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Attorney: County’s Words Changed In Proposed Agreement With Sheriff’s Office
March 20, 2018
[Update 3/20 9:20 am with comment from ECSO attorney)
The war of words has been ongoing for months between the Escambia County Commission and Sheriff David Morgan over his budget. And now the county attorney says someone changed the county’s words in a draft interlocal agreement.
On March 14, County Attorney Alison Rogers emailed a proposed interlocal agreement to Gerald Champagne, in-house counsel for the Sheriff’s Office. “Attached find both a word and a pdf of the draft interlocal. Open to a conversation about any proposed changes, but I think this is a start,” Rogers said in her email to the ECSO attorney.
In the interlocal agreement sent to the ECSO for review, the county’s version of the document states “These funds shall be inclusive of all benefits and raises.”
(story continues below image, click to enlarge)
Midday Monday, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office posted images of the interlocal agreement, stating, “We are attaching the working copy of the Interlocal Agreement that was abandoned by the BOCC. Their initial draft is in black. Our additions and clarifications are in red in the pictured documents provided.”
(story continues below image)
The version posted by the ECSO shows a line “These funds shall be inclusive of benefits and raises, and associated personnel cost”, with a strike-through indicating the ECSO wishes to have the line removed and replace with their red-letter text.
“But what they posted is not the BOCC’s initial draft,” Rogers said. “Somehow the words in the county’s original were changed.”
“The document we posted with our press release is the exact document that we sent to Alison Rogers, Escambia County Attorney, on Wednesday, March 14, 2018. At the time, our legal staff was engaged in what was believed to be a good faith effort to flesh out the details of the mediation settlement,” Champagne said Tuesday morning in an email. “The language in question was mistakenly added and stricken, and this was merely a scrivener’s error. If the County had not abandoned the attempt to draft an Interlocal agreement, they could have pointed out this error and it would have been immediately corrected. The County also could have accepted our invitation to engage the mediator to work through the issues in a final agreement.”
The lines in question from the two documents are highlighted below, click to enlarge.
County Version:
ECSO Version:
Comments
12 Responses to “Attorney: County’s Words Changed In Proposed Agreement With Sheriff’s Office”
REGARDING:
“Obviously … the county sheriffs need to be under the commission and not a direct constitutional officer.”
It isn’t obvious to me.
I don’t see how putting the county commissioners over the sheriff would assure or just make more likely that the sheriff would do a better job of protecting us than he does when he answers directly to us. Remember, they give away public roads on whims at best.
Sure, he sometimes seems to be using public monies to put his face on giant signs for us to admire, but at least he looks better on a sign than they would.
David for remembering the difference
between 6 and half a dozen
Native & Bob C,
You are both right. The bluster of how great a sheriff he is, is too loud, who is he trying to convince? Certainly not the criminals.
Bob C,
It is funny you mention a 20 year employee not showing up for work, co-workers not allowed to ask about him, dept. going crazy, sheriff directs employees not to talk about him, he’s not fired. Something is wrong. If this guy is in a hospital somewhere, where is the agency support? If not for him then his family? WTH? Does no one care about this poor bastard?
Just my two cents
Obviously the Florida Constitution need to be changed and the county sheriffs need to be under the commission and not a direct constitutional officer. Look at Escambia and now also the sheriff Israel involved in the Parkland fiasco. The Governor of Florida needs to see this. Its not working.
Bob C, interesting comment. Maybe that is one reason, the ” regular salaries and wages” s ( a good indicator of hiring), goes from 2016 NON SWORN , at 9,071 726 to 2017 NON SWORN OF 9,666,130, AN INCREASE OF 600THOUSAND OR SO, WHILE SWORN regular salaries and wages goes DOWN, from 16,042, 240 in 2016 to 15,331,520 in 2017. Could the increase in non sworn be for the “media group”?? and what is the budget for 2018? Each Department and constutional officer, should be in the process of building their 2019 budget now.Guts enough to ask the question Commissioners? Budget cycle is coming on now for 2019
Here we go again. The real goal of this exercise is more publicity. Those spearheading this comical charade don’t care two cents about the deputies. When the sheriff has two BLAB TV shows, five weekly radio programs and a YouTube channel it seems PR is more important than the PD. You have to worry about the fairness and integrity of a law enforcement agency with such an obvious display of arrogance at the head.
Heard that Mr. Morgan wants to make sure his Very Important Press group with all their expensive gear, equipment and high heels and unbelievable amounts of makeup will be ears deep in the trough of public monies.
Jeepers, we’re even seeing the Grinnin’ Knight on billboards again how much does that cost and who’s getting rich from them?
Yep, Spin that Wheel of Misfortune, maybe if the Public Relations gang put the photo of the ECSO’s Chief Financial Officer on there someone could find him and why he’s missing from work. Hard to budget when your budget-guy is out of pocket.
time for king morgan to go
Lou, that is also what I thought, until I got the accounting records for 2014/15/16/. and 2017. In those records is an entry called “Executive Salaries”. It had been my understanding, that this line reflected ONLY the salary of the Sheriff, and no other costs. The profile for that line entry is 2014 : $136,329 2015 $ 160,413 2016$196,568 and 2017 $ 150,709. Those are year to date expenses. The budget for each of those years is <according to the report, 2014 145,676, 2015 144,781 2016 144,728 and 2017 147, 077. The date of those reports is for the accounting period 13 of the appropriate year . That I have been told is the year end report for the appropriate year. I have bben told the salary set by the formula is about 144,000 a year,. My understanding of what is included in that index code, must be wrong, but sure would be nice to know what makes it up. Got any idea, Comissioners???. I think that I remember in the information that went to the governor, hhe is giving himself a 2,000 "assignment pay" amount, but, again, not sure.
Lou,
The Sheriff salary is set by a state formula according to population size and statute. He can’t give himself a raise. Just like the commissioners can’t give themselves a raise but they just got one last year (state action) and they didn’t all refuse it. (Some did.)
The first payment of $1 million was to go straight to the patrol deputies. Not anyone in Admin. I’m not sure at which point it fell apart but it doesn’t surprise me. This administration is something else. Not so much the admin but the Sheriff himself. He did in fact ask for a raise for himself during the last budget request. That’s not assuming or making things up. It was posted right here on NE when they posted the contract and what all was being asked for. There are certain “units” that are specialized that get assignment pay. X amount of dollars a month for working investigations, and what have you. What most people at the agency have a problem with is the ones that are not in a specialized unit that get assignment pay. IE: patrol cpts, Cols and so forth. They already get a substantial increase in pay. Most of them work days. Not saying they didn’t earn it, because most do have a lot to do with but $300 a month for just being a captain. Again, they were put there because they worked their way up the ladder, but the “assignment pay” is kind of ridiculous given the pay raise they already received. As for the Sheriff, he asked for $1,000 dollars a month for being Sheriff?!!!! For assignment pay?!!!! That’s a joke?!!!! Deputies are making barely enough to eat on, working 70 hours a week to make ends meet, and the Sheriff is asking for $1,000 a month to be Sheriff when you make 6 figures to begin with???!! And you have never been a sworn law enforcement officer! ! Anyone see anything wrong with that?! Now while it is greatly appreciated what they are doing trying to get the pay right, some things just don’t help the agency or make the agency look good as whole. But I continue the support in the fight to get the raises and I hope they do get raises! They more than deserve it! Thank y’all for everything y’all do LEO’s.
It looks like they basically didn’t change the proposed agreement but rather the placement of the phrase along with dropping the silly “and associated personnel cost” which should not be part of the consideration anyway.
Imagine saying, “I’m going to give you a raise, but it will include what I have to pay other people. Oh, and I decided to give them all of your raise.”
David for clarity and honesty
Looks like our Commissioners are trying to meet the Sheriff half way….Sheriff Morgan needs to give a little too! We all support our Deputies but we all live here in this county and are underpaid also. Increases in the budget will eventually get passed down to us all. Not all of our Deputies even live and pay property taxes to Escambia County. I wonder how much of a raise is in this for the Sheriff as well! Can’t wait to see Gov Scott’s response…he hasn’t been very good to the State of Florida employees.