THE HARDER THEY FALL …
Dear Readers … Well the VFD didn’t pull down his statue in the square and we haven’t verified the McIntee memorabilia has been taken down off the VFD walls …but Vice Mayor McIntee has decided to do a “Saddam” on those who were not loyal to him and did not vote him in as Fire Chief of the VFD… In the aftermath of that loss he was out of town…laying low …but he has returned and he is on a rampage of destruction to take the VFD down!… Why else would he go to the Town Manager and make requests for Chief Perkins salary for his first year as Chief…and the current VFD roster (prev. post) …Today McIntee and the Commissioners received more requests made by McIntee through Town Manager Colon …who suddenly is more than happy to “oversee” a “contractor” of the Town… Today’s memo “As requested, attached please find the VFD table for the Total Number of Drills, Medicals & Fires Credited and Compensated for Chief Bob Perkins.”…This is just too “rich”!.. McIntee has become the laughingstock in town!… Going after the VFD….is political suicide!… It’s time for the VFD membership to vote him out! …How can the VFD keep him as a member when he is trying to torpedo them!… How nuts is it that the former Deputy Chief is asking for information on the Chief who was side by side with him in the time frame he is making the requests for?… What does it say besides “scorched earth”?… If McIntee is trying to say things were amiss or questionable…then just as he did with the Town Manager’s 2007 contract…he was either complicit in pulling the wool over our eyes or he did not do his due diligence!…Either way he toast…with a short memory…
Jan 2009- Excerpts…When McIntee was newly elected as Deuty Chief and was “protecting”his “troops” from any questions or requests to the Manager from residents or Commissioner Dodd!….
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Commissioner Comments-VM McIntee……BC-commentary …Fire Department…
From the meeting….1/28/09….
VM- “Regarding the fire department. Going after people from communicating on a cell phone when going to a call , the pickup truck does not have a vehicle based radio. It has portable radios. If the person they’re referring to is going down the street with a siren he has something to his mouth. It’s probably the portable fire radio going to command and saying utility 12 responding. There are a hundred reasons.”
VM- “The other question about the uniform of the Chief, the equipment , the cost, those are all questions Commissioner Dodd could walk into the Chief’s office and ask him if he wasn’t satisfied with the answers then he could bring it up to the dais.”
VM- “I think it’s really blatantly an attack on the whole department to go after little things like that. I don’t understand those things. I mean the three trucks over there are the town property. The utilities, the ATVs are town property. Every time one of these trucks goes in for repair and the last one was probably 1500 -2000 dollars. The town doesn’t pay for those repairs . The volunteer fire department pays for those repairs. Their budget from the town money that was sent to them to keep that stuff up to snuff. An oil change is 500 dollars in a diesel. All the trucks need their oil changed every few months.When that SUV or ATV went into the shop it wasn’t the town that was gonna pay for it. It was out the pocket of money distributed from the volunteers to run their equipment that was part of our budget. So things break down.”
VM- “Why would you go after for a vehicle breaking down. There’s no hot rodding on the beaches. We got printouts of anybody going over 20 miles a hour. That vehicle was near the water . It went down into the dirt and it went down before the multiple wheel drive stopped working and it wouldn’t run through the gook. But to pick little items like that and attack the fire chief, I don’t know where you’re going with tat. Just don’t understand it.”
VM-“Let’s clear up the Deputy Chief thing once and for all. When I decided to run for Deputy Chief, I was asked by the department by a vast majority to run. I said well we know what’s going to happen, there’s gonna be certain people on the dais who’s gonna scream, certain people out there are gonna scream. So they called for a board of directors meeting. The board of directors sat down. I presented my position. They voted to allow me to run. They then called a special meeting of the whole department and they voted. I won’t give you the vote but it was 2 against and the rest were in favor for me running because I am not a corporate officer. I’m a line officer, I tell guys where to squirt the water and they wanted my vast years of experience in the field with them, leading them because I’m the best leader there for that. It was done by the rules of the department and done properly.”
VM-“Now I’ve got another, Commissioner Dodd asking the Town Manager about an ethics situation. How can I be Deputy Chief and where’s the paperwork on it. How would she know?”
Response from the Manager-‘They are contractors of the Town. Compliance with standard operating procedures of organization is a responsibility of the board, command staff and its members.’
Response from the Manager: ‘ They are contractors for the Town. Compliance with the by-laws of an organization is the responsibility of the board and its members.’
VM- ” I sent a letter to Tallahassee laying out what my position was on plain paper, not the Town’s paper and gt a letter back saying YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO. Now Judy Vik the reporter for the Pompano Pelican back there. She did her homework. She called Tallahassee and got exactly the information I just gave. Commissioner Dodd could have done that too. It’s public information. So there’s nothing being hidden here. I mean pickayu stuff.”
12/8/08
‘Dear Mr. Claypool,
I would like the Ethics opinion of this writer holding the position of Deputy Chief of the Lauderdale By The Sea Volunteer Fire Department.
I would like you to consider the following information before you render a Ethics decision.
A. The Lauderdale By The Sea Fire Department is the sole provider of Fire protection in the town of Lauderdale By The Sea.
B. This writer receives absolutely no compensation for service provided to the Volunteer fire department and if in the position of Deputy Chief I would still receive zero compensation from this department.
C. The LBTS VFD is a Florida corporation with corporate officers and company business officers. The Deputy Chief does not sit or act in any of these capacities under the corporate by-laws.
D. The Deputy Chief duties supervise and direct fire operations at active scenes and makes sure all training demands are met by the department members. The Deputy Chief has nothing to do with Corporate decisions or company policies, or spending funds of the department. It should be clear that the Deputy chief position is a line officer position only dealing with firefighting activities.
E. I am the most experienced fire fighter in the department and have over 45 years of experience.
Thank you for your time and consideration. Respectfully, Vice Mayor Jerome S McIntee’
The Response…12/19/08…
Re: Request for opinion,conflict of interest
‘Dear Mr. McIntee:
I have been asked to respond to your request for an opinion on the issue of whether a conflict of interest would be created by your serving as Deputy Chief of the Lauderdale By The Sea Volunteer Fire Department while also serving as a member of the LBTS Town Commission
You advise that the VD is the sole provider of fire suppression services in the Town, that you would receive no compensation for your services, that the VFD is a corporate entity and the Deputy Chief is neither a director nor officer of the corporation, and that the position on Deputy Chief is a “line officer position,” having nothing to do with budgetary or policy decisions of the corporation. The Code of Ethics for Public Officers or Contractual Relationship- No public officer or employee of an agency shall have or hold any employment or contractual relationship with any business entity or any agency which is subject to the regulation of, or is doing business with, an agency of which he or she is an officer or employee, excluding those organizations and their officers who, when acting in their official capacity, enter into or negotiate a collective bargaining contract with the state or any municipality, county or other political subdivision of the state; nor shall an officer or employee of an agency have or hold any employment or contractual relationship that will create a continuing or frequently recurring conflict between his or her private interests and the performance of his or her public duties or would impede the full and faithful discharge of his or her public duties {Section 112.313(7)(a), Florida Statutes.}
The Commission has already dealt with the issue in CEO 08-22, an opinion you requested. There, it was observed that Section 112.313(7) to be implicated, there must first exist an employment or contractual relationship. The Commission said:
It must then be determined whether you have a “contractual or employment relationship” with the VFD, since in the absence of such a relationship, there can be no violation. Although you relate that you were paid $160 in “training funds” for the months of March and April, you state that as of May 1, you have specifically declined any compensation from the Department. In CEO 00-23 we stated our view that refusal to accept compensation, given in advance and in writing, coupled with actual refusal of said compensation, would negate the element of employment, and therefore the potential of a prohibited conflict.
In the materials you provided in requesting that opinion, you indicated you received no compensation from the VFD and “have no intention of receiving any compensation from the LBTSVFD in the future.” Unless something changed in that respect, the previous opinion would still be applicable.
Sincerely,
Virlindia Doss
Deputy Executive Director’
VM-” It’s off the wall. Look after the big problem, let the little problems work on a head to head basis.Work it over with the individual and if you aren’t happy then take the next step.”
VM-” At least give the Fire Department Chief the courtesy, can I ask you about this and if you aren’t satisfied then take the next step or the AMR Chief or the Police Chief. I had a problem with the Police Chief about notifying residents about the burglary. Did I come and talk to you Chief? I didn’t make up all these things telling him how he should do it. I had my suggestions I mean but I never take the step of trying to micromanage something I know very little about.”
VM-” They have people going to fire scenes taking pictures of the Chief to see the way he’s dressed. What for? To cause trouble. That’s all, I yield”
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Interesting times for the VFD… McIntee held it over their heads that without him…the VFD would be decimated and BSO Fire would be back …The reality is, since December 14th…the VFD are being treated like Heroes…Doors are opening…Pats on the back and congrats greet them everywhere they go and the lines of communication closed off due to McIntee are now wide open with tons and tons of support…Hmmmm…perhaps we’ll soon find McIntee in a hole somewhere…hiding out?… If …”He’s doing a Saddam”….
more to come…
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Tags: Lauderdale By The Sea retaliation by the Vice Mayor, Lauderdale By The Sea VFD, local government, Local Politics, Luderdale By The Sea Vice Mayor Jerry McIntee, scoop, Scoops, VFD
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