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City business done, infighting takes center stage
By HARLAN WEIKLE
Article published on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007 |
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH – Whether in a doughnut shop on Main Street or during a public meeting in City Hall, the language of democracy is not always civil.
Take for instance the scheduled budget hearing in Indian Rocks Beach Sept. 5, which was, according to City Commissioner R.B. Johnson who arrived late having just attended a county meeting, “Like Alice going through the looking glass.”
The county meeting he had attended, Johnson said, “Was run with a great deal of professionalism … people coming to the podium, asking many questions as the board listened, followed by the commissioners discussing the issues … The way I generally expect those meetings to be run.”
The Sept. 11 IRB commission meeting, which was largely unattended by the public in contrast to the budget meeting the previous Wednesday, began with routine matters that absorbed the board for the first hour and a half: legal negotiations over a property boundary dispute, accepting a low bid for city uniform cleaning services, assigning signatories to the city checking account and approving the Interlocal agreements with the county sharing Penny for Pinellas funds.
What happened next caught the commission by surprise and set the stage for a decorous ending segment of Tuesday’s meeting.
Taking the dais during commissioner’s comments, Mayor Bill Ockunzzi began a third person account of events surrounding an incident reported by two residents, saying, “We received some police reports from a couple of deputies as basically documenting the behavior of a particular commissioner and some foul language … and number one, I don’t think that anybody: citizen, employee, agent deserves to be talked to that way. Secondly, I don’t believe anyone on this commission has any business giving anybody any orders … We can’t tolerate people talking the way they talked to a police officer; this is not acceptable at all, so Bert (turning and speaking directly to Commissioner Bert Valery) if you have to sign up for anger management classes, sign up for it.”
Valery attempting to respond was cut off sharply by Ockunzzi who reminded him that in his earlier commissioner’s comment he had already had his “shot” and the next item on the agenda was citizen comment.
Following a brief intercession on behalf of Valery by Commissioners Jose Coppen and Johnson, Valery was able to make this comment.
“I was pretty upset by the officer’s comments,” he said. “There were two incidents that happened: one was during our budget meeting, we broke for about 20 minutes and on my way home, a police car was sitting over there on the corner so I stopped and asked him what he was doing there and he explained that he was sitting there at Dean’s request to monitor illegal mariners that were going to be putting their boats in. So I guess his intent was to follow them down the launch; I really don’t know why he sat there rather than going down there.”
The second, Valery went on to say, was two weeks ago. He said he was biking one morning and saw the deputy’s car sitting at the convenience store and he was thinking that early in the morning he’s having coffee and doughnuts.
“Coming back the car was still there so I figured I’ll go in and check ’cause why is it still there? He (the deputy) is standing behind the counter eating a donut and I asked him how long he had been there and that’s when he got really rude to me. I think he got defensive because he was caught behind the candy counter, so to speak. And I was really surprised and so I blurted out at him “f... you.’ I really felt terrible I did it and I apologized.”
“I consider it a pretty minor incident,” Valery said. “I don’t think I abused any powers.”
Valery said that after that they got talking and the deputy said he was the only one on duty and the other deputy was on the way in.
“Apparently this goes on quite a lot, and we’re paying for it,” Valery said.
Valery had earlier in the budget process suggested that the city might be able to dispense with one deputy per day shift to reduce the cost of sheriff’s services.
Without further discussion, Commissioner Terry Wollin took the dais and read a prepared statement in which she roundly criticized Ockunzzi for allowing distracting and at times raucous conduct by several audience members during the Sept. 5 budget session that resulted in what she called a “three-ring circus.”
“Bill, I’m sorry, I have to hold you responsible,” Wollin said. “For four-and-a-half hours this commission deliberated and labored trying to make our way through a confusing and unnecessarily overburdened budget presentation because one commissioner simply cannot take no for an answer ...”
“The March elections sent a clear message from the voters that they would no longer tolerate this self-serving, disrespectful and disruptive behavior,” Wollin said. ”One of us did not get the message. The all too familiar antics: disrespecting the citizens, wasting the commission’s time and taxpayers’ money were represented as well and contributed to the debacle … those tactics are obvious and will no longer be tolerated. Work with us or against us, but we will insist that we be allowed to do the job that the voters in Indian Rocks Beach elected us to do.”
The final budget hearing will take place Wednesday, Sept. 19.
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Article published on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007
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