Grand Jury Report on Walton Planning Department

[Misty]

John G

Given what was presented to the Grand Jury, I think its a cheap shot to call them a farce/joke. I think they did an admirable job given the cards they were dealt. Did it go far enough? No! But the fact they actually found "something" is a start in the right direction.

 

[Misty]

I had no idea who the employee was that they were talking about. But I now have a pretty good idea who it is based on the list of qualifications in this post. If I am right, this person worked for me at the Sheriff's Office and was one of the best employees we had. She worked hard, kept quiet and was highly qualified. She left the SO to work in Rep. Drake's office. She returned to the county when Rep. Drake did not run for re-election in 2012. I cannot believe anyone could have a problem with hiring someone with her education, qualifications and reputation for quality work.

Danny, I have no idea who the employee is nor am I saying he/she isn't imminently qualified for a position in the County or that his/her work ethic is less then admirable but it does beg some questions.

1.) Who is the Supervisor and what is their connection to Cecilia Jones? If the "supervisor" is Catalano that would be a whole new bucket of worms.

2.) If Catalano IS NOT the "supervisor" but was working in an identical position, making less money and then testified before the Grand Jury, you now have 2 new buckets of worms, as he was hired in much the same way...thanks to Cecilia Jones.

 

[Danny Glidewell]

Thank you for your personal information Danny, I was betting that somebody in this small county would know the deal on the employee in the grand jury report. Surprised it's you and you post under your own name. So in your opinion if meadows did give a letter of recommendation to the hiring "supervisor" to influence, it would have been warranted given the employee's background and expierence?

I post under my own name because I want to. I spent 26 years as a county employee worrying that anything I did might offend the wrong person and get me fired but I survived and do not have to live like that anymore. None of my children or in-laws work for the county and most of my friends are retired also so I don't have to worry about them either. As to your question, if the employee is who I think it is I would have written them a positive recommendation myself had I been asked and would do so today. The person in question was very hard working and ethical to a fault. Qualified, ethical people who will work for what line employees are paid in this county are hard to come by. I cannot speak to what Commissioner Meadows did or should have done, only what I would do regarding the same person.
I will say the same thing about Commissioner Meadows that I said about Commissioner Commander. A have not always agreed with her but, both as a citizen and as an employee, I always found that she would listen and do what she thought was right for the citizens of Walton County. And she always told you the straight of things whether you liked it or not.

 

[Misty]

So in your opinion if meadows did give a letter of recommendation to the hiring "supervisor" to influence, it would have been warranted given the employee's background and expierence?

I think the actual issue was that the "Supervisor" had little or no input in regard to the hire.

 

[Misty]

Save the Date!!

Tuesday, October 13th at the South Walton Annex Boardroom the County will take up the issue of the Grand Jury report.

 

[John G]

Couple of things after some thought...

Misty, you are correct. I should not be attacking the Jurors. They only acted on what they were presented. That seems to be the big issue, WHAT THEY WERE PRESENTED...

Sounds like they were presented with a conspiracy theory about Com. Meadows using influence to get someone allegedly unqualified, hired.

While, back in the world of reality, the employee is very qualified and people have spoken very highly of the employee. Did the Jurors get to see the employees personnel file and discuss it? Probably not, which again I say Shame On You State Attorney!!! You are a good user of slight of hand to distract from the real issue - Who Benefited from The Missing Money???

They were also most likely not presented with anything relating to Jason Catalano and his extreme Lack Of Experience, yet he was hired and quickly promoted within. He was paid a higher rate of pay as well. I guess its OK to favor him.

Seeing that Catalano was C. Jones' assistant, it would make sense that C. Jones' can use influence and no one else can...She can do no wrong. Its also very helpful that her hubby Jerry is pals with Bill Eddins.

I am glad to see that some people are picking up on the B.S. this whole thing was.

Hopefully someone can and will hold Adkinson, Eddins and Jones accountable for what appears to be some very serious issues that smack of criminality, favoritism, ethical issues and lies.

 

[Misty]

John G

When your best friend is the State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit (which by the way Patriot Games, encompasses Santa Rosa County where the Jones/Camacho lawsuit was transferred to when every Judge in this county recused themselves) you can make a lot of things disappear.

I'm not saying its right, but it is what it is.

 

[Misty]

Does anyone know whether or not there are currently signs to the park Cecilia Jones almost killed herself taking credit for on North Eden Drive off Chat Holley Rd? The one that is about 200 ft from her front door in District 5 on a dead end street?

How cozy is that? Must be nice to have the taxpayers build you a personal playground, 200 ft from your front door.

Sorta reminds me of when Gordon Porter was a sitting Commissioner and had a private road paved that led to a building he owned now called the Panhandle Opry.

 

[Misty]

This is one convoluted mess.

This "investigation" started back in June 2015 when un-named "county residents" lined up to urge County leaders to have the State's Auditor General investigate the failure of County planners to collect the 600,000 dollars. It seems a mysterious packet of information was sent to the State Attorney's office which included an email that detailed the 600,000 collection error.

Melissa Ward "allegedly" sent out the email in May of 2008 to Pat Blackshear in which she confessed to leaving out some zeros that left a property with an assessed value of $12,285,000 with the bill for a property assessed at $12,285 and accepted responsibility for the error.

Pat Blackshear sent an email to Mark Davis (County Attorney) in June 2015 denying that she had ever seen the memo from Melissa Ward and said "someone or several" are lying and claimed the memo "looked fixed".

Enter Suzanne Harris and Bob Hudson who lined up to urge county Commissioners to find out if this was an isolated incident or if other local developers benefited from other planning oversights and in fact there were 2.

The missing money was never being looked at as a criminal act according to Eddins.

Cindy Meadows actually led the charge to get the Auditor General involved (which obviously backfired on her) but other Commissioners declined. Imfeld said said he’s notified the county’s auditing firm, Carr, Riggs and Ingram, of the Ward error yet the firm has never identified any issue with cash flow or how things were done. (That's a problem.)

Harris and Hudson believe the County has stonewalled their efforts to get information.

Oh what tangled webs are weaved...

 

[Misty]

I don't have an issue with Hudson's involvement because I do truly believe he is coming at this from a taxpayers perspective and wants to know (as do the rest of us) why there are so many problems in this county and how taxpayer funds are being spent, misappropriated (or not) and how to improve county government.

I am however beginning to question Ms. Harris' involvement because I just can't figure out which side of the fence she is on. Some time ago she filed an ethics complaint on Larry Jones which was dismissed, that Brannon and Clay Adkinson asked her to file yet, she claims she despises both of them. Most recently she has said she would run for Imfeld's Commission seat and complained bitterly about Brannon "paying Nelson" to dig up information on how many times she has appeared before the County Commission. Harris was worried about being kicked off the Planning Commission and would go door to door telling people why Brannon wanted her removed.

I have a headache.