'Newspg11.indd' by The Newscaster

Re: Yankeetown Council meeting May 5th 2014

Part two of a three part commentary.

Bradly Roger Bettin, Sr, P.A.

In the real world , when an employee refuses or fails to perform the given job

description, corrective counseling with a time line to make improvements is done. In the

Attorney and Counselor at Law

case of Yankeetown this just may not be the case. This sets a precedent which can create radly Roger Bettin, Sr.

problems for the Town in the future. To my knowledge there is no performance reviews of

96 Willard Street, Suite

employees, yet there are automatic pay raises. This leads to question how performance re- f Counsel

Telephone (321) 639-

lated raises can be considered without some documentation of an employee's performance. avid M. Presnick

The bottom line is that the town council should direct the Vice Mayor to reprimand the

employee and begin the warning process and also begin the process of annual employee

e-mail: brad@bettinla

performance reviews.

The bid for paving of 56th street allowed 300 feet to be resurfaced, the Councilman

in charge of roads advised the council the entire road should be done, a cost of over double

plus the $8,000 budgeted. The councilman put his best foot forward attempting to get ap-

proval to do the entire road. However again the Vice Mayor convinced all members they

should not spend the additional monies, doing it "half-assed". Here is the issue the town

continues to grow its reserves to over $700,000 yet little to no capital improvements are

Sally McCranie, Town Clerk

done. Simply put we keep socking away tax payer dollars getting measly CD interest rates

and two years down the road that same job will probably cost 5% more. To be continued.

Jack Schofield, Yankeetown

Members of the Town Commission

Sherri MacDonald, Deputy Clerk

Letter to the Editor,

Re: Sunshine Law & Inglis Commission

CommissioneraW15, '2014y 13, 2014 requeCommissionerion

st for investigat White

As owner of Shrimp Landing Restaurant in Inglis, I would like to make it clear that

the meeting recently held at a local restaurant which may have violated the Sunshine Law

Date: May 14, 2014 From: Attorney Bradly Bettin To: Town Clerk, Mayor, Comm.

was NOT held at Shrimp Landing Restaurant!

Many patrons have approached me with questions regarding this so called meeting

FOLLOWING UP ON YESTERDAY'S MEMORANDUM . . .

at which time I directed them to Inglis Town Hall.





One way to avoid this situation is hold all meetings at Town Hall where the month-

Once again, Article IV, Section 2 of the Charter reads:

ly commission meetings are held and make all our elected officials aware there is an up-

5093 S. Orwell Pt., Homosassa, Florida 34446

The Town Commission shall be the judge of the qualifications, election and returns

coming meeting.489-4588 Fax:can decide whether or not they want to attend and input

Phone: (352) At this time they (727) 362-4788

of its own members; it may enact rules of procedure and may prescribe penalties for

mail, Tom Russell, not. Isn't this what they were elected to do "Represent the People?"

suggestions or Publisher: thenewscaster1@gmail.com

the nonattendance or disorderly conduct of its members, and enforce the same.

ail, Debbie Russell, Editor: owners appreciate when our elected officials patronize our busi-

We as business debbienewscaster@gmail.com

Four-fifths (4/5) of its members concurring, it may expel a member for improper

m · newscasterarchives.com · history.newscasterarchives.com you are having in public

nesses; however, I can personally say "If you know the discussions · thehealthcaster.com

could be construed as breaking the Sunshine Law .. DON'T DO IT"

This language invites a number of questions

InglisHall

Town 

Lisa M. Flanders, Inglis

Owner Shrimp Landing Restaurant

Have rules of procedure been adopted and penalties prescribed for dealing

From    

with disorderly conduct of Commissioners?

What is the scope of "improper conduct in office?"

We are investigating allegations of misconduct made against one of our Commis-

        

sioners. When it is complete, we will present the findings to the Town Commission and they

Does it pertain only to actions which the accused Commissioner took

will decide theissue. willbedecided theon or rumor mongering

  It ·  ·on  merits, not  the gossip

Memorandum re: Investiin ahiionh(UPcaAacE) of Commissioner or in which the accused

which  passesfor "politics" town.  

 so often      in this   

Commissioner invoked his/her position?

  teach kidsinAmerica,there isapresumptionof innocence, or as it is

We   our  that,       

commonly stated "innocent until proven guilty". However, some people apparently think

the presumption of innocence is only for themselves.

There shall be an independent commission to conduct investigations and make

Glenda Kirkland, Mayor

public reports on all complaints concerning breach of public trust by public officers

Memorandum peoynvesnotatiotn i(UtPDATsdiction of the judicial qualifications commission .

or emr l: Iees tig wi h n he juriE)

    

Editor's Note: The exchange of letters took place between Inglis Commissioner Michael

   and

R Y White Iand G town's attorney T O Bettin between May 13th May 15th 2014. Be-

T H N the M A D E Bradly O R D E R

Article II, Section 8(f), Florida Constitution (emphasis added).

cause of limitationsthemost sections of Attorney Bettin's response were

  space    inportant 

used. GlendaKirkland,

 Mayor   according to attorney Bettin is gathering written statements

It's appropriate to continue gathering information from all persons who have personal

That "aln"wleignifocahe-inn iPedraza vt.oHollnanthat, evi-denc92whA-27,raffmmy de95 .So. 3d 237, it led

k lo is sdge if tnt i c dent and fer ow dez 12 193 e -Cereve it ir a e l ad

from.OnthehomepageRead fulldocumentation audio and pdf documents.

o all persons link to  audiopage for our website: http://thenewscaster.

 m    involved.  the Inglis   on

the Miami/Dade Circuit Court to dismiss with prejudice a lawsuit which claimed a candidate for

2electio"Wihed halspefnnancit?l"dwillloneedstoebe use ltuateubjecitgmtattf r -hbrtetachioforubaicotnugatbyrfeling

n f l at fap e is nexa isc sure b ca eva he sd in l h oe w a he nf p m lti r st he id



false drecleaslu.res - was within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commission on Ethics. Applying that



reasoning to the present case, any claim that a Town Commissioner has committed a "breach of



3publicArusres- ntasI'm withdrhwing e ofrethimmeindatitonnfohe solblac d extilng iofethurisdictionsofnthe

t t p t" e h , violated tae codmy co cs - s wi hi t r a pue i nm ec us v j e Commis io

CommissaddronsEthicis.sue. If it turns out this is a matter within the jurisdiction of the Ethics

Commission, it may have to go there, in which case a public meeting airing all the issues

would be inappropriate.

What are the Charges?

 

The Standards of Conduct applicable to members of the Commission are codified in Chapter 112,



Generally speaking, Commissioners can't solicit/accept gifts with the

understanding that votes/actions will be influenceWOODs with the Town, receive unauthorized

d, do busines FIRE PIES



compensation tendered to influence votes/actions, use their public office corruptly to obtain some



advantage, be involved in disqualifying business relationships, disclose "non-public" information



obtained by virtue of their official position to obtain some advantage. §112.313, Fla. Stat. There



are other prohibitions - nepotism, voting when the Commissioner has a disqualifying conflict of



interest, failure to make required financial disclosures, etc.





Generally speaking, if the "charge" in question is one which falls within the broad jurisdiction of

the Commission on Ethics, then, based on Art. II, §8(f) of the Florida Constitution, the Commission



on Ethics has exclusive jurisdiction per Pedraza.

There is one "caveat," however. In adopting its code, the Legislature also adopted §112.326, Fla.