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Scott Begins Department Of Corrections Job Cuts
February 10, 2011
Gov. Rick Scott eliminated at least 15 administrators Wednesday within the Florida Department of Corrections, taking steps toward restructuring an agency his budget proposal targets for deep cuts, according to those familiar with the move.
Those whose DOC careers are slated to end Friday include deputy secretaries and assistants – a mid-level of management Scott has vowed to flatten.
Scott’s newly appointed DOC chief, Edwin Buss, commissioner of Indiana’s corrections agency, is scheduled to begin work Monday and earlier hinted he intended to overhaul the Florida department’s administration.
“Gov. Scott will hold agency heads accountable for their performance on behalf of the people of Florida,” Scott spokesman Brian Hughes said. “Part of being able to hold them accountable is to allow them to make the staffing decisions they deem appropriate.”
The state Corrections Department would absorb an $82.4 million cut and lose 1,690 jobs under Scott’s budget proposal, which also calls for closing two state prisons.
By The News Service Florida
Comments
70 Responses to “Scott Begins Department Of Corrections Job Cuts”
hawghead- when’s the last time you visited a prison? they don’t have cable, they don’t sit around, they work and take classes to try and better themselves. Prison is miserable. When you have half the inmates with a 6 grade education, you have to do something to ensure they can earn a living when they are released. THey don’t get alot to eat and any thing “extra,” like a cookie must be paid for by people on the outside- GET a grip
Your comments below
Most criminals have no fear of prison. They get fed 3 times a day. They get to watch cable t.v.. They don’t have to work and they can just sit around take it easy. I say if you want to cut the prison system budget then stop the cable t.v.. Make them sit in their cells 23 hours a day. Feed them bread and water and soup. Make prison miserable and maybe just maybe these low lifes will fear prison and try not commit a crime. Just wonder if everytime your child misbehaved you sent them to Disney World. Do you think they would care if they got caught? I am all for cutting the budget as long as it is the waste.
People! Most of the people that are leaving comments and hating on co’s can not even walk in a co boot. Most of you are scary and would not even dare step foot in a prison. WHEN A INMATE RUN UP IN YOUR FACE WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
To all of those that are concern what happens and does not happen in prison abuse, or inmates are abusing the system. Its very simple FBI goes undercover in prison all the time. No one knows who they are and we can get down to the truth. Maybe someone does not want to find out what is really happening. I have meet some wonderful correctional officers that do their job with their heart. I have also meet the must abusive human beings in my life in the DOC. So lets weed the corrupted ones out and prompt those that have common sense and just want to run the prison the way it should be run, correctional not abuse.
Mighty interesting take on the judicial process, M.P. – let’s see if I understand what you mean: If you’re a SUSPECT, you must cooperate with “investigators” that have already presumed that you are GUILTY until proven INNOCENT. If you have ever been SUSPECTED, but not indicted or even TRIED in a COURT, you are PROHIBITED from running for office. Especially anyone that exercises their 5th Amendment RIGHT. (Gee, I wonder why they even put that into the Bill of Rights anyway? Oh, yeah, I remember, because some people put in power over other people – think LEOs/DAs – may try to coerce a person in their custody into making false & incriminating statements – Power corrupting, and Absolute Power?)
Shucks, maybe the “suspected” shouldn’t have the right to VOTE either. An old police friend used to tell me that there were two types out there, LEO’s and Perps. I thought that was a tad cynical. Still do.
One thing I have learned is that when the Political Opposition screams an accusation, especially if they are Democrats, you can be sure that they are TEN TIMES more guilty of the same thing, or worse. I wouldn’t believe McCollum or Sink & the Dems for one minute about anything they had to say about Rick Scott.
And having some experience with how our Healthcare System works (or doesn’t), and the mess that Congress has made it over the past 40 years or more – well, just don’t be too sure that everyone accused of “overcharging” is actually guilty. The people that write the rules don’t even know how to interpret them, let alone enforce them.
I wondered too, but it is for the voters to decide, not the elected. Until he is convicted of committing a felony, as a legal resident of Florida, he is allowed to run for any applicable office.
Even after he commits a felony, he can request to have his civil rights restored and run for office.
David for free elections
even if we sometimes pick interesting people
Just an Old Soldier,
No one is saying that millionaires should be prohibited from running for office. However someone who committed fraud to the tune of billions, and refused to cooperate with the proceedings during trial should be. Also it makes me wonder why would someone as accomplished as Rick Scott spend the amount that he did to run for this office?
Benefits are part of the pay package, what you have to spend to get people to work for you. Removing benefits is a form of a pay cut.
I’ve noticed over the years negotiators use the confusion between salary and salary plus benefits to justify raises and/or increased benefits. They say things like, “We make ten percent less than the state average, therefore we need a ten percent raise to keep even.” while ignoring benefits worth more than the ten percent difference.
Then other negotiators look at them with their raises and say, “We need a ten percent improvement on the package because the state average of pay plus benefits is ten percent higher than what we make.”
Done that way, you can hope for increases out of the taxpayers. Then you run into the folks who say, “We guarantee so much pay, I’m thinking about cutting that and I fully intend to do away with all your benefits since they aren’t pay anyway.”
David for common understanding
and mutual benefit
Since when is having money and spending it in pursuit of public office something to be derided, Should all millionaires be prohibited from public offices?
Should public office only go to the unaccomplished? From the looks of the recent 2008 Presidential Election it seems to be the goal of some Political Parties to run the least qualified people they can find.
Bottom line- It’s a thankless job that he signed up for – let him at it, he won the election, and “elections have consequences” – or so we have been told from “on high”.
Let the Liberals howl and cackle. It’s music to my ears.
To Linda Madden
I have been employed by the department of Corrections for over 20 years, Your statement about the tools at Avon Park is completely untrue. When there is an excess in the inventory the tools are sent to another facility that has a shortage. Only an inmate would make a statement like that.
To Realistic Floridian
No one feels they are entitled to a free pension. We earn it by working. The hourly wage is not comparable to the private sector nor many other federal or state detention facilities. The pension was part of the salary and why most people that worked there stayed.
To Too Funny,
Your statement that there are 5-8 guards per inmate is ridiculous, At the prison I work at there are approximately 1500 inmates and never more than 25 officers per shift. If you are going to post an opinion get the facts so your post does not make you look like a fool.
To all of you who wish to wait and see what Governor Scott is going to do,
The man spent $79,000,000 of his own money to become governor. He pled the 5th throughout the entire trial when his company was found to have stolen billions of your tax dollars. Basically we gave the keys to the states treasuary to a thief. I do not want to give him a chance. If allowed I have a good idea of what is going to happen.
Please reinstate the 65 percent gain time rule. It is something that has to be earned. The reason inmates lay around all day is because there is nothing to do. please help these people not repeat by giving them some skills to use on the outside. if they can’t get a job on the outside, guess what happens? Please do the right thing Florida.
It’s about time SCOTT starts at the top and gets rid of the higher paid! He knows where money can be saved. I will give him that much for now. At least he knows we need the officers to keep the prisons running. Let’s wait now and see what his next moves are. Just maybe to put some of that money back into the pockets where it belongs in the officers…..
bogia – that was my impression too.
True there are a some corrupt co’s and some on power trips, I don’t deny that. However they are few and far between. But you cant lump them all together and make a generalized statement that they are lazy and on a power trip. Every job has its good and its bad. Regardless in any other job both the good and bad get raises at some point. There are other areas of a prison that are not security who also are not given raises. Medical Staff (yes they work very hard and dont earn much either – Im not whining – just stating facts). Day in and day they provide routine and emergency medical care for inmates at all hour for everything from cut fingers to seizures to chest pain. Regardless of who does what job everyone should be entitled to a raise. Even those who are on disability (even those who could really be holding a job) get a rate adjustment each year (I know this because I was on disability for a while) . Shoot – is it fair that if you are single, poor and get pregnant you can get welfare whicht is taxpayer money too and each time they decide to have another they get more money. I dont see anyone hooting and hollering about that but yet in my eyes they get a “raise” for having another child for us to support. I don’t care what job you have – there will always be those who work hard and give it their all and those who sit on their butts and break rules but remain on the payroll. Both will get raises. It is not right to punish all for the faults of some and group everyone that do the same work into the same catagory and label them based on the lowest of the low. There are good CO’s who work hard and deserve to be respected and to get pay raises for the years they put into protecting the public – and YES they are heros. You need to consider that yes – some are in for nonviolent crimes but there are also murderers and rapists and child molesters. Also, and the public doesn’t always hear about it there are frequently fights among inmates, riots at the prison and our CO’ do get attacked by inmates. There are a lot of gangs in prison and a lot of the “non-violent offenders” join those gangs in prison and are VIOLENT as part of those gangs. Its not all peaches and cream. It is insulting to group them together. Some of you forget that prison K-9 squads assist LEO a lot of times and they are ran by, OMG CO’s. You need to know the facts before you degrade them. As for ex inmates commenting – I don’t have a lot of faith in yalls views on this b/c they are biased! FYI -YA ARENT SUPPOSED TO ENJOY PRISON
How much you want to bet “rowdy” is a disgruntled ex inmate on probation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some folks who have posted today hhave a ethical obligation to contact the IG office or the Chair of the House Criminal Justice Committee he is from the St. Pete Area and a good person. Do the Right Thing …Didn’t Harry Singletary say that?
I was at the funneral for Col. Malloy. Gov. Scott addressed the crowd saying how much he respected them and the work they do. He said he admired them for their courage in the face of danger. Gov. Scott went on about their dedication and how proud he was of them. The next day he announced he wants to cut their benefits along with 1690 employee positions. Only a moron would do this.
Thank you Batman, from one ex- to another.
I couldn’t have said it better.
In response to those who think COs don’t like their jobs or are complaining too much…why shouldn’t they?? It use to be a job of respect & integrity, one that someone had pride in doing. Now, it’s not like that at all!! For those who think that it’s so easy for someone to just choose a new career: sometimes it’s not that easy. There are people, like my husband, who feel like this is the field he belongs in & will stick with it because that’s what he’s meant to do. I wish they could all quit for one day, let every inmate out of prison & see what people think then. However, they do take an oath to uphold Florida state law & the laws of this country, and most importantly to protect the citizens of Florida.
well i can tell you from experience that its not as horrible as some of you people are saying it is in prison.I did 17 years,give or take a few days here in the fine florida prison system.did i enjoy it ?hell no.did i deserve to be there?hell yea.just like most of the other 100,000 or so in there,although you wont hear them admit it,nor their family members cuz theyare all innocent or non violent offenders who should be just let go with a warning about a million times or at the most probation.prison is not a country club by far.but it isnt supposed to be.its there to punish people for commiting crimes.just like the sentencing guide lines are.if you break the law you break the law.you deserve to be punished.its that simple no matter what reasons or excuses you want to say after you get caught.Now as far as all this heros in the line of duty crap,over worked and under paid.you need to stop your crying also.90 percent of the officers ive known are corrupt,they bring in contraband and sell it to the inmates anything from cellphones to drugs, food to pornagraphic materials i know because i used to buy that stuff from them at all the prisons ive been to.a vast majority are over paid under educated baby sitters who spend most of the time reading,watching tv playing cards,and yes even getting tattoo work from the inmates.5 percent of them are even sadistic enough to get a kick out of going out of the way to hound inmates all day for little or no reason other then just because they can.and the enjoy it.then you do have the 5 percent left that are actually,yes,the under paid law enforcement proffessionals that put their lives on the line for the safety of the community..so dont worry,the new gov can safely cut 95 percent of the doc before he gets to the good ones.
Couple of things. The positions eliminated were administrative. How does that effect CO’s safety?
On the one hand prisoner relatives say the prisons are full of non-violent offenders yet the COs say their lives are in danger. How is that?
I have never heard an employee in any company that was satisfied with their level of appreciation.
I suggest you watch the commercial where the former Drill Instructor is a therapist.
Today inmates had to throw away and crush $20,000 in new tools (drills,sanders, drillbits, etc) at Avon Park Corr.They are having a 3 day audit and since the C.O.’s didn’t take the time to put the tools on the master roster, their inventory would be over. There’s their damn raise.The inmates have been ordered to do this all week…destroy new equipment (some never used) because a C.O. couldn’t take a whole 7 mins to list it on the roster. If that’s not lazy, I don’t know what is.Because of this & so many other tasks that are neglected or left undone,they have screwed themselves in many ways.This talk of C.O.’s being “hero’s” is making my stomach turn. In my experience, I’ve seen very few C.O.’s that aren’t morbidly obese & even fewer that can actually speak the english language,.. and I don’t mean Latino, I mean that horrible mix of ghetto-redneck-garbble that they use and then expect to be respected.It took me 3 weeks to figure out that the officer was asking me what I was doing when he said “wat u fittin’ to do?” I’m sure there really are some that actually do realize the inmates are paying for their wrongs & treat them with some respect, but the majority of them are just miserable people who took the job because it allowed them to be mean & feel powerful. There are male C.O’s who have sex w/ female inmates and female C.O.’s who strut for the male inmates while they masturbate. This is all part of a normal day in DOC and now getting paid for exploiting,verbally abusing, & degrading inmates isn’t enough…they want a raise too! Excuse me for not crying a river. My sincerest apologies to the good C.O.’s, but as for the rest of the lazy, egotistical, heartless ones who think they’re above the law, I will say to them what they said to me for 13 months;.. “One does wrong, y’all get punished. You don’t want to punished? Tell your friends to stop doin’ wrong”.
•A prison (from Old French prisoun) is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison
Enough said….
I think Scott is doing the right thing. We have been on this prison binge long enough. I close family in prison, and I dont abandon them, therefore I interact with DOC while visiting, I do have a couple of constructive ideas for cost cutting
1. Get rid of minimum sentences across the board. We elect and pay judges, but then relieve them of the reponsibility of making judgement calls such as sentence length. The prosecutors will scream that you are removing a tool they use for plea deals, but this is because they have set up a measurement of conviction rate as a measurement of success.
2. Get rid of statutes defining a prisoners custody level by offense, that whats you pay the review board to do.
3. Voters need to be more aware that well balanced statutes and prosecution will produce the fairest and lowest cost for policing/corrections, not “law and order” zealots.
AC
I am soooo tired of people who have no idea posting comments! First off – why is it that everyone says LEO’s are heros yet are underpaid – and go on and on about their plight of not having enough help (yes I do believe they are truly heros – dont get me wrong), but their counterparts, CO’s, who are grossly underpaid and never get raises, and are just as much HEROS, can be done away with. CO’s put their lives on the line every day. They work among the worst of the worst. I work at a prison and most of you all are wrong. Inmated DO NOT have cable – there is only a couple TV’s in a dorm for several hundred inmates. The TVP served may not be the most delicious food, what do you want them to eat? Steak and potatoes? And then complain about the cost of that! They get a balanced diet – 3 HOT meals a day plus anything they buy from the canteen. And they ALL are assigned to work 5 days a week -YES even those with medical problems are given a job with restrictions which reflect what they are able to do. I wish those of you who are for cutting prison jobs could spend a day there – it is not the hilton like yall think. As for staffing – we are grossly understaffed on a regular basis. A lot of CO’s have to work extra shifts to keep things going. And it is not 5 CO’s to 1 inmate. As far as paying into our retirement – most of you who say you pay into your retirement probably get pay raises! DOC has not given us raises in more than 6 years. Of course our benifit payments go up each year like everyone elses but we do not get yearly raises to help compensate for these increases. Get your facts straight if you’re going to say anything about DOC! One other thing for those hippocrites who say let non-violent offenders have a reduced sentence……why is it, on those stories where something awful happens because someone was high on drugs, do you say in one breath “punish them to the full extent of the law ” and “the judges always let them off to easily” then turn around in another story and say “let them out – it costs too much tax payer money”. You can’t have it both ways. As for Scott – Im proud to say I did NOT vote for him. How is laying off DOT employees creating more jobs for FL? Sounds like a SCAM to me!
in response to DOC
I know exactly what i am talking about. You must work in prison right? i have my husband in there doing a minimum mandatory, and one day he got wrote up for give a guy some of his meal because the guy was still hungry. Now, i not saying they are starving them, i m saying that they give them enough to survive. And that is true! Some of them don”t have moneys in their canteen( you omitted that part) Now when you said : the biggest part deserves to be there not sure about your sense of judgment but DOC web site show statistof 27% are drug related crimes vs 24 % of violent crimes in 2010.but even among the violent ones there is justice errors. Some of them got life sentence for crimes committed when they are too young given them not chance in life to be a normal adult. And some are sentence to life for crimes that they didn’t commit at all like innocent project is proving. Now there is something else i want to say about this budget, Most of prison guards visibly hate their jobs, they resent their job so much that they will never even try to see the prisoners as people like themselves(NOTE:not saying put your guard down) so how they expect to keep their job when they are creating this karma?there is something call universe law, and what you give you will receive.
STOP…..MR Scott, you can fire people or leave the position unfilled but you can’t decide to Reorganize any statutory agency without the approval of the FL House and FL Senate. Read the law, you may twist the arms of the legislature but you should have asked them to change the law first.
SW is right on target.
If it doesn’t pay enough or it’s too stressful GET OUT!
Why whine about a job that can’t support you.
If everyone quit they might actually have to start paying a living wage.
to DOC OFC. guit whining and get a different job if you can’t take it. you co’s dont do anything but sit on your tails all day. you don’t do any work. you walk around with your chest poked out like your something your not.
I’m going to get hammered for saying this, but here goes:
I agree that all law enforcement positions are underpaid and underappreciated. That being said, there are a couple of ways of handling this: Either live with the low pay or go find more gainful employment.
As much as I loved my job in law enforcement; I eventually chose to get out so I could make a better living for me and my family.
Hello im a co in florida. One of the most underapriciated law enforcement jobs in Florida. I’ve read some of these comments and to be honest I feel that the average Floridian could care less about a officer in a prison, but I dont see those people jumping up wanting to do my job. Because we are the ones who deal with average peoples nigtmares, rapest, drugies, murderers, and punks.
For those who think our pay is so great……..GET A LIFE….. but i dont do my job for the pay, I have pride in what I do. Now our new governer wants to cut our department well I dont see him wanting to do our job, as a matter of fact HE’S NEVER EVEN STEPPED FOOT ON A PRISON, will he. Will he come and get the opinion of the people who put there lifes on the line for the state, I dont think so.
Having been part of the field operations of the Department of Corruption for years I can tell you that in the last 15+ years the field services budget has been raped to serve the interest of the Prisons. Staff has been retained after convictions for crimes because of POLITICAL connections or poor internal affairs investigations. If the purpose of the termination of the staff was to remove unnecessary levels of government that is a good thing but the field management must be given both the Responsibility and the Authority to do the right things, much repair work needs to go on to rebuild the trust with the courts the other law enforcement agencies. The new head of the DOC doesn’t have any experience in dealing with the court and Probation. My hope is that he will not surround himself with staff who will tell him what he wants to hear rather than what he needs to hear
Just a little thought for the person who said that no one said the “field officers” jobs were going to get cut: Scott is wanting to close 2 prisons. Now, what do you think is going to happen by them closing those 2 prisons?? There aren’t 1,690 “upper level” guys working at 2 prisons. I do agree that the DOC needs to be restructered, but not from the backbone of the prisons but the top!!!
GOOD BEHAVIOR for time served is what I keep seeing over and over….GOOD BEHAVIOR starts OUTSIDE of prison, not once you are in! I have also seen this statement “It costs our state twenty thousand dollars to house each prisoner each year.” If we did what the “olden days” did when most of our heroes and legends were alive, we would not be feeding them and we would not have good behavior.
My brother is a corrections officer and my cousin has been in the system. Both will tell you, people with Life Sentences do not care about good behavior and know they will never see a day of freedom again. People on drug charges that have been arrested and sentenced are no better than someone that cut anothers throat….you may not have held the weapon that killed someone, but you could very well have caused the death.
Pay is not what you think it may be either. I work in the transportation industry and bring home more than my brother every week. They are paid every two weeks and my two weeks compared to his are SHOCKING> I do not deal with people who really have nothing to live for and do not care if I do or not and get paid more…unreal!!
i read somewhere once that rep. rick scott had to pay 300 billion dollars as a fraud settlement…so you think he’s in office for the people?
Just want’s to fatten his wallet and it starts by cutting everyone else out.
The article didn’t say he was firing field corrections officers; it said he was cutting the ‘deputy secretaries and assistants’.
I don’t see a problem with that. Usually the threat from politicians is just the other way around; they threaten to cut teachers, and firemen, and police. At least this time, they started at the top.
They should do that with other agencies, too. Get rid of the fat and keep the folks who are actually doing the work. I don’t think anyone would argue with that…unless they are part of the fat.
Gee, if there weren’t so many high-paying useless upper management jobs, maybe the money could trickle down to the lower levels in the form of raises, eventually.
A little right-sizing can’t hurt.
WONDER,
No there is now cable tv in the state prison system.
to yeah right….i don’t know what line of crap your son is telling you but he should be ashamed. i see it all the time where the inmates try to win sympathy from family and will tell them anything. as far as the heat in the dorms…well its so hot in the dorm in the mornings when i go in you can hardly breath….my family goes without heat at night because frankly i cannot afford the high fuel bill! these inmates eat 3 meals a day and its not tofu.. and they spend between 80,000-90,000 a month at the canteens and that’s for on avg 1300 inmates. they watched tv for 12 hrs today, not cable but they do have the digital boxes …my family has no cable…can’t afford it..they played cards, gambled and very few had to work…….. there are 20 ceiling fans in each open dorm and exhaust fans. all in all inmates are not suffering. its the officers and their families that are having a hard time. the state should be hanging its head for such low wages for its high risk jobs. we deal with very bad people every day…we are very short on staff and the stress and the morale are getting worse. all of the higher ups and even the whining inmates families need to come and walk 1 time alone through 200+ murders, rapists, etc and then we’d hear a different tune. the high risk retirement and good ins are the major reasons people stay with a job like this. its sure not for the pay. keep cutting from the top and leave the backbone of corrections alone.
Is it true that the prison system has cable t.v. That is just wrong my parents have worked all their life and can not afford cable.If this is true there is something very wrong with the system..
Fellow Republicans and those who voted for Rick Scott:
DIDN’T YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE POLITICAL ADS AGAINST SCOTT ALL THROUGHOUT ELECTION TIME- THEY WERE AIRED DAILY?
-His opponents told you to google his name during the election campaigns
- I saw ads showing him in court, addressing all of his allegations of illegal activities
-He admitted to 14 felonies and paid federal government over $600 million.
-He was a known crook and thief already
-He and Rubio made millions off the public
-You knew this, but YOU STILL VOTED HIM IN JUST TO KEEP A DEMOCRAT OUT-DON’T COMPLAIN NOW
- The more jobs he cut, the more money added to his salary
Think of how much the state could save if they legalized Marijuana and taxed it and released all Marijuana related offenders from jail
I would imagine thats a high percentage, and since Republicans stand for less government and regulation of your life. Then they should be for this, right?
I think that gov Rick Scott should take a day and and work at one of the prisons and see what we go through day to day. We put our lives on the line when we walks through the gates.We are working short staffed we are living pay checks to pay checks not even enough money to make ends meet. He said that he was going to bring jobs to Florida but now he saying he’s going to close two prison and cut over 1600 jobs the last time i check that is taking away instead of adding. Now if he want to cut bugets i can understand that but to cut jobs i can’t understand that. If he want to cut the buget find other ways one way is to release nonviolent offenders
I worked for the prison ssystem for more than 25 years and I retired from a pretty high position. A lot of what has been said here is pure BS. Inmates have it too easy in prison, today. They can lay aound, doing nothing! The eat as good or better than our military – I know, because I had to eat the military food! There is one Officer, most of them time, in a dormitory with 150 – 200 inmates. The staffing levels have already been cut to the bone, as far as Officers on the ground. They actually need more staff or we will continue to read about Officers being murdered, while on duty. It is a job that I tell everyone to stay away from. It just isn’t worth the stress or the lack of appreciation by the public.
As for the cuts in Administrators – good for Governor Scott! One cut, in particular was well overdue and the was Assistant Secretary George Sapp. He should have been fired when Crosby went to prison, because he was one of Crosby’s “partners in crime” and he ruined several people’s careers just because he didn’t like them. So, that’s one step in the right direction. They have 2 Asst. Wardens at each prison, making approx $75K a year, plus benefits. One Asst Warden can do the job that the two do now. There is a lot of staff in Central Office that could be cut, as well. So, I hope the Governor makes the cuts where they need to be and not let the upper level staff protect their own empires.
One other area that the Governor needs to clean up is people like George Sapp allowing his buddies to retire, draw the retirement out and then rehire them at the same salary as before. This has been a practice afforded to upper level staff, like me, but, an Officer could not do such. In fact, in most cases they would not rehire the Officer or if they did, they made them start at the bottom. Such has been the way of doing business for Sapp and the other executive staff. So, cudos for Gov Scott for firing Sapp!
I do not think Governor Scott has listened or payed any attention to what happened to Holmes county last week at all or he would not be cutting jobs to do with Corrections. The correctional Officers deal with criminals daily in jails and prisons and they put there lives at stake doing this. We do not need to put any more on unemployment just do cuts. The higher up positions need cutting else where. He needs to rethink priorities about closing prisons and putting people without jobs that need them to feed and cloth there family. Everyone needs to stand and help each other in this economy we live in. I do not see how he sleeps at night thinking about closing prisons down putting the society at higher risk for there lives and putting more on other prisons by privitising them to lose retirement and cut in there pays.Or by letting inmates out early higher risk.
Bravo Gov. Scott!
Finally, we have are represenative that is shaking up the corrupt and incompetent upper layer at DOC. Why do they need so many positions getting paid ungodly salaries for doing nothing but covering up ongoing illegal acitivities? For years it has been a matter of public record in Clay County that the CHO at RMC had been in the imapired professionals program for prescribing himself narcotics! Yet, he ran the one and only hospital in DOC rather than seving a sentence himself! How many Regional Consultants do you need who do zip but drive around the state and offer useless information? He did, however, miss one: Tim Cannon…totally corrupt and a good old boy…Look closer, Gov. Scott. This one needs to go!
In response to “too funny”s comment: just an FYI the guard to inmate ratio at the prison my husband works at is 1:25. For every guard that they have in a dorm there are 25+ inmates. Cell extractions are done in full gear to protect the Officers from weapons that inmates make in their cells everyday. I can’t tell you how many times my husband has come home & said that he found several shanks!! These inmates don’t just make these shanks to decorate with!!! There are certain inmates that have to be escorted by several officers but that is only because they have a history of staff and/or inmate assults. It’s so sad to hear how many people don’t respect the job these officers do to keep us safe.
I’m am so proud of the job my husband & every other CO does everyday. If any COs are reading this: THANK YOU!!!! I know you don’t hear it enough. These men and women go to work everyday short staffed, underpaid, & under equipped!!
In response to sonia de la torre,
You mean to tell me you think Scott doesn’t have any personal interest in what he is doing? You are crazy! He is a business man and may be taking only one cent of pay a year but do you think he needs 100k a year when he is a multimillionaire? If you can spend 73 million on your own campaign I don’t think that salary would be a drop in the bucket for him. Give him time and he will screw us all for his own gain. He hired a committee of new employees for his office to “bring business to Florida.” I am sure he will have several included lol, with plenty of new tax breaks for new companies and land deals. I am a officer for the DOC and no we don’t live to high life, we just try to get by. The retirement system is one of the last things we have going for us, it sure isn’t the pay since we will never get a raise.
Ok Ok Ok I retract everything I said…. No one in prison is quilty and it is the most inhumane form of punishment known to man… No one should have to go there for any reason………I suggest that the state hire Morrisons to cater the cafeteria’s in prison… Maybe Holiday Inn can take over the housekeeping. And my gosh let’s get them cable t.v… Now does that make everyone happy……..
Gov. Rick Scott is in the position to improve and make the difference in the State of Florida. Yo may don’t like it, because your own interest and convenience. But he is capable to think what is the best to solve Florida problems, without any personal interest. He doesn’t even accept a pay. Mention one gov. who are getting one cent for his job. Anyone, just Gov. Rick Scott, just because he cares about us. Florida Department of Corrections needs some adjustment for a very long time ago. Who is making the profit of those fast food machines at the Florida Prisons? Prices are very high. And Thanks God and Gov. Rick Scott, finally we can see the hope, please trust him, give him and all his colleagues the chance and the time to demonstrate their capabilities. All projects and future changes are discussed with professionalism and experts in those areas, before became final. Please it is very unrespectful call names to anyone, if anyone in these colums doesn’t respect the Governor, the highest authority, who is going to believe themselves, and their work performance. Department of Corrections needed some clean up and I pray God the Governor be Enlightenment by our Creator to make the right decisions and changes. God Bless America.
To Luna,,,,,,, You have no idea what your talking about…… Inmates eat three meals a day, they have food from the canteen they eat everyday,, the inmates don’t go hungry….. You need to read up on your laws…. You can go to prison for up to one year for a first degree misdemeanor and have to pay up to a $ 1000.00 fine…… I know some got a raw deal with the court system BUT for the biggest part they deserve to be there……So you may need to get your fax together…..
IN response to hawghead
I wish you knew what you are talking about . Its just like rowdy said, and he/she is actually a prove of what kind the people the prisons are also full of. No just thieves or murders, Florida send people to prisons for petty stuff, There is so many other alternatives of punishment for non violent crimes. There is a lot people like you that does really know any fact about prisons and make all the judgments base just on your moral points of view. Now about the budget, the prisoners are the ones that will probably end up paying the most. Its already hard enough, to them . They give only enough food for them to survive now they will probable make a little more inhumane.
Rick Scott,Please consider shortening the percentage of time prisoners must do to be released.I have a son here in a Florida state prison who hadd the book thrown at him and sentenced for ten years just because he refused to take a “PLEA BARGAIN”! He has been in since 2002 and already has done his 85%,his scheduled release date is 02/2012.This kind of punishment is totally rediculous for someone who has a “CLEAN SLATE”.If the prisons are so costly then why do they hold people so long and not send them home and cut their time??Please Help!!
I THINK SCOTT’S CRAZY. MY SON RISKS HIS LIFE EVERYDAY AND NOW HAVING TO WORRY ABOUT LOSING HIS JOB. WHO’S GOT HIS BACK. IT’S CERTAINLY NOT SCOTT. HE’S KICKING OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT UNDER THE BUS.
If rick scott cuts the CO JOBS he has his reasons…it should only take 1 guard to do ANYTHING with 1 prisoner at a time not 5-8 to handcuff one and walk him to exercise or anywhere… if a prisoner refuses to come out of the cell for any reason it takes 5-8 COs to throw tear gas in his cell then handcuff him with shields,armor,night sticks, etc dressed like (G I JOE) so sickening if you (CO) ARE SCARED find another job. as for esc co jail cut the CO jobs there hire a cleaning crew to clean up the jail and a pest control kill some of the rats. enough said nothing personal and no i havent been in jail before all the good people from north escambia start on me
Scott talked a good game and we bought it hook, line, & sinker. In my opinion, people who are as wealthy as Rick Scott are rarely able to relate to the day to day struggles of those of us who work hard daily just to make ends meet. I don’t know if he was born into a wealthy family, but he seems to have absolutely no empathy for middle class Floridians – maybe he has never been where we are right now. Since we elected him, I’m not sure why we are complaining. Like Jimmy Buffet said in the song Margaritaville, “It’s our own d@m fault”!
As the mother of a young man who is wasting 20 years of his life away in prison,i can tell you first hand,it’s not a country club.He is in there for a reason and he knows it.The judge did not want to give him 20 years but with floridas law she had no choice.Maby something needs to be done to look over these preset sentences.I can tell you also that they do not watch cable 24 hours a day,the stink in those places is unreal.Food consists of tofu and other substitutes.There is no heat half of the time,and i can only imagine the summers in florida with no fans in the dorms.They are not allowed any kind of packages from home,which would help offset some of the cost of housing,dressing and feeding them.instead you have to put money on their account if you want to do anything for them,which they then spend on over priced snacks or personal items.Of course it’s a way for the system to make some money.Prisons are there to help rehabilitate people,but all they are doing is cage them like animals.Yes there are some who need to be locked away for life,but there are a lot of good guys and gals gone wrong, in the system,who could be doing community services and other jobs and contribute to society
.It’s always easy to sit back and make comments or judge if you have not been in a situation.If your families never had to deal with this,thank the good Lord for it,and please don’t tell me if they were raised right it would not happen.My children were raised in a military family,with both parents,no smoking,no drugs, no abuse or drinking.They went to church, were boy scouts, played all the sports in school and were relativly good kids.Sometimes no matter what a parent does,they take a wrong turn and there is nothing one can do about it.
Scott is a joke of a governer.
I have an idea since Scott has so much money to blow (he spent about $73 million of his own money on his campiagn) how about he puts some of it toward helping the DOC, the people he’s laying off, and our school system.
I walk by Faith and not by Sight i am not moved by what i see or hear im moved by what i believe. For the LORD is my provider and no man can control me. for i am a child of the most high GOD. we must not fear. i am a correction officer and its not an easy Job. Rick Scott ! Keep in mind every Correctional Officer is different, not the same, some come to work and work. do there job and follow chapter 33. some dont some come to get paid and let time go by. Rick scott Hear from GOD. if you want to release inmates that have been ruled guilty for a crime go ahead . but dont release innocent staff for doing there job i have a wife and son and i am the supporter for my family. the lord says if a man does not work he does not eat. if i cant support my family where will i be ? homeless. just a thought for you. but my help comes from the lord and whom i put my trust and so i am not worried .remember the Department of Corrections selected us to work for them we did alot to get where we are.
It’s becoming evident that criminals and their families are begining to like what this governor is proposing. (What does that say about the man?)
BUT WAIT….
Lets see how the prisoner activists react when they find out about the inmate cuts in Scott’s budget. Like cutting inmate food programs by 5.3 million dollars. Oh yeah, and only feeding inmates twice a day on Saturdays and Sundays, unless the inmate has a medical pass which would let him eat. Don’t believe me? Look it up for yourself. It’s on countless Florida news sites. Call your local rep and ask. And it’s probably made it to your favorite activist website by now. If not, be the first to mention it!
I have know problem with these cut backs.I also think that Florida needs to look at California and some of the other states that are letting the Non-Violent Offenders out early.Most of the Non-Violent Offenders have a Drug and Alcohol problem.They need to be treated while in Prison are let them out.They don’t need to be incarcerated,they need to be rehabiltated.They don’t need to be with the Violent Offenders.I’ve heard that the prisons in Florida are overpopulated by 100,000 inmates.I don;t have a clue what it cost to house these people,feed them etc.but lets say $35,000 dollars a year.Dang! that is alot of money that could be saved by letting out the Non-Violent ones.Good Luck! With your new job.
To everybody that thinks prison is a cake walk,
It’s deffinately NOT as “easy” as you make it out to be. My Mom is currently serving a thirteen month sentence that was ruled for her illegally. Yes I said illegally! In order to receive prison time (anything over eleven months and thiirty days) you must score one HUNDRED points, and she only acquired thirty-six and a half points. If you really want the prisons to be less burdened, then you should all write to the legislators and have them change these things. My mother was the one that would help anybody anywhere anytime for any reason. She is a great person that didn’t deserve the punishment she got. How can people say the prisons are over populated and then throw people in when they haven’t commited a crime that requires pricon time. It costs our state twenty thousand dollars to house each prisoner each year. If our government would perhaps punish them less or give them more “gain time” for good behavior, then our prisons would be less crowded and they could save our tax money for other improtant things. I’m eighteen years old and am now forced to be a single “parent” or my sixteen year old sister all because a judge adjudicated our Mom with a sentence she didn’t acquire the points to deserve. Not only is this stressful for me, my sister has begun to have panic attacks on a daily basis and we can’t afford medication for her now that my mom is incarcerated and we no longer have her income. We also are about to lose our house because the income we have isn’t nearly enough. Live my life for a week and i bet you would BEG to be back in your own safe little beds with loved ones around. Sadly that’s not going to be an option for me for a while. I guess it’s a good thing I still have my little sister to worry about or I probably would have quit college by now and killed myself. Too bad none of you actually know anything about anything.
in response to hawghead. florida prisons do not have cable tv and all inmate have to work monday thru friday. and the food is awfull. you ask me how i know. i did 3 years for driving on a suspended licsense.
Most criminals have no fear of prison. They get fed 3 times a day. They get to watch cable t.v.. They don’t have to work and they can just sit around take it easy. I say if you want to cut the prison system budget then stop the cable t.v.. Make them sit in their cells 23 hours a day. Feed them bread and water and soup. Make prison miserable and maybe just maybe these low lifes will fear prison and try not commit a crime. Just wonder if everytime your child misbehaved you sent them to Disney World. Do you think they would care if they got caught? I am all for cutting the budget as long as it is the waste.
I retired from another state that had an excellent pension plan at that time. Over time they revised it to include a 5% contribution which was matched by the state. These funds are PRE tax. Although I do believe that this would save the State a substantial amount of money, I don’t agree with the pay State of Florida employees particularly DOC officers are paid. They are grossly UNDERPAID. These men and women literally place their lives on the DAILY, to keep ALL of us safe. Oh, by the way I also worked for FDOC and quit because I was able to earn far more money in a private sector job with less than 10% of the same health and safety risks. Let’s be honest, government employees in Florida barely make money above the poverty level. Check it out. Give them the salaries they’ve earned and the raises they’ve done without for the past 5 years.
Realistic…Unions brought down the auto industry…
This article isn’t about pensions…and actually there are several options, not just your 2….increase vesting to 10 years being 1 of them, why it was ever reduced is beyond me.
Would an employee be forced to be in FRS and forced to contribute? If not I think most would go a different route and not participate in FRS…what do you think will happen to FRS then? Hmmm….
Anyway this is so off topic from the article and from the looks of it the only supporters of Scott are folks that want their convicts out of prison or whiners who think state employees (teachers, cops, co’s) have it too good….
One tires of hearing how the state employees are receiving a pension without having paid into it. Its 1.10% to 1.25% of the last five years of salary divided by 5. It barely a drop in the bucket. The employees of the State of Fla. fall in to the 10 lowest paid state employee groups in the nation. Many have to use their personal cars to do the work of the state and their own car insurance. You get paid mileage which barely covers the gasoline let alone replacement and repairs. This selfishness of people is disgusting. Those employees have not had a raise in salary in at least 10 years. Cut them a break.
Dear Concerned citizen,
Gov. Rick Scott did cut his salary. In fact, he decided to take no salary – except one penny. He took the one cent so he could technically be a state employee as I believe it is required for the governor to be an employee. It was one of the promises he made during the campaign and he has kept it.
I’m not sure why Florida state employees believe they are entitled to a free pension system. I understand you may have been hired with one – but we need to renegotiate plan and simple the state is out of money.
The problem with the pension system is when it was created people were not living into their 80s and retiring in their 60s. The system is not sustainable. There are a couple options here make people pay into the system or make them work longer so they they are not drawing a pension for 20 years or longer.
If you do some research you will find many states have gotten rid of the non-contribution pension systems. Corporations no longer have them. The pension systems are one of the things that brought down the auto industry.
My husband is a corrections officer at a state prison here in Florida. The thought that his job may get cut is very scary to both of us. Corrections officers never get the credit they deserve. It’s one of those jobs that people think can be done away with; until it is & all the people in the prisons are on the street. Corrections officers haven’t had a pay raise in over 6 years & now they’re wanting them to contribute to their retirement, but won’t give them a pay raise??!!!! Are you kidding me?? It’s hard enough to balance our household budget on what he brings home now, let alone them cutting more out of his pay check. I really don’t understand how cutting so many jobs is going to put Florida back to work. There are other ways to cut the budget without cutting jobs. How about putting together a committe of officers to get ideas from them about cutting the budget? I bet you it would surprise a lot of people how many ideas the officers would have. My husband and his co-workers risk their lives everyday so you don’t have to deal with the people they deal with on a day to day basis. What a way to tell them thank you by cutting their jobs and pensions!!
I have a daughter in the prison system serving a long sentence of ten years. How about shortening the percentage done in Florida prisons? She has been under very good behavior. She is not a bad person…she had a drug problem. I’ve written to many people, but no one has ever helped. Living in a structured environment is one thing – or maybe long-term rehab. The food has become horrible and costs have gone up so much. Many states have lower percentage rates than the 85% in Florida. So many prisons are overcrowded. Just a thought and a wish that I have. There are some that deserve to keep under lock. Others have promise to improve their lives. My daughter is one of them.
Thank you……congrats to your election!
Right let’s put 1,690 ppl out of work. Crime is running wild and he is cutting out law enforcement and closing 2 state prisons. They are already overcrowded.. So what do we do with them now? Put them back on the street so they can put our law enforcement and honest hard working citizens in jeopardy….I dont know how he got elected….. Cutting law enforcement .. The very ones that have our back is not the answer. Look out Florida ! Also cutting into the retirement …. What? … Let’s see him cut his salary and go out and do the jobs that the men and women of law enforcement do……right…..mmmkay
The top admin of the DOC may be heavy, and may need a reduction of force, but the lower end is short handed. I hope Gov. Scott doesn’t cut the real working people, and put their safety and ours in jeopardy.