Commissioner Sears Accuses Mike Fender Of, Get This, Not Telling The Whole Truth.

The Florida Times-Union
July 24, 2007

Cuisine at jail lands Georgia sheriff in hot water

By GORDON JACKSON and PAUL PINKHAM, The Times-Union

WOODBINE, Ga. - Do real jail inmates eat quiche?

It's a question Camden County commissioners may want to ask tonight when they consider approving the budget for the Camden County Sheriff's Office.

According to a review of itemized receipts of the Camden County Jail by the Times-Union, petite quiche appetizers, purchased Oct. 12, are among the questionable items bought for inmates.
The receipts of the jail budget also show the Sheriff's Office purchased 10 tiki torches and citronella on May 18, 2006.
The 2007 receipts indicate inmates are served eggs and bacon or sausage for breakfast on a regular basis. Lunch consists of ham or turkey bologna. Dinner items include fish such as whiting, grouper and pollock, meats such as Boston butt, pork chops, beef round, rib-eye steaks, smoked ham, all-beef hot dogs and turkey breast.
Dessert items, according to the receipts, include key lime cheesecake and vanilla and butter pecan ice cream.
The purchases will make it difficult for some Camden County Commission members to approve the sheriff's budget at tonight's special meeting.
"It begs the question, 'Is this food being used at the county jail or somewhere else?' " Commissioner Steve Berry said. "Are they the most cost-effective food items? Obviously not."
Commissioner Katherine Zell said she was having "a real hard time" understanding some of the items purchased as part of the jail budget.
"They're fed extremely well," she said.
Commissioner David Rainer said the jail food budget is "something they should look at" as a way to trim expenditures.
"I would expect you would get a balanced meal as economical as you can make it," he said. "They shouldn't have feasts. It shouldn't be extravagant."
But Charlene Sears, a commissioner and community relations officer for the Sheriff's Office, said she isn't aware of any questionable food purchases.
Sears said four inmates can be fed with one pound of Boston butt. The fish purchased for inmates is always the least expensive offered by vendors, and the ice cream was a reward to inmates for painting the jail and offices at the Sheriff's Office, Sears said.
Management of the jail is up to the sheriff, Sears said of the inmates' meals.
"I have not seen evidence the sheriff is abusing his food budget," she said.
Jail may be over budget
Sears accused commissioners of "holding the budget hostage" while they debate how the sheriff can trim expenditures.
"The employees who are doing a good job are being held as political hostages," Sears said.
But Berry said the jail food budget is $80,000 over what was authorized for the fiscal year ending July 1. And some items raised serious questions.
"I cannot imagine any use a jail would have for a tiki torch," he said. "It's expenditures like this that would raise questions about the purchasing of the Sheriff's Office. Can we afford these kind of expenses in this time of tight budgets?"
Berry said he tried to question the Sheriff's Office about some of the expenditures for inmate food earlier this month and received little cooperation.
"They were very rude and obnoxious about it," he said. "We were basically told this is none of our business."
The watchdog's watchdog?
Sears expressed concerns about finance director Mike Fender giving accurate information about the financial situation of the county.
"At times it's inaccurate," she said. "At other times, we don't get the entire picture."
She called for an audit of the entire budget for the county, including the Sheriff's Office.
Berry said Fender is being scrutinized because he has asked questions about the sheriff's budget in recent weeks.
He said there has never been a complaint about Fender's job performance until he began asking questions about the sheriff's budget. He said Sears "needs to be representing the people in District 4 instead of fighting the sheriff's battles."
"First the sheriff is $1.3 million over budget and now they want to fire the guy who caught this," Berry said. "Every organization needs a watchdog. Now, they want to fire the watchdog."
gordon.jackson@jacksonville.com,
(912) 729-3672
paul.pinkham@jacksonville.com,
(904-359-4107
This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/072407/geo_186497690.shtml.

TRSP Review: What is he not clear about Ms. Sears? You can't make a statement and not back it with proof. That is irresponsible.