good move----especially given the dire circumstances nationally that were occurring at that time....Someone should wake up and remind the local media personalities about the great recession of 2008 that served as a backdrop to this BCC decision of 2008, and tell them it's easy to play Monday morning quarterback but not easy to make tough decisions in real time--and this is what distinguishes the "doers"  (us) from the "pundits" and "gadflys" and "critics" (them).

EDATEs--Good for our Economy, Part I

Fake News Media locally is now attacking EDATES.  They are so ravenous in their new attack they have overlooked the fact that several of us on the dias didn't even vote for these--we inherited them.  Fake News.

Reading some of the garbage in the news lately can bring on a migraine style Excedrin Headache fast.  I mean really fast.

Because a lot of it is garbage, pure rubbish. 

Much of it is opinion blended with half truth, spiced with innuendo, and topped off with ad hominem attacks.  Pertinent facts are left out, lies are inserted, other issues are hyper-exaggerated, and the overall goal becomes to enrage the reader--not inform the reader.

At it's core, it is nothing more than opinions paraded as news designed to stir up animosity toward "some" elected officials. 

Local print media has changed and evolved, and it is now all about "hits" and "clicks" and "shares" and other statistics that lead and compel writers to stir division, stoke anger, push boundaries and run up the click counts--hoping for the next big "viral" story.  This is also how the writers are compensated in many instances--it becomes a glorified "popularity contest."

Good news stories by and large do not stir big numbers, and this leaves attack pieces and contrived controversies to carry the slack.

A recently departed PNJ reporter, who actually wrote really well and put out good stories, is no longer there because the pieces written by this individual, according to someone with whom I spoke who is very familiar, just did not stir up enough clicks. 

So now the focus is not on who, what, when, and where--it is  "Let's Get Salacious and Controversial!!!---Let's Get CLICKS!!" 

Take for instance this tripe about EDATES for area employers.  Somehow, this is now twisted into some kind of a bad thing for our area and economy.  This is an opinion piece, but it infuses some information purported to be factual, and devolves into one messy, sloppy attack piece. 

The target?  County Commissioners like me who support economic development and EDATES.

(EDATE stands for  economic development ad valorem tax exemption.  You can read all about them here.  What they are, how they came to be, what they are for, and how they are approved.) 

We have a number of companies that currently receive these incentives, and over the past four years we have exempted an average of $1.6 Million annually from these employers.

And for this, we generate jobs in manufacturing, we incentivize expansion of existing footprints, we get agreements for new equipment to be purchased and put on line locally, and we diversify our jobs base.  These are good, tangible results for the revenue we forego.

In one instance and for one company--we have exempted millions of dollars with EDATES.  We have also paid incentives from a different pot for additional jobs to be added.  With this one company--that total may well approach $50 Million Dollars in incentives.  And for that, we have a company that has invested $1.2 Billion in facility construction locally and employs 8,000 Escambian's currently with an annual payroll of $400 Million Dollars!  So yes, this incentivization pays back for years and decades to come--it pays back in spades.  No mention of this in the Sunday attack piece, though.

International Paper is now targeted because they have received EDATES for equipment purchases.  I am told by a source very familiar that the large investment made by IP may have gone to a different location were it not for a generous EDATE provided by our county a number of years back (before I was elected to this board).  Had that investment gone elsewhere--there is no guarantee the new IP jobs (or the existing jobs) would have stayed in Pensacola.  So now we have IP with 500 employees, 100 Contractor Employees, and a $250 Million Dollar yearly economic impact in our area --and the cartoonist is mad about the less than a Million dollars yearly over the last 20 years that we have exempted for IP.  Do the math for yourself, do not simply buy what the cartoonist wants to feed you in his ill-conceived, slanted, half-truth hatchet pieces.  He is a biased partisan hack, nothing more.

The intelligent strategy, looking at what IP has invested and what they are working to accomplish here in Escambia County-- is to keep their jobs here and work with IP to help them come into compliance with the environmental regulations that are required.   It is simple, it is a no-brainer.  It's what we are doing and IP is following the process to do this and they are in compliance with the law.

More about our EDATES in part II....

Catfish!

Cartoonist Andy Marlette just loves to let me rent space in his head.  It is so funny.  Between his never ending barrage of attacks on Christianity, our President, the First Lady, our Congressman, our State Representatives, Well-established and well-respected local employers, and others that are conservative-he still manages to do cartoon after cartoon about me...One after another.  I'm almost like a "regular" in his rotation, LOL.

Apparently--he also likes to play Catfish as well, as evidenced by his more recent cartoon of me.

  Problem is, he is the one who has already been catfished by whomever his "Patron" Du Jour is.  Yes, yes, anyone who he is told to keep the gloves off with, he subserviently, obsequiously, and like a good boy does just that.  No cartoons.  He is very, very obedient.  Everyone else is a target.  Now, he likes to say about himself, in an awkward attempt to be self-deprecating "I'm just an idiot cartoonist."  And he is that, and so much more...  You see, he tries to write his opinion pieces as if they are fact-filled news pieces sprinkled with his "wit" and "humor" (which isn't even funny)

But someone like me that does not genuflect

Political Signs.....

Once again our local cartoonist is furious mad because of my very existence.  "How dare I challenge him and his editorials!" is the thought I'm sure is running through his head.

I answered his dishonest cartoon which was built on lies about the recent tragic death of a dog in 11-Mile Creek in District 1.  I caught him in the lie and posted the truth and apparently Andy didn't like that..... He also didn't like my assessment of his tripe cartoon on this radio interview I did. He definitely hated what I had to say about his cartoon at our meeting--and he certainly did not like this blog post that covered that incident that came out in Rick's Blog

"He can't handle the truth!!!", Col. Jessup would scream at Andy! (if Col. Jessup was a real person....)

So----- because I push back and tell the truth instead of genuflecting to the ignorant and dishonest cartoon published about a tragic incident in my district---I get another cartoon--LOL. 

Great to see I am once again renting space in Andy's tiny head.  Yes, yes, we know he is mr bigshot cartoonist...yes, yes we know.  I could care less.

And I can tell you from my meeting with he and his editor a few months back---he sure has a thin skin about his art being manipulated and turned back on him.  He cried like a little girl to his editor..

"He's taking my cartoons and changing the words around!!!!"  He squawked loudly......  He sounded like Ned Beatty's character in Deliverance, squealing like a Pig.  About a decade ago he did the same thing when he had Jeremy Knipper call me to say I couldn't manipulate his cartoons...because "Andy doesn't like it!"

Too bad.

So yes, for today, he took a day off from Bashing our President, Attacking our Congressman, Assaulting the reputations of  large local employers, denigrating conservative locally elected officials, and mocking Jesus and Christianity...he took a brief pause to do another cartoon of yours truly......Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha  Have a great weekend Andy!


 I'm really renting space in his head--and  dangit he doesn't like it!! 

The Problem With Fake News......

Fake News is destroying the old-guard, fourth estate Journalism Establishment in America including once-respected local news outlets--what a tragedy for a formerly lofty, esteemed, and respected profession....

Everybody hates fake news, and fake news is all around us.

This is why many Americans have tuned out (to a large degree, even if they occasionally watch for entertainment) of watching most big news outlets.

There is bias.

There is selective reporting (or non-reporting depending upon where the outlet "is" on certain social issues, etc.)

Then there is reporting that is sloppy, and most of the time the journalistic integrity necessary to correct bad reporting is absent.  Very few will step up and correct an error.  Why should they, right?  nobody holds them accountable.

Often times, these outlets will double-down on ridiculous stories.  Look at the crazy ridiculous obvious bias in the reporting about President Trump and Russian collusion.  It is a feeding frenzy and established media outlets continue to report on a "push to impeach" for infractions the President allegedly committed that occurred decades ago, before he was president, for which the Constitution does not allow impeachment.  They salivate over collusion, even though there has been not 1 shred of evidence presented that points to collusion between Russia and President Trump.

It is in large part because the media, by and large, hates this President.  They wanted the other candidate.

Locally, we have our own issues.  First, we have a couple of news monopolies.  For the most part the vast majority of Pensacola gets the local written news from the PNJ and the TV news from WEAR.

I have had a good rapport with WEAR--never have had an issue with them or their reporting.

PNJ cycles through reporters on a very frequent basis, and for the most part--I have enjoyed a good rapport with most of these reporters for the 12 years I have been in public office locally.

Now, I have had my ups and downs with the PNJ and some of their former staff.  I'm still here, and the ones that attacked are mostly all gone  now(all but the most talented guy, the cartoonist, and one of the west-side feature writers who I have never met....).  I have worked over the last 5 years or so to really develop a good working relationship with the PNJ.  When they call, I pick up.  I give quotes.  I offer story ideas. I submit editorials.   I am amiable.

But last month, they made an error in the way they portrayed an event.  I don't know why, but they characterized a news conference at a local business as a "campaign event" when it was not a campaign event.  This was sloppy and inaccurate.  There were 50 dignitaries, elected officials, workers, members of the media, and local elected officials at this outstanding event.

As chairman of the board I was invited and asked to speak, which I did.

This was not presented to me as a campaign event, and if it had been, I would not have attended because I serve on the canvassing board and this would not be allowed. I have remained neutral in this campaign despite what some have proclaimed.  I have not actively supported any candidate.

But that's all a moot point because this was not a campaign event.  Not everyone that posed for a group picture supports one of the local candidates for office that was among the attendees.  The Mayor was there in the photo-was he a part of the "campaign event?"  How about dignitaries from Gulf Power and Florida West--are they suddenly in the tank for one candidate because they came to this event like I did and posed for photos?  Of course not.

To draw that conclusion and then publish it--that is disappointing.

If a writer reports the sky is green and falling trees make no sound--does his written account a fact make?  Of course not.

But there are ramifications beyond sloppy journalism.

Now, a couple of citizens have read that sloppy piece of writing and one has filed a specious complaint--they are pointing to this article as "proof" that Jeff Bergosh attended a campaign event.

 This has necessitated that an alternate person sit on the canvassing board  --because I won't return to that post until this bogus complaint is resolved.

Even though I know I have complied with every facet of the law surrounding my participation on the canvassing board, I will not jeopardize the transparency and the perceived integrity of the election by participating until this unfounded complaint is run to ground as I believe it will be in short order.

No harm to me, but other people are now being inconvenienced because a bad story was not corrected.  A popular morning radio host that I spoke with also stated he did not think this event was a campaign event, he said that characterization was puzzling to him...

But now come the cartoons, all apparently because I had the audacious temerity to simply request that that inaccurate portrayal be corrected.

It's okay though, the cartoons don't bother me.  I'll manipulate them to actually make them even better and funnier!

Too bad a funny cartoon can't fix bad journalism....