Former Sheriff Morgan paid $75k on 2 bronze statutes to put in front of the ECSO. He used money that should have been used on resources internally like upgrading equipment, investigations and training. I don’t know how many times over the years I have said this jackass routinely misuses funds he is in charge of. Look at the money piddled away on political capital via the LET funds. The back pay of the deputies that is still in limbo and hasn’t been paid out to date. The Honorable Sheriff came up with an algorithm to give the deputies their dues. It spreads them out over time. But so many of those guys have been forced out of the agencies before they got what was due. What happened to that money???

Morgan was rumored to have misused a government credit card when he was in the Air Force. I definitely see a pattern of behavior. There are so many other times he has been irresponsibly played with funds. When you have accounting officials skimming for years, without detection, you must question the oversight of all monies into and out of this agency. If there are checks and balances, embezzlement would be detected in short order. But the CFO Henrique Dias never scrutinized anything, because he was too busy manipulating other monies at the behest of Morgan. Then you have Pam Childers, the comptroller, who doesn’t verify funds are spent appropriately concerning LET funds. What else is she not looking at?

This statute is so characteristic of this egomaniac, His malignant narcissism (Malignant narcissism is a psychological syndrome comprising an extreme mix of narcissism, antisocial personality disorder and sadism. ) will not allow him to quietly fade into the ether. He has shown time and time again that his overblown sense of self importance exists in every action and every word he uses.

Now he has agreed to buy the his own statute. But shouldn’t he pay for both? Potts could not have commissioned and approved spending on a statute of himself. Morgan did. So why is Chip allowing the money on that statute be wasted as well?

Andy Marlette chimed in:

After news of the shameful sculpture broke, Morgan later took to a radio show staged by uncritical questions from his personal friend and InWeekly publisher Rick Outzen to claim that he would reimburse the cost of his statue. Outzen said that would make the story “go away.”

Yeah right!! This is just the beginning. Outzen is completely disconnected to anything dealing with Morgan and his misdeeds.

Strangely enough, Marlette wants this to be put out on display.

The sculpture of Morgan is an allegory.   
Just as the crowned lady near Ellis Island represents “liberty” or the blindfolded scale-bearer represents “justice,” the self-commissioned self-portrait of David Morgan will forever stand as a perfectly fitting portrayal of Pensacola’s political class.
It embodies the ongoing shame and shortcomings of self-obsessed white men who have consistently wormed themselves into the highest perches of power. Yes, it is a statue of David Morgan. But it is also a reflection of ourselves. A symbol of our community. A sign of the times.
And this is why it must stand — as public art that tells an important and ongoing public story about those who hold power in this place we all call home…..But let it be seen

Pensacola news journal, Aug. 20, 2021

This little rant is reminiscent of the same argument I and others have made in the past. Isn’t that justification to have the Confederate monuments stand? Morgan has harmed so many people in the community and if it is necessary to memorialize him as a symbol of the era of his reign, then it is just as necessary to memorialize the other men of the community and their actions/legacy. Morgan has been responsible for the community losing good deputies, not acting on sexual predators within his command, misappropriating money that benefitted him only and this is just part of his betrayal of public trust. Hundreds, if not thousands, have been victimized by Morgan. Let’s not forget the astonishing growth of his net worth while being a public servant.. The millionaire sheriff.

So come on Marlette, let’s keep all the statues where they belong in the public forum, to remind people of the atrocities. This is a direct parallel, except the Confederates didn’t personally commission their own statutes. The community made that decision. But hey, Confederate officers deserve to be relegated to a corner of a museum. We don’t want anyone remembering history. Better they should not take heed of past event, to more easily facilitate repetition of such things.