More stench from city government in DeFuniak Springs.
DeFuniak Springs Fires Another City Manager
Why am I NOT surprised this is here? Mostly because the folks leading this travesty NEED an AUDIENCE!!
I didn't put this here because this is a NoWal issue and SoWal doesn't give a tinkers damn about issues north of the bay. They have no dog in the fight and can not vote in City elections.
First...Florida is an "At Will" state which means employers can hire or fire at will. Mr. Lucas gave the City Council ample opportunities to fire him when he:
1.) Allowed a City employee to receive a gift (a case of crown royal) from an individual who had been granted a permit by vote of the City Council which, the Council promptly ordered returned to avoid the appearance of impropriety and because City employees KNOW they are not allowed to accept gifts!
2.) Mr. Lucas and Bob Campbell collaborated together to turn a residents
4 MONTH past due water ($3,775.00 bill) back on despite city ordinance/law which clearly states all payments must be received 10 days past the due date or arrangements have been made for payment or the water will be shut off and a reconnect fee applied. Billy Williams (the Triumph Liaison for Walton County was granted special privilege that is NOT extended to ANY other residents of DFS. Mr. Lucas admitted in a very public meeting that he knew it was a violation of city ordinance/law to order the water turned back on.
3.) Several weeks ago Mr. Lucas ordered sanitation workers to show up on a Saturday (they don't work Saturdays) to clear trash and debris for a fellow black constituent, from a
PRIVATELY OWNED LOT AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE which, is a violation of State Statue and Fl. Sunshine Law!!
4.) Mr. Lucas was unable or unwilling to perform simple tasks which Council asked him to perform.
5.) Mr. Lucas
LIED to Council Woman Janie Griffith about his credentials when she met with him to discuss it.
From the onset, it was made abundantly clear to Mr. Lucas that he worked at the will of Council (not the
Mayor or city employees) and he signed (as part of his application and employment agreement) a statement recognizing he was hired as an "at will" employee.
Regarding those interviewed for the newspaper article:
Diane Pickett for eons has been part and parcel of the problems DFS is experiencing, is not a resident of DFS (she is homesteaded in Miramar Beach) and can not legally vote in City elections. She claims she lives in Tallahassee albeit she does own property in DFS. Ms. Pickett seems to think she can control every aspect of City government and that Council was elected to do her bidding. I won't mention the money the City has lost because of her shenanigans either.
Mayor Bob Campbell
IS THE ENTIRE PROBLEM at City Hall and
IS responsible for the $221 thousand dollars in lost tax revenues because he failed
NINE (9) TIMES to turn over letters he received from State Auditors to the City Council. Mac Carpenter a former councilman (while not interviewed) also stated in a very public meeting that, "Those letters mean nothing, every City gets them". Mayor Bob Campbell seems to think the Council was elected to do his bidding and does not understand his own job description which includes...signing proclamations, kissing babies and shaking hands with dignitaries. He is the
"CHAIR" at council meetings (and doesn't conduct those meetings well at all) and has
NO VOTE in decisions made by Council. He along with Diane Pickett and the majority of those in attendance at Thursday night's meeting are under the misguided impression that he and his followers dictate how City Government is going to work and Council should only listen to them while ignoring the
FACT that there are
3136 (+ or - a few) registered voters in DFS that have been so disenfranchised by the "status quo" and "just the way things have always been" that have lost all hope of any real or significant change, so much so that they don't even turn out to vote in City elections. They
DO NOT REPRESENT the majority of DFS residents, they represent themselves and want elected officials to do only their bidding!!!
Shaney Betts...I met Shaney Betts (for the very first time) Monday night at the regularly scheduled meeting prior to Thursday's special meeting. Evidently Ms. Betts was very active back in the day (2012) in local politics and then suddenly disappeared from the political scene. Ms. Betts and J.B. Hillard created the Defuniak Springs Free Press in Jan. 2012 (an online blog that caught allot of attention) and it disappeared almost as suddenly as it appeared when she dropped out of politics and Hillard retired from politics. I digress...Ms. Betts approached me at the Council meeting and proceeded to drill me over whether or not I was the member of the public who had taken my concerns about Mr. Lucas' credentials to the City Atty. I categorically denied any involvement in it and to this day have only seen the certificate in question. Ms. Betts proceeded to tell me that my name was attached to their fiasco and that her group believed I was responsible even though Councilwoman Janie Griffith told her that she specifically asked the City Atty. if I was involved which, he also categorically denied
PUBLICLY! I had nothing what-so-ever to do with it. To make a long story short, Ms. Betts and I stood in the parking lot at City Hall for 3 hours talking politics and remarkably we
AGREE on many of the issues. Where we diverge is how to go about meaningful and significant change. Ms. Betts seems to think rallying a shitstorm of people (maybe 150 or so) with half truths, misinformation, innuendos and
SOME outright lies, calling for Council to resign or face recall elections based off them is the way to go.
I DO NOT AGREE!! Ms. Betts and I agree that this entire County needs open, honest government, operated in the Sunshine but again we diverge as to how to get there.
Clayton Adkinson...While not interviewed but pictured,
IS and
ALWAYS has been part of DFS governments problem. I have been one of his harshest critics and I agree his position should go out for competitive bid and he has held the City (in my opinion) hostage for far too long. His very close association with the real powers that be in Walton County (in my opinion) can only be viewed as corrupt and I do believe when information was taken to the State Attorney in regard to the Grand Jury findings that he was instrumental in downplaying the role of the Mayor Bob Campbell. While there was no criminal wrongdoing found it should be
NOTED that the Grand Jury was
NOT INSTRUCTED to look for criminal wrongdoing!! To quote one of our illustrious County Commissioners, Bill Chapman, "The grand Jury could indict a monkey, if they were instructed to do so"!
Other key players in that MOB (not interviewed) are: Melinda and Harley Henderson. Mr. Henderson is a former Mayor of Defuniak and had pretty uneventful tenures, mostly I guess because he rubber stamped whatever the real powers that be wanted and his wife (again my opinion) is just a meddling busy body who can no longer influence Council decisions. One of the outright lies being peddled by this group is that the City ignored the recommendations of a private consulting firm in regard to hiring a city manager. What they didn't tell was, that Melinda Henderson INVITED this private firm from SoWal to come and speak to the board at a very public meeting or that she had an agenda a mile wide and they had a candidate already chosen who they wanted Council to hire. The City did not hire this firm and were under no obligation to do anything they suggested and they didn't!! Ironically a local realtor who also spoke at that same meeting also had his own candidate picked out and presented that application to council. Can we say agendas, agendas, agendas? Ms. Henderson is so angry that that she can not impose her will on Council that she called a Council members employer insisting he or she be terminated because she just felt he/she was a bad bad person and not good for their position. I
ABSOLUTELY draw the line on retaliation, lies, innuendos and attempts to destroy the livelihoods and lives of elected officials who have jobs outside of government. Calling employers is a cowardly, dishonest, vile, evil thing to do. It's also very hypocritical to call yourself a Christian while your doing it Ms. Henderson!!!
I could also rally the troops and create a MOB that includes the NAACP and the black voters in DFS to show up to a few Council meetings based on half truths, lies and innuendos if I wanted to make this an issue about race but where I come from public records don't lie and the truth will always carry more weight than an angry MOB who really has no clue what they are even angry over. Most of those folks are simply being led blindly down a path they have never bothered to look into themselves and who are rarely if ever at actual Council meetings because its so much easier to be a follower than it is to be a leader. Still others are saying..."well my friends said".
This was not an issue with the color of Mr. Lucas's skin. It IS an issue of the color of his character!!