Category: promotions

Thoughts on the Recent Promotions from Inside the ECSO

Recently promotions were made at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Congratulations to one that deserved the promotion. Sgt. Tom Kelly was promoted and now Is Lt. Kelly. This IS an actual promotion that should have happen and Lt. Kelly can perform at a level expected by the officers under his command. He will be an example of leadership and professionalism. Many officers will have a chance to observe real supervision, that has become folk lore at the ECSO, for the first time in their career.                    ‘

Now, let’s talk about another– Lt. Frank Forte was promoted to 1st Lt Forte. While Frank will brag as if he had the winning numbers to the Mega PowerBall about this promotion but it is truly lackluster when compared to the other promotions. In fact, anybody should be insulted if they are compared to Forte. He has performed every cut throat task with diligence second to none, except maybe Morgan.  He was passed over for promotion when those promoted had half the years of experience as he does and they were promoted to much higher positions. Because Frank lacks morals and integrity, he was promoted to a position that will allow him to be used. He will carry water for Haines and allow plausible deniability when Haines deploys one of his search and destroy missions. Add the fact that Frank is a documented liar and Haines has the perfect minion for his devious duty assignments. Frank is incompetent, dishonest, and vindictive. All the boxes are checked for what Haines expects from a person running Internal Affairs Investigations.

It could be also that Frank needed to be removed from any position that allowed further destruction of an already weak morale level of current employees. Frank has also been called out for offering rewards for law enforcement activity when assigned to a shift. His failed leadership style reduced him to paying, presumably from his own pocket, and what officers are already hired to do. A law enforcement leader should know that is improper and that process should alert those with decision making authority to look for a problem. A  quick glance would reveal Frank had to bribe officers with gifts to request an assignment to his command and he paid officers extra to simply do their job. This conduct does not have any characteristic of what one would consider a valuable leadership tool.

Now, to another individual that was promoted—Lt. Ken Simmons. He was elevated to the rank of captain. It appears he has begun to reap the rewards of a relative (Chip Simmons -Sheriff candidate and current Chief Deputy) being in high places. His career has been less than notable to this point. He has few qualities that separate him from the pack and a reputation that is less than honorable. No special training, education or accomplishment that would qualify him for advancement ahead of others except for having a brother as Chief Deputy. The obvious question would be if this is a nepotism violation. I believe the law concerning nepotism is clear and this will be a promotion that is reversed in time. Haines would know this but agreed to not fight it so he could avoid being blamed at a future time.

Moving along there are 3 sergeant position that were elevated to captain or above and a  deputy position elevated to captain. One would pause to wonder how you promote sergeants all of whom were inadequate for a lieutenant’s position to a staff position. That is a kick to the teeth of the good officers that earned their position on the list for lieutenants. I assume the message to the ones that took the time to study for a test and dedicate the time to do well is, don’t waste your time and become a member of staff. Apparently, staff is seeking known failures and skipping the process to discover the individuals promoted are failures. This idea of leadership is the reason the ECSO has evolved into an agency that is ineffective and embarrassing to the citizens it serves.

There will be more to report soon. The monster that is known as David Morgan will continue to allow the destruction of the ECSO by the hands of Haines. He will continue to claim victory when placing last and fail to build leaders tasked with protecting our county. If Chip continues to ignore these failures and associate himself with this failed administration, as he has consistently done since taking his oath, he will prove he is not the person we should support for our next law enforcement leader. Some may even believe he is just a continuation of Morgan. The rumors of infidelity could be true and Haines has the relevant information to control Chip. There are few facts to support Chip being worthy of election at this point. There are many facts to cause one to believe he is only an extension of the failed Morgan administration. A brother is promoted, failed first line supervisors brought into the administration, failure to be a leader when deputies’ rightful raises were being extorted, rumors of infidelity being leveraged against Chip, and Chip is silent all the way through it all. That adds up to incompetence or corruption. Chip should either speak up or step away from Morgan. Staying the course he is on, only indicates he is the wrong person for the job.

Anybody Got a Gaslight?

The following ECSO Personnel Orders have been issued:

2018-369              PROMOTION – Effective 10/20/2018, Sergeant Thomas Michael Kelly, #082, to Lieutenant, new radio number #046, remain assigned Administration/Professional Standards/Training

2018-370              RANK DESIGNATION – Effective 10/20/2018, Lieutenant Frank Michael Forte, #024, to 1st Lieutenant, remain assigned Uniformed Services/NO/P4/F Shift

2018-371              PROMOTION – Effective 10/20/2018, 1st Lieutenant Darrell Scott Allday, #036, to Captain, new radio number #017, remain assigned Administration/Professional Standards

2018-372              PROMOTION – Effective 10/20/2018, 1st Lieutenant Kenneth Alan Simmons, #029, to Captain, new radio number #016, remain assigned Community Services/SRO

2018-373              RANK DESIGNATION – Effective 10/20/2018, Captain Mindy Marie Von Ansbach Young, #018, to Colonel, new radio number #009, remain assigned Community Services/Court Security

2018-374            RANK DESIGNATION – Effective 10/20/2018, Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Eric Ross, #011, to Colonel, new radio number #008, remain assigned Investigations/Special Investigations

Danielle L Landrum, PHR, SHRM-CP, Human Resources Associate II

*Dawn Janes was also promoted from Sgt to Major, although not on this list. 

Now, this is just inflammatory to most deputies, but it is possibly the way Sir David may be using to manipulate his #2. Above there is one name in red, Kenneth Simmons, Chip Simmons’s younger brother. The problem with his promotion is a very strongly upheld and broadly defined anti-nepotism law in Florida which may obfuscate the horizon for Chip.

The law states:

A public official is prohibited from seeking for a relative any appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement in the agency in which he or she is serving or over which the official exercises jurisdiction or control. No person may be appointed, employed, promoted, or advanced in or to a position in an agency if such action has been advocated by a related public official who is serving in or exercising jurisdiction or control over the agency; this includes relatives of members of collegial government bodies. NOTE: This prohibition does not apply to school districts (except as provided in Sec. 1012.23, Fla. Stat.), community colleges and state universities, or to appointments of boards,other than those with land‐planning or zoning responsibilities, in municipalities of fewer than 35,000 residents. Also, the approval of budgets does not constitute “jurisdiction or control” for the purposes of this prohibition.

In the ECSO administration, it is POSSIBLE that Chip wasn’t behind this promotion for his brother, but the anti-nepotism law as it has been interpreted by the Ethics Commission and the Attorney General, really doesn’t take that into consideration. He merely must have been in a position to give input. Just the fact that someone has the potential to influence a promotion for a relative (deserved or not) is a violation of Florida law, in public agencies.

Now it is my suspicion is that Sir David will be running for Sheriff for 2020.  This is based on him not being able to go back to being John Q. Citizen. Without the power of the position, Morgan is just a common crook with no influence.  It simply isn’t possible for him to give up that addiction. For that reason, after backing Chip, it would appear that Chip’s extra-marital affairs and perhaps this nepotism issue with his brother are going to be used to leverage Chip out of the Sheriff position.

Because of the corruption in this area, if Morgan files his papers to run, he will win. His benefactors have him on the payroll and to break in a new Sheriff would be inconvenient. Morgan is already bought and paid for, why risk someone else stepping in that might clean up the corruption?  Personally, I don’t think Chip has the stones to do anything like that but he may be less controllable than Morgan.

Chip hasn’t even smelled the smoke, yet the house of cards under him is slowly burning away.

chip on fire

 

 

 

 

A Word from Within the ECSO

The past couple of weeks have been refreshing. Our county has been plagued with the laughable attempt of Team Morgan to masquerade as cops. The leadership they fail to provide the good law enforcement officers who deserve good leadership has been exposed. Morgan failed to deliver his promise. One may ask how that happen. The facts are that Morgan has worn out his welcome. People have started to call him out and see him as the emperor with no clothes. Not having the ability to bully his way into place, he has realized he must rely on intelligence and ability. Morgan gets a dose of reality and is aware he has neither, as it relates to law enforcement. The result of this revelation is a full blown all out-baby fit.

I would be the first to pay an increase in my property taxes to fund a raise for law enforcement officers. Sadly, for Morgan, I also believe that I had the right as that tax payer to verify he had been a good steward of my money to this point. Morgan is not capable of being accountable and is offended by anyone that questions him. His idea of what a public servant is obligated to do, does not include being held accountable for his actions. The public does not have the right to question his authority. Therefore, he does not get his budget. Morgan is defeated for the first time in 8 1/2 years. The public had an opportunity to see who Morgan really is–the Morgan, as he is described in the multitude of lawsuits, filed concerning treatment of employees.

I would be happy to see a sheriff’s office that had twice the officers and three times their pay currently. The officer is not the issue. Morgan creates a situation that causes the appearance that everyone wants to punish cops. Facts would support that Morgan has provided well for a few of the favorites. In past budgets, he gave staff members promotions and pay increases, created positions for staff, got a spare chief, and created a publicity empire. Is it fair to blame the public or county commissioners for taking pause at his arrogance to demand more money?

We associate addicts as being dependent on narcotics. When an addict can’t get a fix, they will become angry and hostile. An addict will destroy their life and the life of anyone around in order to feed the addiction.  Morgan has demonstrated that his addiction to power and he is as destructive as a drug addict. The moment Morgan realized his power could be diminishing he began to destroy everything in his path to hold that power. Elected officials who are tasked with statutory fiduciary duties have been attacked by Morgan because they disagreed with him with personal attacks & spiteful actions designed to scare and shock the public. Morgan’s intentional acts to create chaos in the county he took an oath to protect is a direct violation of the public’s trust.

It is not difficult to see from the actions of some staff members that Morgan encourages rogue behavior. The B string chief is often seen berating citizens on social media. Any question posed to him results in an attack of your intelligence or a sermon outlining the superiority he has that you can’t possibly be able to question. The comments are arrogant and unprofessional. His attitude is offensive and one would sense he has the belief everyone is beneath him, exactly what Morgan would suggest when he sinks to childlike behavior because he doesn’t get his way.

The answer to officer retention is not as simple as giving a raise in wages. There need to be a raise in the effective leadership of the agency.  This leadership should create strong work ethics and promote professionalism. The tactic of destroying people because you may disagree with King David is flawed. Fear motivates the weak or uneducated. Forcing compliance through fear eliminates any chance that a competent employee will make the ECSO a long-term choice. Knowing that you could be considered a foe for any reason deemed appropriate by Team Morgan does not promote the desire to be loyal or to stay with the agency. The feeling of dread we all face walking into the ECSO is not conducive to a healthy work environment. The lack of leadership in the Morgan administration has destroyed the agency to the point it may take decades to recover.

A quick look into the Morgan money reveals so many questionable practices that it prompts people to want to scrutinize all his financial handlings in the name of Escambia County. The B string chief receiving two raises in one year, two chiefs, two incompetent Majors, public relations team, and billboards cause any person with a calculator to stop and ask questions. None of the money spent on these positions is being put to the best use possible. We see that law enforcement isn’t the priority to David Morgan. The main priority of the ECSO is elevating Morgan to celebrity political status.

As if his behavior, to this point, isn’t embarrassing enough, Morgan goes a step further to produce a television commercial naming officers shot in the line of duty. The audacity displayed is appalling. This poser uses terrible incidents that have occurred to officers in effort to advance his self-serving ways. Had this imposter ever patrolled a single shift anywhere near any of the incidents he references, it is possible that could be tolerated. He has not and he does not get to steal the sacrifices those officers made so he can play dress up in his big boy cop uniform and bully those who oppose his strong-arm tactics. If he had a conscience, he would not be able to sleep at night knowing he exploited real cops to further the game he is playing. This is clear proof he does not value what those cops went through because he has no life experience to reflect on that resembles being an actual law enforcement officer

A person defending Morgan successfully would have to convince the public of many things at this point. Morgan has had dozens of employees file court actions against him. Many of those cases have been paid out and settlements reached out of tax payer money. Currently there are close to a dozen law suits pending. Morgan claims no wrongdoing. Consider that Morgan has fought with dozens of employees, BOCC, media outlets, over spending practices, extra duty employers and former elected officials. His administrarion staff (non-front line, cushy sedentary positions) has ballooned as has their salaries. Deputies will not stay at the agency to work. Crime is on the rise. Morgan’s answer to this. Pay for a billboard to give the big middle finger to people that have exercised a right to hold him accountable for his careless spending.

I suggest that the commissioners request an audit of the ECSO. Not the typical rubber stamp audit that Morgan refers to so often. Examine the employees that have separated in the past three years from the ECSO. A quick glance would reveal that the current B string chief could be the reason that retention is impossible. In the three years that he has been in that position the separation of officers compared to the previous three years is double. Is that just a weird coincidence? Add to that the proactive law enforcement activities plummeted in the same time. FYI that is why so many tickets are written for minor infractions. Because of incompetent leaders at the ECSO innocent people are subject to harassment from over achieving followers not equipped with the necessary skills or backbone to resist orders that are given to create an illusion of cops working hard on the street. The ones that do resist suffer retaliatory actions of Morgan.

Morgan often finds a partner to rally with to get what he wants. The budget issue is not different. Underhill has a love affair with Morgan that is somewhere between Fatal Attraction and Gone with the Wind.  If anyone would suggest that Underhill should be considered when discussing Morgan budget ask them a few questions. First, would it be wise to take budget advice from an individual will the bankruptcy record he has? If I had children I would not hire a pedophile as a babysitter any more than I would consider Underhill’s budget advice. If I am ever in need of complete financial failure advice Underhill would be the guy. However, Underhill is doing well financially at Morgan’s side. Morgan has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Underhill’s pet projects. I should give Morgan credit for supporting all of those under privileged children lost in that terrible private school system and being forced into those menacing gifted classes. There is a possibility that without Morgan and Underhill those poor children would have to attend a regular college and miss the chance to attend an Ivy League institution.

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Commissioner Bergosh is proving to be exactly what our county needs. I believe he was a quick study and has seen through Morgan and his sidekick. I hope that Commissioner Bergosh will ask for all the employees that have left the sheriff’s office and find a common denominator in the reason for separation. Find out how much money has been wasted on the appalling treatment of employees. How much money is our county spending on attorneys and settlements? I would wager that if he attempts that there will be another baby fit thrown by Morgan and minions. The fear they have for an outsider coming in and exposing the wrongs they have committed is too risky. They must fight to avoid true transparency.

My question at this point is simple. Morgan said he wants to go to Gov. Scott. I believe the statement was his bags are packed and he is ready. Why are you still begging then? They voted 4-1 that you will not get the budget you demanded. Your clothes will wrinkle if you don’t get them out of that bag. Either go to Gov. Scott or shut up. I would suggest that you cooperate and justify you spending but we all know that can’t happen.  There is not ever a desperate situation only desperate people. We won’t buy what you are peddling Sir. David. The situation is not dire you but looking foolish is. Continue to threaten you will  not do your job and you may just be invited over to see Gov. Scott.

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Too Many Chiefs!

Yesterday’s round of promotions was historic in that it ranked this administration as the most top heavy in recent memory. According to one source:

2 chief deputies $230k
4 captains  $294k
4 commanders $350k
Lt colonel. Wtf!– created position
2 majors $150k
3 colonel $240k
Admin cost over $1 million dollars.

Watching these idiotic cowards implode……Priceless!!

Being told that one department, who has 3 employees, has 6-8 superiors. What sense does that make? The biggest issue becomes the fact that this was unsuspected promotions. People were promoted by surprise, while others were left behind–no explanation.

This is nothing new with Morgan. We’ve seen him make decisions like this before. Most recent being the creation of the position and hiring of Chip Simmons.  However, Morgan takes ridiculousness to unexplored realms. Lest we forget the “Super Predator”, “thug culture” that is rampant in Escambia County or the “Witchcraft” killing.

People from outside the county have mocked Morgan for his absurdity, specifically the triple homicide that was tagged as a “witchcraft ritual” and ultimately it was not the fantastic as he wanted it to be.  He is a public joke. His deputies openly MOCK HIM. Really?

Are the inmates running the asylum?? Promoting their buddies and to hell with protocol, or who is deserving of mentioned promotions. He’s the clown handing out promotions like balloon animals  It is embarrassing.

Also, we have an uncorroborated report that Morgan went to the Sacred Heart ER before Christmas for “symptoms of a stroke”.  He wasn’t admitted, so clearly that wasn’t the case but TIA’s or mini strokes are still on the table. Deputies have mentioned Morgan just checks out sometimes. He’s there physically but it is like he is zoned out…sort of randomly.  Is there a neurological issue here? MS?  Alzheimers’s?

We all know that it certainly seems Morgan is off his rocker.

butcher-baker-candlestick-maker