Report Clears Dept. Of Corrections Whistleblowers
December 3, 2014
Corrections investigators did nothing wrong when they took nude photographs of a prison guard suspected of having sex with an inmate at a Panhandle prison, a report released by Gov. Rick Scott’s inspector general found.
Scott Inspector General Melinda Miguel quietly released the 76-page report Wednesday, clearing five investigators and two prison guards of any wrongdoing regarding a search warrant that allowed the investigators to take nude pictures of Franklin Correctional Institution officer Kassidy Hill, who later threatened to sue the department and filed a discrimination complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations. The commission found no cause for the complaint.
Four of 
the investigators, who work for Department of Corrections Inspector General Jeff Beasley, accused Beasley of launching the probe after they alleged Miguel’s office was aware of a cover-up involving the death of Randall Jordan-Aparo. The inmate died at the Franklin County institution in 2010 after being gassed with noxious chemicals.
The investigators — Doug Glisson, Aubrey P. Land, James Padgett and John Ulm — later sued Beasley, who answers to Miguel, Scott and others for retaliation against them after Miguel refused to grant them whistleblower status last year. Former corrections worker Christina Bullins, also one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, contends she was fired after she raised questions about the circumstances surrounding Jordan-Aparo’s death. Bullins’ brother was an inmate at the prison in a cell adjacent to Jordan-Aparo in the solitary confinement unit at the Carrabelle institution.
Their lawyer, Steven Andrews, contends that the new report proves that the investigators were targeted by the inspector general.
The report “fully exonerates my clients and raises a lot of questions as to why it was filed,” Andrews said. “It was clearly retaliatory for their disclosures concerning Randall Jordan-Aparo.”
The Hill case was part of a larger investigation into wrongdoing at the prison, now under scrutiny by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and led the inspectors to raise flags about the handling of Jordan-Aparo’s death.
The new report was authored by Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission inspector general investigator Amy Schmidt, who was brought on in November to look into Hill’s allegations. Schmidt wrote that the inspectors followed protocol in obtaining the search warrant, signed by a judge, which allowed them to photograph “the full body” of Hill.
The investigators first discovered they were part of an internal probe at a Christmas party a year ago, when Beasley told Ulm, Glisson, Williams, Padgett and Beasley’s deputy, Ken Sumpter, that “we f—- up” by taking pictures of Hill, according to an interview with Ulm included in the report.
Ulm told investigators that “Beasley also said that DOC GC (General Counsel) Jennifer Parker ‘had come down and told him the agency was going to have to ‘write a big ole fat check’ ” to settle Hill’s complaint.
The report also showed that former Secretary of Corrections Michael Crews, who retired last week, met with Beasley and Miguel in February three days after the prisons chief met with Ulm, Glisson, Land and David Clark, another IG investigator who is part of the lawsuit.
“After meeting with Secretary Crews and Beasley, CIG Miguel contacted Beasley and advised him to cease any activity on the ongoing investigations of (the cases) until the CIG’s Office could obtain a full briefing regarding these open investigations,” Schmidt wrote.
The Scott administration issued a brief statement Tuesday about the report and the whistleblowers’ allegations. “The whistleblower lawsuit is a matter for the Courts to decide,” Scott spokesman John Tupps said in the statement. “The Chief Inspector General’s report was completed on Nov. 26, 2014. A female correctional officer complained of mistreatment. Melinda Miguel wanted to ensure objectivity in the investigation and requested investigative assistance from FWC.”
The report also highlighted internal problems within the corrections inspector general’s office. The agency was relying on an outdated policy manual, written in 2006 but updated frequently through internal e-mails or memos issued by Beasley.
“When asked about the policies and procedures in place during June 2013 and his understanding of the policies and memorandums included in this investigation, Padgett stated, ‘I’m going to sum it up for you the best way that I can. Total confusion. Just chaotic as far as procedures and this directive and that directive and just like I stated, I came into the office, there is no FTO (Field Training Officer) manual … no FTO training policy, there is no check off list … it’s learn as you go.’ Padgett added that until very recently there had been one directive after another pushed out to the field,” Schmidt wrote.
Beasley has since implemented some improvements, including a tracking system to ensure that all directives issued to staff have been received, something that did not exist in 2013, the report noted.
The report also “recommended that guidelines be adopted to specifically address the taking of photographs during an investigation and to enhance the guidance surrounding the search of an employee’s person that involves the visual inspection of the employee’s unclothed body.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Escambia Investigators Seek Info In August Murder
December 3, 2014
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is turning to the public for help in solving an August murder.
The body of 25-year old Tyler Evans was found off of Weller near Gulf Beach Highway. He was last seen driving a 2000 gold Toyota Tacoma which was later recovered in the Ensley area.
Anyone with information related to the homicide is asked to call Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP. Callers do not have to provide their name and may be eligible for an award.
Ernest Ward Splits Basketball Games With Perdido Middle School
December 3, 2014
Ernest Ward Middle School split basketball games will Perdido (AL) Middle School Tuesday in Walnut Hill.
The Ernest Ward Eagles beat Perdido 30-19 in boys’ action, while Perdido defeated the EWMS Lady Eagles 17-14 on their home court.
The Eagles have three road games remaining in their season, beginning with a trip to Flomaton on Thursday. The Eagles will take on the Canes at 4:30 for the girls and 5:30 for the boys.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Byrneville Elementary First Graders Visit Century Town Hall
December 3, 2014
First graders from Byrneville Elementary School recently visited the Century Town Hall on a field trip. In addition to visiting Mayor Freddie McCall’s office and hold the “Key to the Town”, they learned about the rules regard proper display of the U.S. flag. The students from Candice Thornton and Amanda Dawson’s classes also learned about the delivery of water to homes and water billing. And the students also discovered that although Century is a small town, it takes numerous community workers laboring to make it work. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Transportation Director To Step Down
December 2, 2014
Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad has become the third of Gov. Rick Scott’s agency heads to step down since the general election.
Prasad, a professional engineer tapped by Scott to run the agency in April 2011, will leave the job Jan. 2, the governor’s office announced Tuesday.
With Scott pushing to expand parts of Florida’s transportation infrastructure, the agency under Prasad has grown from a $7 billion operation to $10.1 billion in the current year.
“Secretary Prasad has also helped Florida become a major force in international trade because of his commitment to expanding our Florida ports and airports,” Scott said in a prepared statement. “I am grateful for Secretary Prasad’s service to our state, and we will continue making our transportation system a top priority as we select another excellent leader for this department.”
The news about Prasad follows announcements last week that Department of Corrections Secretary Mike Crews and Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel Vinyard will retire.
Scott now has at least five new leaders to appoint as he gets ready to start a second term.
The Florida Department of Children and Families and the Department of Juvenile Justice are operating under interim secretaries.
Prasad’s replacement will come from a list of candidates recommended by the Florida Transportation Commission, whose nine members are all appointed by the governor.
Prasad spent 18 years at the agency, including stints as chief engineer and director of construction, before being selected by Scott.
During the recent election campaign, Scott hyped a plan to reinforce the state’s roads, ports and airports by expanding parts of the agency’s $41 billion, 5-year work program.
The state has spent $582 million the past three years on improvements at Florida’s seaports, with an eye on establishing Florida as a global trade crossroad. An additional $139 million is included in the current fiscal year budget for more than 20 port projects across the state.
44 Century Residents Apply For 15 Grant Projects To Rehab Housing
December 2, 2014
Monday, 44 Century residents applied for just 15 available grant funded projects that will assist very low and low income homeowners in the rehabilitation of their homes.
Funding will be available in amounts from $2,000 to $5,000 for rehabilitation activities that will contribute to the overall health, safety and well being of the homeowner. Applicants must reside within the town limits, own their single family detached home (no mobile homes) and meet income guidelines based upon family size.
The town will set up and maintain a housing assistance waiting list for this program only. Approved applications are set to be funded on a first come, first served basis.
The program is funded though USDA Rural Development Housing Services.
Lady Chiefs Open Season With Win Over Rocky Bayou; Tate Aggies Improve To 4-0
December 2, 2014
Northview 35, Rocky Bayou 28 (Girls)
The Northview varsity girls basketball team won their season opener Monday night, beating Rocky Bayou 35-28.
The Chiefs were led by seniors E’Layzha Bates and Angel Lathan. Bates scored 11 points while pulling down 13 rebounds. Lathan led the team with 13 points.
Sophomore De’Asia Fountain chipped in with 4 points. Freshman Natasha Walker also had 4 points, while senior Morgan Ward scored 3 points.
The Northview Lady Chiefs (1-0) return to action on Monday, December 8 at Milton when both JV and varsity will play.
Tate 57, Escambia 50
In boys varsity action, the Tate Aggies beat the Escambia Gators 57-50 Monday. With the win the Aggies improve to 4-0 this season.
The Aggies will host Washington High School at 7:30 on Thursday.
Sentencing Rescheduled For Molino Murder Suspect
December 2, 2014
Sentencing had been set for Monday for a woman that pleaded in a Molino murder case, but now she won’t learn her fate for several more weeks.
Debra Burge, 24, pleaded no contest in September to a lesser charge of second degree murder charge in the death of 43-year old Harvey Ray Smith of Pace. His body was found stuffed into a vehicle trunk behind a Motel 6 on Davis Highway on the morning of May4, 2013. Smith had been reported missing in Santa Rosa County. Family members located his vehicle at the motel and then discovered the body.
Burge will now be sentence in late January.
Her co-defendant, 24-year old Zachary Greer is awaiting trial for first degree murder with his next court appearance scheduled for late December.
Reports state Burge and Greer conspired to rob Smith. Burge allegedly lured Smith, her acquaintance, to her home in the 3900 block of Highway 97 in Molino. She told deputies she went inside while Smith and Greer remained outside. When she later exited the home, she found Smith on the ground of the Molino home bleeding. She told Sheriff’s investigators that Greer told her he stabbed Smith and put his body in the trunk of the car that was later driven to the Motel 6 on Davis Highway in Pensacola.
ECUA Offers Solid Waste Service Beginning January 2 In Northern Santa Rosa
December 2, 2014
The Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners has entered into an inter-local agreement with the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority to provide single-family residential solid waste collection north of the Yellow River beginning Friday, January 2. No other large truck provider will be able to provide service in the franchise area after December 30. Click here to see service area map or here to view frequently asked questions.
North Santa Rosa residents who would like curbside service should contact ECUA by December 26 to ensure there is no interruption in their service at (850) 476-0480, Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
The new north end Santa Rosa ECUA services are $51.27 per quarter and include:
- Garbage pickup: twice a week in a wheeled, 95-gallon container
- Recycling pickup: on request by resident once a week in a wheeled, 95-gallon container, residents should request recycling service when signing up for service
- Yard debris pickup: every two weeks
- Bulky waste pickup: service on request via phone call from resident
- Side door collection service for the disabled at no extra charge, Non-handicapped side door collection service, additional containers or bear-resistant containers at an additional cost.
ECUA will begin delivering new garbage and recycling containers to Santa Rosa customers this week. It is important that residents do not use the new containers until after their last scheduled pickup date with their outgoing provider, either December 29, 30 or 31; as ECUA will not start service routes until January. Please leave your old empty containers at the curbside for pickup by the previous provider.
Citizens utilizing residential curbside collection in the north end of the county that do not live the city of Milton, town of Jay or NAS Whiting Field, will now have one solid waste provider assigned to their area. The franchise agreement does not impact business or commercial dumpster accounts or residents living south of the Yellow River. Residents in the Holley, Navarre, Midway or the city of Gulf Breeze will have no change in solid waste providers.
The residential curbside solid waste service is not mandatory. Individuals who do not signup for service will be responsible for transporting their household waste, recyclables, yard debris and bulk waste items to the Central Landfill in Milton or the Jay Residential Drop Off Station in Jay. Additionally, the commission chose to grandfather in the small providers. Residents may choose a provider that is currently permitted and utilizes trucks that weigh 15,000 lbs. or less.
For more information, visit www.ecua.fl.gov/santa-rosa or http://santarosa.fl.gov/bocc/solidwaste.cfm.
Scott Urged To Make Interim Secretaries Permanent At DCF, DJJ
December 2, 2014
As he gets ready to start a second term, Gov. Rick Scott will have to choose leaders for the Florida Department of Children and Families and the Department of Juvenile Justice. Both agencies are operating under interim secretaries, and Scott’s choice at the Department of Children and Families will be particularly scrutinized.
DCF Interim Secretary Mike Carroll, a 21-year veteran of his agency, was tapped in early May. DJJ Interim Secretary Christy Daly, after seven years in leadership roles at her agency, took the top job July 1.
Now, with the election behind him, Scott could bring in new leaders at both agencies, but he’s given no sign of his plans. His office referred a reporter to a Nov. 12 press conference in which the governor was asked about the possibility of new agency heads in his second term.
“Whenever there’s the change of four years, you finish that, some people decide to move on and some people decide to stay,” Scott said. “But as we have announcements, we’ll make those.”
So far, the governor’s office has announced that Secretary Mike Crews (pictured) of the Department of Corrections and Secretary Herschel Vinyard of the Department of Environmental Protection are moving on. But no word yet on whether Carroll and Daly will be staying at the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Juvenile Justice.
“I can say that both (Carroll and Daly) have done an excellent job and have the full confidence of their departments behind them,” said Rep. Gayle Harrell, a Stuart Republican who has chaired the House Healthy Families Subcommittee during the past two years. “But of course, it’s up to the governor.”
Many agree, saying Scott has effective leaders in Carroll and Daly and should focus on stability — especially at DCF, which endured heavy scrutiny by the Legislature and the media during Scott’s first term.
What’s more, the Department of Children and Families remains in a delicate position as it carries out Senate Bill 1666, a sweeping reform measure that was approved this spring and includes many players and moving parts.
“The DCF (interim) secretary is a caring and experienced child welfare professional,” said Judge Cindy Lederman, a dependency court judge in Miami-Dade County’s 11th Judicial Circuit. “We need to move forward and continue efforts at system reform with the existing leadership. We cannot start over yet again with new leadership. We don’t have time for on-the-job training.”
“Stability is probably of primary importance right now,” said Christina Spudeas, executive director of the advocacy group Florida’s Children First. “Mike is doing a good job, and he needs to stay where he’s at.”
Carroll is the eighth secretary or interim secretary at the Department of Children and Families since 1999, and the third on Scott’s watch. The governor’s original appointment was David Wilkins, who resigned in July 2013 following a wave of media reports about child deaths from abuse and neglect. Wilkins was followed by Esther Jacobo, who initially took the job for 90 days and ended up staying more than nine months and steering DCF through a gantlet of angry lawmakers during the 2014 legislative session.
“Mike needs to change the culture at the department,” said Sen. Eleanor Sobel, a Hollywood Democrat who chaired the Senate Committee on Children, Families and Elder Affairs during the crafting of Senate Bill 1666. “There are good people there, but there are also bureaucrats who need to get on board and be more accountable and transparent.”
Since taking the reins in May, Carroll has faced many challenges, most notably a Gilchrist County incident in which a man shot his daughter and six grandchildren. Carroll’s also been dealing with high turnover among frontline staff, an overflowing foster-care system in Miami-Dade County, and the implementation of Senate Bill 1666, which includes new programs, new training and new accountability measures.
“It’s important to have some continuity as we’re really moving forward into reforming the whole system,” Harrell said. “It’s a delicate time, and we need experience.”
Children’s Lobby spokesman Roy Miller credited Carroll with bringing the privatized community-based care agencies to the table after they had an adversarial relationship with Wilkins. The agencies receive hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to provide adoption, foster-care, case-management and other family services statewide.
“They absolutely have to be at the table,” Miller said. “The question is, will Mike Carroll hold that huge delivery system accountable?”
Carroll said last week he trusted the governor to make the best decision.
“I love what we do,” he said. “I think we have the most sacred of missions in all of state government, to protect vulnerable kids … While I do have the opportunity, I want to make a meaningful difference, whether it’s eight months or 20 years.”
At the Department of Juvenile Justice, meanwhile, Daly’s interim appointment followed a multi-year period of change for the agency. She served as deputy secretary to former secretary Wansley Walters, who is credited with leading reforms that shifted the agency’s focus from punishment to prevention.
“I think Interim Secretary Christy Daly has done a wonderful job continuing the efforts begun by Secretary Walters,” said Sen. Rob Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican who has served as chairman of the Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Subcommittee. “I hope the governor makes (her) permanent, because she’s continuing the good work of Secretary Walters, and we’re seeing outstanding results.”
Walters also backed Daly for the permanent job, calling her “a nationally recognized authority in the field of juvenile justice.”
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida