MCINTEE-VFD REFERENDUM…………
JUST GOOGLE …CITY OF CAPE CANAVERAL VFD…
CITY OF CAPE CANAVERAL….COMBO- FIRE DEPT!….33- PROFESSIONALS/16- VFD MEMBERS….
‘Canaveral Fire Rescue is under contract to provide fire and non-transport advanced life support Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to both the City of Cape Canaveral and the Canaveral Port Authority.
The dept. was chartered by the State of Florida in April 1962. Currently, 33 dedicated paid professionals staff the dept, along with approximately 16 volunteer members. The dept. responds to over 2,000 Fire/EMS calls per year from the two stations’
LIFEGUARDS….
‘Also provided is Ocean Rescue Lifeguards to Jetty park, all year long 7 days a week.’
GUESS THE CAPE CANAVERAL VFD HAS NOTHING TO HIDE………
BoD Meeting
Open to the public @ Station 53
Wednesday Mar 4th @ 5 p.m
http://www.ccvfd.org/
THEN ADD….CONTRACT….
The internet’s a wonderful source of information…and “piggybacking”…on Ethics…HMMM…
A 1986 Ethics opinion online..
http://www.ethics.state.fl.us/opinions/86/CEO%2086-029.htm
Compare that to the 9/10/08 McIntee Ethics letter….( was the Mrs. surfing the net?)…
http://www.ethics.state.fl.us/Opinions/08/CEO%2008-022.htm
and again in Dec.2008…as McIntee sought to return to the VFD Deputy Chief role in the elections to take place in 1/09…(despite going against VFD Bylaws and his word from the dais)
‘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’
THEN REPLACE CONTRACT WITH ORDINANCE….
City of Cape Canaveral muni-codes…Is this what LBTS wants?……
1-Type in Volunteer Fire Department….
‘ARTICLE XIV. FIRE DEPARTMENT
Sec. 1. Authorization of fire department.
Editor’s note: This section has been editorially transferred to the Code of Ordinances as certain provisions of a Charter adopted prior to July 1, 1973, and not subsequently amended by referendum have been converted to ordinances by operation of F.S. § 166.021(5). This section is section 38-56 in the Code of Ordinances.
Sec. 2. Volunteer fire department.
Editor’s note: This section has been editorially transferred to the Code of Ordinances as certain provisions of a Charter adopted prior to July 1, 1973, and not subsequently amended by referendum have been converted to ordinances by operation of F.S. § 166.021(5). This section is section 38-57 in the Code of Ordinances.
Sec. 3. Duties of fire chief.
Editor’s note: This section has been editorially transferred to the Code of Ordinances as certain provisions of a Charter adopted prior to July 1, 1973, and not subsequently amended by referendum have been converted to ordinances by operation of F.S. § 166.021(5). This section is section 38-58 in the Code of Ordinances.
[Sec. 4. Fire protection services.]
The council shall pass no ordinance, resolution, or motion obligating or authorizing the City to establish or operate a Fire Department, or to build or acquire a Fire Station, or to contract for fire protection services with any person, governmental entity or corporation other than the Cape Canaveral Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., without such plan or proposal having been first approved by a majority vote of the qualified electors of the City voting in a general election or one held for this purpose. Nothing herein shall prevent the City or Cape Canaveral Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., from entering into a Mutual Aid Agreement with any municipality, Brevard County or any private or federal agency for the purpose of supplementing the fire protection services provided by the Cape Canaveral Volunteer Fire Department, Inc.
Further providing that any action previously taken by Resolution, motion or otherwise to establish or operate a Fire Department or to build or acquire a Fire Station shall be terminated or stayed until brought into compliance with this Section.
(Added by election, 11-5-85)’
2- replace Volunteer Fire Department with fire safety…
Sec. 38-56. Fire protection services; emergency medical services.
http://www.municode.com/Resources/gateway.asp?pid=12642&sid=9
FROM 2/10/09….OLD BUSINESS AGENDA ITEM 15 a…….
Discussion and/or action pertaining to referendum ie: City of Cape Canaveral…VM McIntee …(previous post full text …LBTS agenda/meetings…agenda 2/10/09)….
VM-” I want to call for a workshop in May ah, so we can discuss this because of the potential referendum”…he also made reference to New Bus. item 16 b. for heights to be a May workshop for referendum also…”…to kill two birds with one stone….”….
The Mayor looked at the calendar…and Comm. Silverstone wanted to make sure the purchase Capital “sales” was included…
BC- ALERT- this 3rd referendum should include both the purchase of and the selling of property above a certain dollar figure requiring a vote of the people….
BC- also ignore…and will post next the “2-Hats” referendum for Conflict on the dais…Comm. Dodd…
More discussion ensued about the time line for the Supervisor of Elections…the Town Manager believed it was August for a Nov. election…
BC- remember a special election will cost approx. $13 thousand dollars….
Comm. Dodd- ” On this particular item I would like to make a motion at this time to table, and I mean table it indefinitely as opposed to a date certain. If the VFD and their leadership are doing the job correctly there is absolutely no fear that any member of this dais would want to commit political suicide by trying to get rid of the VFD. If the VFD fall down on the job or their leadership starts behaving unprofessionally, cutting corners, disobeying the laws, SOPs to the extent of jeopardizing the safety and welfare of the men under their command, I want this Commission to have the power to do something about immediately.”
BC-IN A NUTSHELL….
CD- ” Public safety can not wait for a municipality to argue over the wording of a referendum.”
CD-” We are entrusted to do a job and this is one ocassion where we don’t need a referendum to help us.’
CD-” My motion on this particular item is to table indefinitely and I’m going to ask if anyone would like to second it? We don’t need this folks, I’m afraid this is not a referendum issue. We here should be entrusted with public safety. Cape Canaveral made an immediate change of motion that the Commission could take the power back because of the realization that this referendum was the wrong way to go and I believe I don’t want to make the same mistake and I think the VFD have the full support of this said if they’re doing their job right and if they’re not doing their job right we need the immediate power to be able to do something about it. It’s not an issue where you go and start arguing about the wording on a referendum to go to the people on something . We’re entrusted with public safety and this is one issue that has to remain on this dais.”
Comm. Dodd asked for a 2nd…received none…motion died for lack of that 2nd…
Comm. Clottey- ” I did not disagree with anything you said Commissioner Dodd”…BUT…said “the Commission should have the power in an emergency to withdraw and say somebody else needs to come because somebody’s not doing a good job.”…She thought if the referendum was written properly that this could be retained by the Commission….she didn’t believe anybody would want a fire department that couldn’t do the job properly…continuing on with how to “frame” the referendum with “If you’re not doing something right within a certain amount of time such and such will happen.”…She said this ( referendum) is something a lot of people are asking for, so she has no problem going for it, but it’s all in the wording , how it’s done and believes that will be put in …(referencing the Cape Canaveral State of Emergency Ord. done by the City Council on the same day the referendum passed…see 2/10/09 agenda for text)…
The Mayor wanted the VM to make a motion…but he wanted to speak first…
VM-” I would, but I also want to discuss something. First of all this referendum will be decided by this dais on what it will say and there’s five pretty smart people up here who’ll be able to put in writing in referendum form and the first thing will be paramount in y mind is to make sure the safety of the Town is number one and if that means instant control to the dais if there’s a major problem it should happen that way. But it all goes back to you the people. This will be your decision. You can vote this down or vote it up. Nobody is forcing anybody to do anything, we simply PREVENT (Freudian slip VM?)…present you a proposal for the, whatever the referendum will say, we’ll put safety clause in it. I’m sure and then you’ll make the decision not us, you. And that’s one of the weaknesses that has happened on this dais in the past. The dais made a lot of decisions that weren’t the will of the people and this on the will of the people will ring out because you’ll be voting on it. And I agree with Commissioner Clottey, she’s not gonna let this fly by without there being safety clauses in there, nor am I, nor will Commissioner Dodd, nor will the Mayor or Jimmy.But it will be your decision if you want to protect the VFD or not. Not ours, we’ll just give you a presentation. So that’s my point now, I’ll yield to Jimmy.”
Comm. Silverstone-” The issue came up with political suicide that’s happened before and I can see it happening again. Maybe not with this Commission but a future agenda, a future Commission could bring this up and terminate the volunteers.It could happen, it happened before. Um, it doesn’t prevent safety clauses from being inserted in this but give the rights to people out there.That’s one of the reasons I got elected I think Vice Mayor, Mayor McIntee also got elected on the viewpoint that people in this town are very ah, very close to the VFD, but again public safety has to be paramount that, that cannot be put aside. But it, there is a way to create a referendum that will answer both questions, both issues but I think it’s important to put it out there as a referendum to get people involved because last time this happened the people weren’t involved and a riot almost broke out and I think we should do almost everything we can to listen to the will of the people and that’s the only true way of doing that. And that’s all I have.”
The Mayor said no motion was required for a workshop…some dates were thrown around for early to late May…Comm. Dodd thought earlier in April to see what the language was…the Mayor threw in the option of waiting until March 2010…the VM…not listening said a special election could be called……as he and hie “2-Hat” BFF Comm. Silverstone both said this was a very important issue that “deserves it’s own time!”…..
It will be May 13, 2009 Jarvis Hall 7 pm….
BC-The way I see it…Cape Canaveral has a Professional/Volunteer Fire Dept VS…LBTS all volunteer…We have seen an increase month by month with major secrecy …..VFD Bylaws being disregarded…response time being “‘fudged”…and a “VFD Sub-Chief”…who is rally an uninformed “front man”for the Deputy Chief…who makes purchases…gets quotes…and we hear holds onto the VFD credit card which is at odds with the statements made to the Fl. Ethics Commission…….VFD meetings are now closed , despite the opposite open to the public policy touted prior…(still awaiting VFD Atty. info to verify)…Cape Canaveral’s BOD is open to the public…Being one of those who “almost rioted” …it would not happen again for this writer….as it was due to the CIC- McIntee spin…not knowing what he was doing at the time …to cause the final termination…per Marc Furth…and others…The reason to fear “political suicide” could be back to the table…when it seemed an impossibility just a year ago with the major Commission upset?…All roads lead back to….Vice Mayor/Deputy Chief McIntee…once again making the demise of the VFD a real possibility of winning ticket for a candidate…….by offering up a professional Fire Chief…and strict oversight …which if not followed could lead to a termination….The wording on a referendum…any of these referendums being done right….minuscule in this writer’s opinion after watching ordinances……codes and such over the past year….along with those who could guarantee the Town gets them right…being tossed out!…And finally no private corporation should ever be in the position to hold a town hostage with such a “deal”….. If that’s the case…then be fair and add ……AMR…Waste Management….and Comcast……and all other Town contracted corporations to the referendum…..For this voter…spending $13 thousand….on this referendum item….for this VFD controlled by McIntee…YUCK!….
more to come…….
Tags: LBTS Agendas/Meetings, Local Politics, local poltitics, Scoops, VFD
