What is the Status of the FBI's Investigation into Stolen County Files?

I was informed yesterday that the FBI Investigation into who stole county records is still open.........

"Where's the FBI on their investigation?"  

Curiously--this was a question that was asked of my by the State Attorney's Office  (SAO) two weeks ago when I spoke to them.  I was talking to the SAO about what I could/could not say with respect to the "No True Bill" that had been handed down by the Grand Jury earlier that week--- vindicating me of any wrongdoing surrounding stolen text messages from my phone.

At the time it seemed like a curious question for the State Attorney's office to ask of me---as the FBI investigation into who stole and unlawfully disseminated unredacted personal identification information from the county has been going on for just shy of one full year.  Actually, Tuesday the 11th will make one full year.

On the 11th if June last year--I met with the FBI and the County Administrator in my office where both Administrator Moreno and I signed blanket release forms allowing the search of all the county files the FBI had confiscated that day--"for evidence of any crime."  We both signed it on the spot. 

So why's the SAO asking me what the FBI is doing?  Surely that matter, the FBI's investigation into stolen county files, must have been concluded by now I thought?   

So I asked a question back of the SAO and did not really get a good answer.  "Has the investigation from the FBI not been given over to the State Attorney yet?"  I asked.   

I didn't get a good answer.

So I waited a couple of weeks.

Monday and Wednesday of this week I called my FBI POC, the investigator assigned to this.  I left a series of messages explaining to him that the county has a fairly significant hearing on Monday and "if

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.

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.

Escambia County's Mission is not a "Failure"

Watch the 30 second clip above to see my opinion on ANYONE that says our employees are a "failure" or that our mission is a "failure"

We had one heck of a Committee of the Whole on Thursday.  And we have been through a rough patch lately--I'll concede as much.

But there are also competing and diametrically opposed claims as it pertains to the EMS kerfuffle that is being sensationalized right now in the media-------and we can't talk about the other side of the coin legally.  This is incredibly frustrating but we are constrained from saying what we know so I won't say anything other than this:  Wait for all the facts to come out!!!

Yes, there were some issues, yes there are some issues----and these issues are being investigated and when the investigation is completed the BCC will take action and we will address the real problems that are confirmed.

Meanwhile--multiple issues are being dragged in, other issues are being conflated to include issues being investigated, and the most disappointing thing about all of this is the way it is being weaponized politically with leaks here and leaks there to keep the chaos and salaciousness factor high for the local press and TV station.

And to top it off we have folks in leadership saying the "mission is a failure" or "this is why we fail"

I'm done with folks kicking every rule-following, law-abiding employee of Escambia County in the  teeth with their inaccurate, in-artful, un-truthful characterization.

Here is the FACT:        The VAST majority of our employees are coming to work every day, doing their jobs professionally, and are innocent of any wrong-doing whatsoever.  Code enforcement, Solid waste, parks and rec, Animal Services, permitting, admin staff, etc. etc. and the list is long.

But now gasoline is being poured all over EVERY employee of the county by those who speak before

Newpoint HS Investigation Errupts

Investigations into allegations of misconduct regarding Newpoint HS in Pensacola are now, officially, being initiated by the State.

After I received explosive information about one of our charter schools at 7:45 in the evening on March 25^th, --I passed this information directly over to our attorney and the superintendent of schools.   Last week, I mentioned what I could in two entries into my blog because I was told by multiple insiders that “nothing was being done to address the significant allegations” at this school.

Now, multiple media outlets have picked up on the story I alluded to on my blog.

Like a snowball rolling down a hill, this story is growing--which appears to be exactly what the whistle blowers who initially contacted me wanted.

Rick’s Blog was first, PNJ was next, followed by WEAR channel three’s Ricki Vann.  Next was WCOA, then AM1620.  Early on, I’m told that Pensacola Today and NorthEscambia.com were informed of the allegations but chose not to follow the story.  PNJ was notified, apparently, months ago about some issues at Newpoint according to a source.  PNJ chose not to follow the story at that time.

Since this all went down last Wednesday--I’ve done three radio interviews and had conversations with media outlets from around the state; yesterday I even spoke to a reporter from as far away as Miami!

I keep telling everyone that calls me the same things:  I’m not the school board’s spokesman, I’m not the investigator, I’m just one member of a five member board of constitutional officers, I’m just a guy that received some explosive allegations and passed them along expeditiously to the appropriate authorities.  I continue to receive information from sources, and I continue to pass this information along to the school board’s attorney. 

What I’m also saying to the media is this:  Everyone and every entity that is facing these allegations is innocent until proven guilty, everyone will get due process, and the issue is now getting a thorough investigation.   I’m telling everyone to call the district, call the Board Chair, call the spokesman, call the attorney—yet these folks still call me!

I haven’t and I won’t divulge anything that would ever compromise any investigations; but I also won’t sit silently like a wax statue when nobody else from our district seems willing to even acknowledge the issue and make a statement to anyone in the media------ as my phone simultaneously rings off the hook!!

Keeping the public informed on basic facts can be accomplished (and should be), while at the same time not jeopardizing “active investigations.” That’s why organizations do press conferences.  Hello?  I’m not a private eye, an attorney, a PR spokesman, or a detective –but even I know this.

Sitting in a cone of silence regarding basic, publicly known facts that are useful to constituents when a situation like this erupts only makes the public more and more distrustful and suspicious of the district. 

Look at incidents recently in the Midwest that were handled initially via a “cone of silence”—those incidents were mishandled very badly and information that could have been passed to calm an angry, restless crowd was unnecessarily withheld, leading to significant problems as that whole incident devolved….Information helps in these instances.

NOW INVESTIGATIONS HAVE BEGUN

In Rick’s blog on April 1st, our Deputy Supt. of Schools is quoted stating the district’s investigation commenced two weeks ago.  In the April 3rd PNJ, however, the Superintendent of Schools, in an 

Resolutions For Board Consideration

I'm bringing three discussion items and three resolutions for the special School Board meeting to be held this Tuesday, 30 Sept. at 4:00 PM at the Hall Center.  The resolutions can be found here.

The Board has requested this meeting to address lingering concerns, in multiple areas, arising from this month's regular meeting-a meeting none of us will soon forget due to the way in which it devolved so spectacularly.

So at this Tuesday's meeting, which is unusual in some respects and unprecedented in others, we will be considering a vote on one resolution that "directs" our employee, the Board's General Counsel, to administer an investigation of numerous irregularities concerning athletic eligibility at several schools, allegations that have surfaced in the wake of the firing of Willie Spears.

Additionally, the board will be considering a vote on two resolutions that "request" the Superintendent, who is not our employee, he is elected, to bring recommended policy and/or procedure for enhancing physical security at future Board meetings and establishing a policy for a board vote that addresses the numerous athletic eligibility issues we are currently confronting and will be investigating.  Obviously, the intent is to address the issue now with good policy so as not to have these things continue.

While I characterize this meeting as unusual and I refer to some aspects of it as "unprecedented", and this may sound strange, I call this meeting this with good reason.  In past instances where the board and superintendent were at loggerheads over an issue, we have been congenial and tried to "work it out."  In one instance, the Board's audit committee and the Board requested one particular issue be