The Best Sheriff

Thanks for another excellent blog Mike!

While not debating the point that perhaps the County would be better served by that Office being brought under the Charter I do have a couple of questions.  First is, who are you going to get to do that, another petition drive?  Second, who does the hiring if that were to happen...BCC, County Mgr?

Was there not a similar situation resulting in the hiring of someone who was not qualified for the job because he had personal relationships with some of those who hired him? 

I don't feel like I can intelligently discuss the situation without at least knowing who does the hiring, hopefully I am not the only one who doesn't know the answer to this question.

Under our charter form of government the position would fall under the county manager's responsibility to hire based off qualification submitted by resume and employment application.

He would become a department head of public safety and his budget would have full oversight by the Commissioners, County Manager, and the County Auditor.

The new position would be accountable to the county manager, the county manager would be accountable to the Commissioners. The Commissioners are accountable to the voters.

This is another fine idea I could fully support and stand behind.

A citizens group could do petitions but I feel it would be best handled by the CRC who has more access to funding and an outside attorney.

Lots of questions, Marsh, and I don't have the answers, just some possible answers for you.

In 2009 the next version of the Charter Review Commission will meet.  Despite some people's perception, the CRC can tackle issues other than those designed to counteract specific cases of corruption or CTLAC's latest success.  That is the perfect place to discuss, and research, this particular issue.  It could then be placed on the 2010 ballot.

The method of hiring could be determined within the amendment, and my preference would be to have the open-to-the-public process similar to that used when hiring the county's manager, auditor and lawyer.  The final decision would rest with the County Commission.

Does that leave open the possibility that the BCC would hire some unqualified, incompetent Iveyesque candidate?  Well, yeah, I guess that could happen.  But the responsibility of citizenship doesn't begin and end on Election Day.  If we pay attention and participate during the interview process, the County Commissioners are less likely to hire their family members and friends.

Again, I think hiring the Sheriff instead of electing him or her would provide a larger, more qualified field of candidates, the best of whom could concentrate on performing the county's most important job without the burden of politics.

Michael S. Mann

michaelsmann@comcast.net

It seems to me that the last CRC  largely spent their time creating two positions on the BCC and an agenda for the next one.  If you have no people on the CRC who agree with this theory you will get no action on it, right? 

I think the next CRC needs to do something productive and specific about ethics as well, but again, I believe there is already an agenda set for the next CRC so we need to be watching that as well. 

The 2010 Charter Review Commission doesn't yet have an agenda, and won't until it begins to meet.  The previous CRC made some recommendations about specific issues it felt should be addressed by future CRCs, but those aren't binding in any way.

The next CRC can address any issue, broad or specific, it deems fit to address.  If no one on the CRC wants to discuss the abolition of the Constitutional Office of Sheriff, then of course there wouldn't be any amendment proposals on the issue resulting from the CRC.

But that is the most logical and simplest process to put the question before voters.  As such, it'd be the method I prefer.

The last CRC's attempt at ethics reformation fell short of what voters thought they were going to get.  When adopted to meet the mandated deadline, the new ethics ordinance was called a "work in progress."  Since then, though, there hasn't been any "progress" on the work.

Higher ethical standards can be adopted by ordinance.  It doesn't take a Charter Review Commission amendment proposal.  All it takes if a majority of the County Commission to give people their desired ethical standards.

Apparently, that's not a priority for the Commissioners who've been serving the past two years.  Maybe that'll change following this year's elections.

Michael S. Mann

michaelsmann@comcast.net

Here is the recommendation of the past CRC for the next CRC.

One of the issues that made it on the initial list for discussion but was

not recommended for amendment during this session was bringing

one or more of the Constitutional Officers under the charter. The

2005-2006 Charter Review Commission deems this issue worthy of

extensive discussion and strongly urges the next session to review it

in its entirety.

We have a department of public safety with a department head already. Which includes the fire department. We have a fire chief that oversees the fire department. If this was accomplished we would had a police chief that oversees the police department. 

County Manager per the current charter:

B. County Department Heads.

7 (1) The County department heads shall be appointed by the County Manager, shall be employees at will and shall be responsible to the County Manager.

Hopefully the next CRC will follow that recommendation and if the public would get involved and show up and request it be explored as a safety and welfare issue it would help.

Mike & Marsha - great thoughts/ideas/dialog.  Until this blog was started in 2007, I knew no one in this County who thinks like I do, and I've 'met several now so I know like minds do exist in Clay County.  I worked in Jacksonville for 10 of the 12 years we've lived here and never had time to get involved with anything other than work and our house/yard and family.  So...this blog has opened my eyes for sure! 

I also had no idea what a CRC was or does, so that was another eye opener.  I did not realize how much power the people/voters of this county actually have (or could have) with charter rule, and because of you all on this blog (no matter which political stance you take), I have learned more about my neighborhood and county than I ever dreamed just by sitting here at my computer each day and reading comments/blogs that often lead to other sites where I can learn even more.  Plus, I've become involved with one or two grass roots organizations.

Now, all that being said, I'll get to my point.  BCC, 2009 CRC, Special Interest Groups, Lobbyists - WE ARE WATCHING YOU!  Consider all of the people who read this blog every day - guests and new members - and add all the people they (we) talk to.  Imho, times, they are a changin'.  We started out as a small thorn in their sides (except for the big thorn - CTLAC) and now are growing rapidly.  Awareness is a great thing!  This 2008 election of the BCC is so very important as I understand it is this BCC elected in Nov. who will appoint the next CRC in 2009.  We must make sure the people appointed to this one have the best interests of ALL of the citizens in mind - not just the special interest groups.  So let's all get the vote out for the Commissioners who will best serve 'we the people'. 

One more thought:  I too feel the Sheriff should be "hired" and not elected and NO one on any level of government should be allowed to begin campaigning until just a few months before the election.  The time and money spent campaigning instead of doing the job they were elected to do is pitiful.  US Senators come to mind - all of them, both parties - have wasted so much time campaigning instead of doing their jobs in Washington.  And it's just as bad on the local and state levels.  There oughtta be a law!!  And I won't even get into the ridiculous length of the primary races!

Thanks,
Judy B.

As thinker pointed out in his blog: "The sheriff's office is the most politically powerful office in every Florida county, therefore the stakes are greater and the struggle more fiercely fought."

The Sheriff currently has collected over 80K for his campaign for a job that pays 130K per year. A candidate running for that position isn't too far behind in collected funds as well.

In January the Sheriff released this information:

Friday, January 25, 2008

PUBLIC INFORMATION ANNOUNCEMENT

Clay County Sheriff Promotes Major of Operations Bureau to Undersheriff Position

(Release Date 1-25-08) Join Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler and his staff at a special promotional pinning ceremony on Monday, January 28th at 11am at our agency offices in Green Cove Springs.

Effective January 24, 2008, Major Terry LaCasse was promoted to the rank of Colonel with the title of Undersheriff. He will assume a major role in the daily operations of the Sheriff’s Office as demands on Sheriff Beseler’s time during an election year increase.

Col. LaCasse has thirty-eight years of law enforcement experience, the last ten here with the CCSO. LaCasse’s most recent position as Operations Bureau Commander placed him in charge of Patrol, Detective and Special Operations sections. His many professional accomplishments include a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy 135th Session and holds numerous certifications as a law enforcement trainer, instructor and lecturer.

This official pinning ceremony will be held in conjunction with new employees’ swearing in ceremony held in the 3rd Floor Training Room.

Congratulations to Colonel LaCasse. We encourage members of the media to attend this event.

Thank you. MJ

So we are paying a Sheriff to campaign for his job as Sunflower states.

This article was written about the campaign signs in Feburary. 

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/020208/nec_242501616.shtml

We could avoid all of this by bring it under the charter and  hiring a qualified professional law enforcement officer to run the department, which sounds great to me. Even better the oversight of the budget which consumes a big chunk of tax money.

Angela, even a hired Sheriff is gonna put out positive press releases once in awhile, hopefully to point out the accomplishments of the men and women of the Sheriff's Office.  But campaigning for election is a huge commitment of time, energy and attention.  We'd all be safer with a Sheriff who didn't have to worry about that.

Sheriff is the most powerful local office in many Florida counties.  And from the experience of five years working newspapers in both north and south Georgia, it's the same there.  The Sheriff was the most powerful politician in the one Indiana county where I did radio news.  And politics can only impede efficient law enforcement.

You did raise one good point.  Abolishing the elected Sheriff would bring that budget - the single largest portion of county expenditure - back under the direct control of the County Manager and County Auditor.  Given the steps they've already taken toward professionalizing the rest of our local government, I think that'd be a good thing.

Michael S. Mann

michaelsmann@comcast.net

Great idea Mike.  I highly recommend a few bloggers to the 2009 CRC.  It's not too early to start lobbying (I love using that word) your District Commissioner to be considered.  Judy, Marsha, Mike, Angela (whoever you are), and others have had great ideas here.  Volunteer to serve and put your thoughts into action.

Judy - I agree with your comment 100% - "I did not realize how much power the people/voters of this county actually have (or could have) with charter rule".  Charter = Clay County Constitution.  A living, breathing document that gives the voters all the "power" you could ask for.

Bringing the Sheriff under the Charter is genius - IMHO.  Mike's right - the amendment could be written to create a position similar to the County Manager/Attorney/Auditor with regards to hiring/firing. The BCC would be the final authority, with a pretty open & public hiring process.  Fritz was interviewed by the BCC in the BCC meeting room on a Saturday morning open for all who cared to be there.  Of course there were private interviews as well, but that public interview was interesting, and to me, showed who was the best candidate.  I think the BCC did a good job with that.

Anyway - I love the idea Mike and hope to see it come to fruition.  Personally, I gotta believe a professional law enforcement officer would prefer to be hired rather than be elected.  I know I would.

Heck, the concept is hardly my creation, Bax.  If memory serves, I believed you've even mentioned the possibility once or twice.

Think about this.  In the past three days ... 

In the past three days:

A purse left unattended at The Oakleaf Plantation Club House was stolen.

An unlocked truck with the keys in the center console was stolen from the front yard of a Highridge Estates residence in Keystone Heights.

A bicycle was stolen from an open garage of an Oakleaf Plantation home.

An unlocked pickup with the keys in the ignition was stolen in Orange Park South.

A bike was taken from the bike rack at Wilkinson Junior High.

A mailbox was stolen from a Middleburg home.

Another pickup was stolen from the driveway of an OP residence.

Burglars forced entry into a Middleburg home and stolen several items.

A customer eating at a Wells Road restaurant had a laptop and other items stolen from their vehicle.

A window was broken out and items taken from a vehicle at a Lakeside Estates home.

Another window was broken when thieves stolen a GPS unit, money and other items from vehicle at an Eagle Landing Parkway home.

Two vehicles in an Oakleaf Plantation Parkway apartment parking lot were burglarized by shattering windows.

Thieves entered an unlocked SUV in Middleburg and stole a satellite radio and golf clubs, among other items.

Keystone Heights theives used rocks to break the windows of two cars parked at a business to steal radios.

An unlocked Keystone vehicle allowed thieves to take a winch and stereo speakers.

Items were taken from several unlocked vehicles on Gordon Court. (Starting just two doors down from my house and personal unlocked truck. Just after 4 a.m., while one was taking the report another Sheriff's deputy was quietly walking the entire street and checking vehicles in all the other residents' driveways. I appreciate that, CCSO.)

Items were taken from an unlocked vehicle parked at In-Town Suites on Blanding.

A GPS unit was taken from an unlocked pickup in the driveway of a Ridgewood home.

Exterior lights and windows for sale at an Oakleaf Plantation home was shot by a BB gun.

A Lakeshore Drive mailbox was run over.

That's just the past three days at the Sheriff's Office. It may not be the attention-grabbing crimes like murder, corruption or drugs, but crime is part of everyday life in Clay County. Shouldn't the county's chief crime-fighter be the best professional, not the best politician?

Michael S. Mann

michaelsmann@comcast.net

I think what very few people may know or remember the current County Manager has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science (Criminal Justice). What an excellent time to transition the position with him on board.

The public could attend the CRC meetings and decide to have him under the public safety department already established. Or as you and Baxley say make him a 4th employee of the BCC.

Either way what is best is he is hired as a professional and it gives better levels of budgetary controls under the BCC.

I will caution you the Fl Sheriff's Association is a tight knit club. They have a huge lobbyist force in Tallahassee.

However, the voters have the power if they so choose to use it in our county under the Charter.

A home was vandalized and all the landscaping uprooted in Silver Creek.

So, you blogers now think the BCC should have the above come under their jurisdiction?  From all I've read on thse blogs, no one thought the BCC was doing their jobs properly.  Did you forget?

Do you voters want to keep control?  If you get somebody you do not like, you can vote them out next election.  If appointed, voters have lost control. 

Constitutioal officers were established this way for a reason.

Seems all of you have no problem pointing the finger at the Sheriff for all the crimes that have occurred over the past few days. "OPEN YOUR EYES" look at the reported crimes that were commited. When are people gonna learn not to leave their keys in their unlocked vehicles? When are they gonna learn not to leave valuable items inside their unlocked vehicles? When is the person gonna be held responcible for some of these things happening to them because they didn't think? Lets face it, as long as there are people like this leaving themselves wide open to be a victim then the criminals are gonna take advantage of them and the situation!!! Also....how can you not be sure that some of these crimes were reported just so the person could do a false insurance claim?

All of you are pointing the finger at the Sheriff for these crimes. You need to look at the fine job our BBC and County Manager does under your microscope.  Not to long ago you same bloggers were talking about what a sorry job our BBC and County Manager was doing. I agree with alayabea, if we allow our County Manager to appoint a Sheriff we loose control over who gets the job and cannot be sure it would not be a friend or relative of someone involved. I for one do not want to give up my right to have a vote for the person that runs the biggest budget in the county. And remember...once the CM appointed this person as Sheriff, only he can fire that person. So step back and look at the all the problems we have in the BBC and CM positions....Talk about the good ol boy, you help me with this and I'll help you with that system. If you ask me our entire county goverment needs a good house cleaning.

Gottasayit, I wasn't pointing a finger at Sheriff Beseler, or anyone else, for that list of crimes committed over a three-day period, which came courtesy of Dep. Dean Jones of the CCSO.  It was just an example of the kind of things the Sheriff's Office deals with on a daily basis.

I think Clay County citizens would be better served by a chief law enforcement officer dealing with those types of crimes (and the more serious) without also being saddled with the distractions and obligations of campaigning for office.

The specific method of hiring could be determined by the amendment itself, but I certainly would not support the Sheriff being appointed by the County Manager.  There are better, more open, methods than that.

Michael S. Mann

michaelsmann@comcast.net

Before I go out and enjoy this wonderful day just a thought.

The people in Clay County have relatively lived in a low crime county. People have come accustomed to that security. Well that is no more in the county. The population has grown and Jacksonville is the murder capitol of Florida. More important if the Jacksonville Journey and the Mayor come up with ways to impliment their plans it will be pushed into the surrounding counties.

The people should secure their property but the Sheriff has a responsibility to notify the public of the increased crimes being committed in the county. However, being an election year that would not bode well for an incumbent.

So, for the residents of Clay County in 2007 robbery increased 20.48%,aggravated assault/battery increased by 30.32%, burglary increased 4.9%, theft increased 2%, and auto theft increased 11.20%. It seems that 2008 is on track to be a record year for increased crimes in the community. So I would suggest you protect yourself and your family, secured your belongings and use security type devices such as alarms, security cameras and of course get a weapons permit.

I think if the FBI shows up in your county that is confirmation enough that you have problems in the county. I think the County Manager would agree as I've heard him say the BCC was being ran illegally.

The county has taken steps to professionalize the way the county should be ran. Of course I wouldn't say it was voluntarily changed. However, when the FBI is crawling around in your county is does have a way of making you sit up and take notice. I think Ms Fitzgerald can tell you how intimidating it is to be summoned to the FBI's headquarters for an interview.

I have to think that the county manager enjoys his liberty well enough to avoid nepotism, cronyism, and several of the other isms. Because I'm certain by now they know we are watching. Some more closely than others.

However, I think Clay County needs to hire a professional law enforcement officer and professionalize that part of our government as well. Many problems have come out of the department of our government.

When we had problems with a prior Clerk of Court is was transferred over to the BCC. The BCC is in the process of being professionalize. I think the next step would be to get the Sheriff's Office out of the business of being the most politically powerful office in the county. 

If we can accomplish taking the politics out of the position the person who fills that position better have a good resume and employment application ready to be vetted by many. I cannot see anything but benefits from having a professional law enforcement officer with his main concern the security and welfare of the public as his main focus instead of a politician with a big war chest. Who spends 3 years of a 4 year term doing his job and 1 year campaigning. Regardless of how he is brought under the Charter I feel it can only be good for the citizens in the county.

As far as the good house cleaning I fully agree. However, the best thing we can do for ourselves in the county is stay involved and watch these people. I know if I ever see anything that goes on that remotely resembles what has happened in the past. I will personally go to the FBI for assistance.

As you can see with the Port Authority in Jax and the St Johns BCC the public corruption unit in Jacksonville is up and running. It's about time they showed in the North part of the State.

I understand the trepidation in a Sheriff being hired rather then elected.  I tend to believe that the whole election process is tainted to begin with so I would support this position being brought under the Charter.  I think it could remove one of the tentacles of the polictical octupus in the County.  I think it would be the process that would be created to hire that individual that would make it a good thing, or just another way for big money politics to continue controlling the outcome. 

The statistics on the increase in crime is alarming, but does it consider the increase or decrease in population?   It only stands to reason when the population grows, so does crime. 

Walt, it's always nice to hear that there are still people out there who would get involved if they saw a crime occuring in a world that becomes more indifferent to their fellow man each day. 

Baxley it is my intent to try to get on the next CRC but I am going to wait to see who my Commissioner is in the fall.  I've got no doubt in my suspicious mind that people have already been unofficially selected.  I sincerely doubt Commissioner Rutledge is going to select anyone who did not support his run for office so if he wins the election I believe my fate is sealed, but still intend to try. 

It's kind of like the whole 5+2 situation, there is no proof of which one would work better for the county, but based upon the current race for Sheriff it's obvious to me under the current structure it's not working well so it's time to try something else. 

Besides, if those involved with or support the CPVR gets their way, it will take a super majority on down the line to change it will it not?  The wording says "elected position"   We need to change it while we still can because that's an effort I believe is just as likely to come out of the next CRC since they failed to get it on the ballot with a petition drive.

"The job of Sheriff is too important to be left to politicians."

Maybe we shouldn't vote on the president of the united states either, being that it is the most important job in the country.