Here’s The Scoop ……. Which Came First The Job Or The Qualifications To Do The Job …The Resume Of LBTS Town Manager Esther Colon …
August 16, 2009 by Barbara
Dear Readers…Which came first the job or the qualifications to do the job?…This writer first asked for the Town Manager’s resume quite some time ago with no success…That changed on Tues. Aug. 11th when the 1 page resume containing her education/certification/ work experience and personal summary paragraph…up until 2000 was produced…(see scan below)…It does make me wonder why it took so long to produce? ….and ….Why now?…. On the surface without doing verification as to its accuracy… it looks as if she held the Graduate degree requirement the LBTS Town Charter requires…(although clearly she did not have the 2 years experience as Town Manager or 4 years Assist. TM experience at that time)…What immediately stood out in Ms. Colon’s resume….was why Town Manager Colon has a propensity for moving unqualified and inexperienced workers into key department head positions…something this writer could never understand and no one seemed to be able to answer….Why?…because according to her own resume Esther Colon herself became Finance Director for the City of Sweetwater Florida in 1977 and did not get her college A.A degree until 12 years later!
She includes in her “Work Experience” section that she was the Finance Director from August 1977- July 30, 1992…but under her “Education”section she includes that she received her “Associate in Arts in General Studies at Miami Dade Community College, Miami Fla. 08/89″ and her “Associate of Science in Accounting at Miami Dade Community College, Miami Fla. 12/89″…So for 12 years…. City of Sweetwater Finance Director Colon had no college degree and and no degree in Finance!..WOW!…
While Finance Director in Sweetwater from 1977-July 30, 1992 she continued her education receiving a “Bachelor of Business Administration in Management- Florida International University, Miami Fla. 4/92″..Finance Director Colon who NOW held a Bachelors degree left Sweetwater and became “Assistant Finance Director-July 31, 1992 to December 05, 1992 ” then becoming “Acting Finance Director- December 06, 1992- May 21, 1993″ for the City of Miami Springs…
In 1998 she became a “Part-Time Teacher: Teach undergraduate business classes. 1998 to present”…at Florida National College in Hialeah Florida
On “June 07, 1993 to June 11, 2000″ Esther Colon worked at the Broward County Sheriff’s Office in Fort Lauderdale as “Assistant Director- Bureau of Management, Finance and Budget”…the description of her duties states ” Responsible for the day- to-day operation, involving the financial activities of the agency with approximate budget of $350 million. Includes direct and indirect supervision of 40 staff members. Involves the operations of payroll (approx. 4,300 employees) payables, receivable , general ledger and fixed assets. Responsible for preparation of the comprehensive annual financial report. Agency liaison with external auditors and regulatory agencies at local, state and federal level. Responsible for the preparation of semi-annual and annual financial reports and claims for grants and forfeited funds. Provide assistance to the Budget division with analytical projections and preparation of annual budget. Liaison with the Metropolitan Intelligence Unit as pertains to Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force transactions.”…The work experience stops at 2000, the year she came to LBTS….
Under “Education” she continued on with the following ” Center for Advanced Criminal Justice Studies- 11/99 (240 hours)/ Criminal Justice Executive Leadership Program- Florida Atlantic University, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla”…In 1995 she received a “Graduate Certificate in public Management- 12/95….Graduate Certificate in Human Resource Management – 5/96…..
The Graduate Degree came when she received a Masters of Science in Management- 5/96 from St. Thomas University”…
”Certifications”… “Dade County Public Schools Educators Certificate -Substitute Degree- July 01-June 30, 1996/ CGFM- Certified Government Financial Manager – Certificate #3615 Association of Government Accountant- State of Virginia- December 1995/ CGFO- Certified Government Finance Officer- Certification # 0186 Florida Government Finance Officers- State of Florida- November 1998″…..
“PERSONAL.”..
”Over 20 years of experience in local government in accounting and finance field. TEAM LEADER WITH STRONG COMMUNICATION AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS. EXPERTISE IN ORGANIZING AND PLANNING TO ACHIEVE HIGH LEVELS OF PRODUCTIVITY. STRENGTH IN RECOGNIZING, ANALYZING, AND SOLVING PROBLEMS. STRONG COMMITMENT, VISION HIGH ENERGY AND ENTHUSIASM. Proficient in Word Perfect, Lotus, Word and Excel. Bilingual- English and Spanish. ” “Personal references available upon request.”
Links to Schools/Cities…
St. Thomas University- http://www.stu.edu/
Florida Atlantic University– http://www.fau.edu/
Florida International University– http://www.fiu.edu/
City of Miami Springs, Fla.- http://www.miamisprings-fl.gov/
City of Sweetwater, Fla.- http://www.cityofsweetwater.fl.gov/index.html
SCAN OF RESUME…..
more to come….
