Funny that he has never done one since you would have thought Barnes actually created the standards from his comments during his interview for this job. Check out his answer regarding Yellow Book audits when then Commissioner Brian Blair asks him about it:
>>BRIAN BLAIR: ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE YELLOW BOOK
STANDARDS?
>> YES, SIR.
WORKING FOR GAO, THEY ARE THE PROMULGATOR OF THE YELLOW
BOOK, AND THEY PREACH THAT TO US LEFT, RIGHT, AND CENTER.
EVERY AUDIT THAT WE DID WAS IN ACCORDANCE, OF COURSE, WITH
THAT YELLOW BOOK.
NOT ONLY AM I FAMILIAR WITH IT, BUT I HELPED DEVELOP SOME
OF IT BACK WHEN I WAS WORKING FOR THEM.
Yet he hasn't done one since he started three years ago? Uh-huh. That coupled with his recent poor peer review which revealed that his work does not meet standards leaves anything he presents to Commissioners (good or bad) wide open for criticism. They shouldn't tolerate sub par work from him or any of them for that matter. Nobody is perfect but this backstabbing marathon from the county's top employees is getting expensive and ridiculous.
Here is what I observed from the cheap seats Wednesday afternoon: (the results totally screwed up my brackets by the way)
1. None of the records that were seized from Commissioner Ferlita's office from the FDLE had to do with the first FDLE investigation. Sounds like they were all about Barnes and some of them were not emails but transcripts which anybody can download. All that media hype over this and nothing. Way to go Columbo. Recall his attempt to find this out is what started this whole disaster.
2. The County Attorney's office did appear to refute many of Barnes' claims against her. While their logging efforts regarding public records request were sloppy at best, they are seemingly within the rules. I read the rules Barnes (the IPA) provided in his report that started this whole mess and honestly I don't think he has Lee (unless she pulled inappropriate emails) and she is denying this. There is no denying the bad blood though. Remember when Lee called Barnes a liar in this article regarding his claim that she threatened to get him fired? Well, it did seem like she went out of her way to hand over a stack of research to Commissioner Ferlita (a Barnes critic) which certainly appears to be within her scope but it also suggests that Lee doesn't appear to be above the fray. Commissioner Higginbotham whined that Lee gave special treatment to Ferlita regarding that research and used that as a reason to make his motion to put Lee on paid leave (he excluded Bean who actually admitted wrongdoing). This brought on calls of racism evidently even from Commissioner White according to this article (I couldn't hear that from the cheap seats) but Higginbotham made sure to put on record race had nothing to do with it. Seemed to me like he just got his feelings hurt.
3. Bean had already admitted to obtaining emails that could have been about the investigation. Now we know the who in all of this regarding Bean. She got them from the IT guy in a CD. Smoking gun and a confession! Hello, anybody? Only Commissioner Sharpe came in. Mind you that same IT guy, Roger Dean, told Commissioners that he would not give Lee's office the info they requested because he was told not to release info by FDLE investigators. So why would he think it was ok to give it to Bean? Nobody asked him that and everybody but Commissioner Sharpe turned a blind eye to Bean's admission. Commissioner Higginbotham started out telling the IT guy that he wasn't under oath and didn't have to tell the truth. WTF? And why would Lee's office pull emails that they were denied only three hours before? Was this the smoking gun on Lee? It looked like it ......for a few minutes anyway. Remember back in January Barnes claimed that a security breach had occurred back in November but that same IT guy, Roger Dean, downplays it in this article. I wonder if that is when the CD for Bean was made? Hmmmm. I think Mr. Dean has a lot more splainin to do especially since he admitted making the CD for Bean and also stated that the system had not been hacked when asked during Wednesday's meeting. Was he covering up in that article?
4. Speaking of the truth, did Lee threaten to get Barnes fired? When a Commissioner asked Bean if she had heard this during a meeting the trio of backbiters had, Bean said she didn't exactly remember the words but she remembered being stunned at the tone in which Lee addressed Barnes. Meow..........cat fight! Bean -2, Lee - 0. The look Bean's reply got from Lee would have made a freight train take a dirt road. Did I mention our own George Niemann was innocently sitting in the front row munching on popcorn like he was at the movies throughout the discussion?
5. Why did the County Attorney's office ask the IT guy for emails see #3 (when they have the authority to pull them on their own?) According to them it was to make sure a request from FDLE had been filled. Columbo or Mr. Magoo? Time and maybe the FDLE will tell. Lee's office was also under fire on Wednesday for some emails which they pulled looking for FDLE for an anonymous request (uh-oh) that one sounded bad but then they revealed that it was done before the actual investigation was initiated which means the emails would not be off limits. Anyone can request public records even anonymously Lee-1, Barnes-0 (and Lee's office is charged with filling those requests) so it is not looking good for Columbo at this point.
6. Commissioner White seemed to do a total flip flop and support Lee to the delight of the large crowd. Did he see the holes in Barnes' report or did he see potential supporters in the audience? He also worried about the high cost of the outside attorney they just had to hire ($310 per hour). Most of the audience cracked up. Recall White is costing taxpayers close to $500,000 for his sexual harassment suit. (That would be enough to fire Bean and Barnes without cause at this point).
7. Sharpe made the motion to fire Bean and Lee and it died for lack of a second. What does that mean? It means that all of that leadership talk in Chairman's Hagan's letter from last week asking for the resignation of these three employees or he would move to fire them were just empty promises. Not only did he NOT make the motion he didn't even have the spine to second Sharpe's motion so there could be a vote. As one commenter, 'Dixie', put it under one of my recent posts," Hagan shot a blank." 'tinyalice' commented that Hagan's performance was an "ineffective bravado" with a "flaccid finish." Ouch.........but well said.
8. Pat Bean had her own attorney present at this meeting. Renee Lee had her own attorney present at this meeting. The Commissioners interviewed and hired another attorney to counsel them on this matter at this meeting. Somebody should have billed this meeting as economic development for lawyers!
Overall Bean appeared untouchable as Commissioners barely questioned her. Only Sharpe called for her head. I sat next to Marcella O'Steen for this event and she opined that maybe Bean had pictures of some of them naked with an alligator. It did seem to make sense considering nobody was addressing Bean's breach of trust. The majority of the discussion was regarding County Attorney Renee Lee. Newsflash: Lee and Barnes have had a rocky relationship from the start according to the articles I found. Both appear to have it in for one another so how about having the Clerks office do an objective report on the County Attorney's office to see if everything is being done above board? By the time the FDLE is done they could all be retired (haven't they been investigating raisegate since October? Just a thought and no charge for that suggestion.
What about that embattled County Auditor Jim Barnes? Commissioners didn't really even discuss him. I walked away wondering if this IPA ,who clearly seems to have an agenda, and whose work does not meet standards just brought the county to its knees with claims (at least some of which) could be refuted. He got Bean because she confessed but Lee? It doesn't look like it so far. Barnes - 1, BOCC-0.
In the end, all three employees survived to stab each other in the back another day. Commissioners seem hung up on whether or not there was any criminal activity. Don't all three of these employees serve at the pleasure of the board? Does someone really need to be a criminal to be fired? Commissioners should ask themselves if they ever see this getting any better and is it affecting their ability to perform their duties as leaders? As the meeting wore on and it became clear that nothing was going to be resolved, I was only surprised that nobody suggested forming a freakin blue ribbon committee or task force to give them direction on how they should proceed. As Ernest Hooper points out, it does help make the case for County Mayor. Commissioners should grab the reins on this fiasco before it gets any worse.
This discussion is to continue at Tuesday's meeting. I am not sure I can stomach watching much more of it. Oh but there is more. After this post was finished I read this article that the IPA now needs another attorney for his office since using Lee's office would be a conflict of interest. Ya think? How many services do you think the BOCC will have to cut this year in the budget in order to pay for these three? Backstabbers - 3, Taxpayers - 0.
In better news, no wetlands rules were destroyed last week, no sexual harassment scandals popped up, and the Moral Courage award is still Hughes-free. Great job Commissioners!
Photo credit: adKinn @Flickr.com
