Sheriff Still Trying To Avoid Court

As I have said many times the Sheriff will not take the County to court. He does not want to explain this mess to a judge. Now he is trying to slip some sort of a non compromise through the Commissioners. As you read yesterday 4 out of 5 commissioners are now on board with the 1994 agreement stating that the Sheriff must have a commissioners signature on the checks. One Commissioner is still against it. I wonder why? If you look at the audit below you will see why. Charlene Sears has received thousands of dollars from this drug fund. Do you still not see a conflict of interest. So districts1,2,3, and 5 all had their say, district 4 has no say and the district of the Sheriff is strongly against it. But we are all wrong and the Sheriff is right.

From:
The Florida Times-Union
September 6, 2007
Sheriff offers little change on drug funds
By Gordon Jackson, The Times-Union
KINGSLAND - An attorney representing Camden County Sheriff Bill Smith has sent a proposal to the County Commission that he says will "resolve all issues" regarding who controls a bank account containing confiscated drug money. -------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------

Brunswick attorney Terry Readdick sent a three-page proposal Tuesday that would give Smith control of the seized drug money account, which totaled about $1.6 million last year. The federal government returns seized drug assets to counties to be used for law enforcement purposes.
The proposal requires Smith to submit a quarterly budget outlining expected expenditures from the account. But the quarterly report is "for informational purposes only and shall not be subject to approval or denial by the Board of Commissioners," Readdick wrote.
Smith would not have to make disclosures that would violate any state or federal open records laws or that would compromise current or future criminal investigations, the proposal says. Commissioners will have the right to ask for proof that expenditures from the fund are legally spent.
Expenditures from the account became an issue last month after the Times-Union reported that Smith used it to pay jail inmates thousands of dollars since 2004, including payments to a convicted methamphetamine maker. Auditors hired by the county questioned an additional $23,000 in expenses last year, the Times-Union reported. Those include a $5,000 donation to a nonprofit spinal cord center in Atlanta and $2,500 to reimburse a sheriff's employee for getting a nursing license.
The report was based on itemized ledger sheets attached to auditors' reports obtained by the newspaper under Georgia's Open Records Act.
In a cover letter that accompanied the proposal, Readdick said Smith and/or Capt. Wesley Walker, a sheriff's deputy, are willing to meet privately with commissioners to discuss the offer.
"I believe the proposed policy addresses legitimate concerns that have been expressed by both parties," Readdick wrote to commissioners.
Readdick declined an interview request Wednesday to explain the proposal, saying he typically does not comment on ongoing cases. Commissioners filed a lawsuit last month after Smith refused to voluntarily return control of the account to them.
The proposal, however, did not generate much support among commissioners.
Amending the deal?
Commission Chairman Preston Rhodes said Smith should comply with the existing agreement reached in 1994 when commissioners turned control of the account over to the sheriff. Instead, Rhodes said, Smith is trying to amend an agreement that was never followed.
The 1994 agreement calls for a county commissioner to co-sign with Smith every check written from the confiscated drug money account. But there is no record Smith ever asked commissioners to co-sign any check.
"How can you change something already in existence?" Rhodes asked. "That's not what the law says."
Commissioner Katherine Zell said there is "absolutely no compromise" in the proposal.
"It might as well be blank paper," Zell said. "It didn't say anything to me."
Zell also said Smith should have followed the 1994 agreement instead of submitting a proposal that basically allows him to continue managing the account will little oversight by commissioners.
Commissioner David Rainer said he received the proposal Tuesday and has not had time to read the offer for comment.
'Whatever he wants'
Commissioner Steve Berry said the sheriff took the existing policy, which Berry described as "good, sound and reasonable," and submitted an offer that allows Smith to do "whatever he wants."
"It's actually cleverly written three pages of nothing," he said. "This is not a compromise."
Berry said the proposal is an attempt by Smith to change the law before he gets punished for misspending money from the account.
"This is more of his arrogance where he says, 'I am the law,' " Berry said. "I wouldn't even entertain the suggestions in this [proposed] policy."
Times-Union writer Paul Pinkham contributed to this report.
gordon.jackson@jacksonville.com,
(912) 729-3672
This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/090607/geo_197280503.shtml.


TRSP Review:

THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS. Except for of course Charlene Sears who continues to tell the folks in her district that she does not support them.

Back on July 1, I sent a email to all commissioners asking them to back up what I was saying on this blog. Berry did just that, and soon after Ms. Zell saw the light and so did Mr. Rhodes. And then finally Mr. Rainer stepped up and said the Sheriff should not have spent that 100,000 on the college scholarship. So in two short months we went from no support from the board to 4 out of 5. Not bad Camden County. Do you now see what can be accomplished if we come together as one. Good job.