Cognitive Dissonance & Fiscal Illiteracy

I know, I know—Big Words. Cognitive dissonance is confusion resulting from dichotomous & opposing views about one principle. Sir David is the personification of cognitive dissonance. His latest publicly embarrassing rant is about deputy pay raises. Morgan fumes to WEAR:

“It’s nonnegotiable,” Sheriff Morgan exclaimed. “We’ll settle this in front of Governor Scott. We’re not going to negotiate this. This is nonsense, I’m done. I have a board of county commissioners unfortunately that appears to believe that they’re smarter than we are…..It’s OK for an officer to catch a bullet from a thug, but county commission won’t give them a pay raise.”

While these statements have a great deal of truth to them, the BOCC is smarter than any and all the admin at the ECSO & the officers that retired in 2009 had more longevity with greater performance based success that reflect in the crime numbers. They also had higher standards to pass on a day to day basis. According to sources at the academy, as many as 65% don’t pass the full curriculum. Of that remaining 35%, a high percentage (what is estimated to be half) of them find their first couple of months in FTO, proves to them that a place in this agency is not for them. Now that could be because the people being recruited come from PCC (sounds like a punchline but it is, unfortunately, true) or because the standards have been so low to populate approximately 2.5 times the number of classes churning through the academy than any other point in the last 15 years.

To get back to the cognitive dissonance of Morgan’s latest tantrum on the news lies in the fact that while he accuses the BOCC of letting his deputies “take a bullet for a thug” rather than get a raise, he fails to disclose the increase in the budget at the beginning of this year that he BLEW on hiring an “UnderSheriff” to soak up funds to populate 1 job position for 2 of his followers, Chip Simmons & Eric Haines. Two salaries for 1 job that has been parceled out to 2 people. A colossal waste of funds. Not to mention the money, he gave Andy Hobbs, David Ingram and Amber Southard that makes every raise in the ECSO look like chump change; his fiscal illiteracy provides the cognitive dissonance we see today. Yet his strategy is to bitch about and shame the BOCC members when he, not them, wasted approximately $200K in these horrible decisions to stack the top of his agency rather than put the money towards the rebuilding of the agency he single-handedly dismantled by forcing out 62 deputies last year.

Now let’s talk about that number, 62. Of those 62 who left the agency last year, at least a third have entered into civil suits for discrimination, civil rights violations and sexual harassment against Morgan personally and professionally. That is a skyrocketing number of suits against any ONE Sheriff. Another meritorious distinction this non LEO sheriff claims.

To simplify this for some of the current admin at the ECSO and the Honorable Sheriff, you can’t bitch about how the BOCC regards your deputies’ pocket book when you already stole from them too. That is cognitive dissonance–berating someone for something they shouldn’t do when you did it as well but don’t think you should be berated or judged. Hypocritical is another term in this case that would apply. The money in the budget he gave to Chip Simmons, Amber Southard, David Ingram & Andy Hobbs. They got the money that deputies deserved. Morgan mismanaged that money by rewarding his favorites in a grandiose fashion, leaving the rest in the cold.

That brings us to the fiscal illiteracy. The fiscal illiteracy refers to his failing to manage the agency in the way it should be, despite the fact the Honorable Sheriff claims he can. I don’t know, maybe Webster University’s graduate level business classes, 37+ years ago, didn’t prepare Morgan to actually use numbers as high as the Honorable Sheriff has to work with today. Maybe there are too many big numbers for him to understand in one budget. I don’t know.

Let’s look at the over all money issues historically Morgan has had:

*in the military, he allegedly was skimming government money via credit cards, resulting in his early retirement

*the mishandling of the budget regarding the jail that resulted in him losing the oversight of that jail

*the employee that embezzled $150K from the LET fund for years without anyone knowing and his CFO keeping his job even though he facilitated larceny

*the citizens’ complaints on how LET money is spent resulting in an investigation by the State Attorney.

There is a pattern of misappropriation. It seems very clear to those of us who pay attention.

The conclusion, based on the past history of this Honorable Sheriff leads to the reasonable assessment that, either he is criminally responsible for misappropriation of taxpayer funds as well as mismanaging criminal justice principles and personnel necessary for a LEO agency in the 21st century,

He has been given too much responsibility for his capability. He cannot seem to handle doing the duties of his post, which is to maintain law and order while sustaining the county’s fiscal well being and safety.

You decide.

I almost forgot to give a shout out to Gerry Champagne for trolling and liking my FB page for Florida Open Gov. Initiative.

CORRECTION:

I mistakenly said that 65% failed the academy. That is incorrect. The cadets go through the academy fine; it is 65% failing out of FTO or discovering this job is not for them. My Bad.

A REAL “ASK THE SHERIFF”

I got this letter in response to a Facebook post:

Jimmie,

Recently, you posted on Facebook to list crimes committed by Morgan or the ECSO. There were a few responses and I applaud those who can speak out. Had there been an actual chance of people being able to exercise free speech you would have had many more responses. Sir David does not allow the speaking of wrong doing if it could cause his image to be tarnished. Had everyone been able to speak freely you would have been told stories that demonstrates people who destroy others for their own good. Stories of inexperience and inept leadership would have been described. You would have been told of people who will judge and destroy others but refuse to be judged for flaws they possess.

It is not even difficult to point out how unfair the ECSO leadership has been and continues to be. Now, one could believe that because Morgan has not been held responsible and is not mindful that he too must follow laws. Another explanation, for such blatant disregard for law, is because of ignorance to knowing the law. I would guess that it is a combination of the two obvious reasons. Sir David is an ignorant and inexperienced sheriff that has not been held accountable for improper actions. He has created a “brand” that resembles the rise of the Backstreet Boys more than it shows a law enforcement leader taking charge of a community to protect the citizens. The crime in that is appalling. Sir David has wasted 100s of thousands of dollars branding his poor law enforcement performance and creating a belief that he actually knows what he is doing. Those who support this effort are rewarded with undeserving promotions and pay increases. That is a fact that could never be argued. Anyone in the job, that truly understands law enforcement, would say that the ECSO has two worthless Majors that never accomplished mediocrity as deputies. Our PIO should feel fortunate that she isn’t paid based on the length of her skirts. If that were the case she would have to mortgage her home to pay the ECSO to work there. Sir David demonstrated that he does not care about the employees or the citizens by carving out the budget dollars he has for three people to pay back political or other favors.

Maj. Andrew Hobbs is making over $35 an hour and does not even supervise 10 people. In fact he is responsible for 6 employees. Two of the employees of Maj. Hobbs are sworn officers. Both of the officers under his supervision have more experience and accomplishments, as law enforcement officers, than Hobbs. The remaining employees are civilian employees with the assigned task of making Morgan appear to be a knowledgeable sheriff. That is a job that should come with a substantial pay increase. It must be a daunting endeavor to make Morgan appear to be competent with the lack of verifiable experience he claims to have. Couple that fact with his laughable antics in the numerous press conferences he has participated in and accomplished only looking like a poorly executed SNL skit. One would pause to consider how he found that many individuals to take on that job or why they would want that job.

Amber Southard receives a salary that is over $2600 for an 80 hour work period. This is appalling when you consider her job consists of mainly the production of propaganda to boost the image of an incompetent sheriff. She is provided an agency vehicle and fuel for the vehicle. She works a day schedule and, unless she has an abundance of drama in her private life, is never shot at, or spit on and is relatively safe during her work hours. Now, compare that to a sworn officer that will be paid just over $1300.00 for the same 80 hour work period. In no way does that seem to be a decision that any competent sheriff would make. In fact, it appears to be just what it is. Morgan provides for those who further his agenda void of consideration of the ethical obligation he has as a sheriff of our county.

Sir David has several law suits against him for wrongful acts to employees. He has allowed and been involved in destroying others for fictitious reasons but allowed others to avoid accountability when proven wrong. Lt. Frank Forte is a great example of Morgan ignoring wrongdoing because of personal reasons. Lt. Forte was caught lying under oath in his official capacity. Morgan took no substantial action against a lieutenant when proved to be a liar under oath.

Lt. Forte made a complaint on Sgt. Philip Nix about a court appearance. Lt. Forte stated that Sgt. Nix was “blurting” out derogatory remarks about the ECSO writing illegal tickets during a traffic hearing. Sgt Nix appeared under subpoena and testified in the case. Lt. Forte stated that Sgt. Nix was making comments that were embarrassing to the agency. Col. Steve Hardy responded to the complaint by Lt. Forte. He made efforts to get transcripts of the court appearance but never located the transcripts. Lt. Forte then had an opportunity to testify in an Internal Investigation interview and say whatever he wanted about the conduct of Sgt. Nix. Lt Forte continued to lie and embellish the story about court. Lt. Forte made an attempt to completely tarnish the reputation of Sgt. Nix. After reading the statement of Lt. Forte that was given to Internal Affairs one would conclude Sgt. Nix was an out of control maniac in court.

Apparently, Sgt. Nix was aware of the unethical conduct of Morgan and his posse. Sgt. Nix had paid for a transcript of the court hearing. Sgt. Nix did not provide the information to the ECSO and allowed the situation to take its course. The professional court transcript proved that Lt. Frank Forte was a liar. None of the accusations made about Sgt. Nix were true and Sgt. Nix had conducted himself as a professional would. I use this example because Nix is one of the only people who is not afraid of the backlash of using his real name.

Morgan took no action on Lt. Forte. The fact Lt. Forte is a liar was ignored…..for now. There will be point in time that Lt. Forte will have to explain his reason for ignoring the obligation that an officer takes to always be truthful and honest. Morgan will get the chance to explain all of the wrongs he has committed and many of those following his lead will enjoy that journey as well. I hope that they understand a Grand Jury is not as tolerant of liars and cheats as the Morgan administration is and what they are due will be paid.

In another incident, with an employee at the ECSO, an investigation by internal affairs finds reason to sustain or sanction policy violations for obeying the law. Most of you will read that sentence twice. It is true. An employee became a target of the ECSO administration and the rules, policies and laws were twisted until it was reconciled in their twisted minds the employee could be fired. The violation consisted of cooperation with an attorney during a deposition. The attorney was party against the ECSO so that would never be tolerated. Again, a career destroyed.

This matter will also be settled through a lawsuit. Morgan will distribute more taxpayer dollars to pay for the wrong he committed. More waste because of a staff that lacks the courage to tell Sir David he is wrong. It could be they are too selfish to take a chance on ruining their gravy train to stand for what is right. Many of those in a position of power in the ECSO staff is concerned that their “yes man” mentality did not prepare them for the job they have with Morgan or they don’t want to be exposed for the indiscretions committed in the past. Either reason creates a setting that forces them to vacate their principles always seeking Morgan’s approval first. There is no cost too high to pay for the approval of Morgan. If you follow the rules set by Sir David you will be rewarded with favors that have benefits some in his staff could never enjoy if based on their proven ability.

I would be remiss in my description of the ECSO if I were to leave Eric Haines out of this discussion. There is no rational reason that this imposter made his way to Chief Deputy. He has pretended to be something he is not his entire career. I regard to his advancement at the ECSO it could not be argued that he was successful in padding his retirement. Had our retirement system required that an employee actually demonstrate law enforcement ability during his career he would be on food stamps at the time he retires. Haines advanced his career pointing at the other person and pretending to be far more intelligent than he actually is. His bully personality is effective when you are in control of someone’s career. However, his actions have proven time and again that he has no conscious or consideration for any misery he causes. He appears to be the guy that is getting even with the world because he somehow feels life dealt him a losing hand. I can agree that he has numerous reasons to be pissed at life. Most people would consider themselves in hell if they were forced to be Haines. Haines does not have the right to continue to harm and destroy an entire agency and the employees who suffer from his foul display of a failed attempt to prove him a leader. He is not a leader and will never have the respect he is in search of because respect does not come from a title. Respect is earned slowly by those who make an observation of a person. They observe a person who is able to demonstrate needed ability to accomplish success in the area they are leading. Haines has never been successful at being a law enforcement offer and therefore will never gain any measurable amount of respect from true law enforcement officers.

All roads in this equation lead to Morgan. His fairy tales about law enforcement accomplishments and experience have proven to be laughable. It is easy to target him for silly “dress up like a big boy” uniforms and senseless remarks made in a desperate attempt to make it into the media cycle again. Then it comes to mind that this leadership has caused so much misery to those that encounter him with an opposing opinion. Worse there are lives that have been lost that effective leadership could have saved possibly. It is not that laughable when you actually take the time to evaluate who David Morgan really is in this situation. He is a failed sheriff that has hidden from the responsibility of that office. The citizens are suffering and they are unable to see the cause because the tax dollars they pay are being spent by Morgan to create an illusion all is well.

It is a shame that “Ask the Sheriff “isn’t a real thing. If it ever is I have questions. David, why did you leave the Air Force? Did you really pay for that cross thingy? Do you see the harm you have caused? Do you care about the lives you have ruined or caused to be lost? Do you lie in bed at night regretting the horrible things you have done to people? Do you really trust those you have surrounding you? You caused them to cut and run when you offered a better deal. Imagine what will happen when you are not the best deal anymore. .

Sincerely,

No Longer a Victim

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