It's a bird.....it's a plane..... No it's the Defender of the fire district!!

It's so tiresome listening to you ramble about how much Ruben is unfit for his job, the union is hurting the district, blah blah blah .  Since you are the self proclaimed "Defender of the fire district" why haven't you questioned why Commissioner Barry, until recently, hadn't attended the commission meetings for many months over the last year?  He had been gone for so long they took his name plate down and moved everyone over one seat. Maybe it's because you never stepped foot in the commission meetings until your precious Rainey was in fear of losing his job.  This is why the firemen feel you are a hypocrite!  You continually bash and point fingers at the men that the firefighters support, yet you turn a blind eye to anything your boys (Hennessey, Barry, Gover, etc..) do.  How about you hold everyone to the same standard.  Novel idea.



Pay particular attention to #8



An appology for Henessey huh? how about after charges are brought against him and his cohort Duncam, you apologize to us for all of your slander towards the firefighters and the union.  Stealing is a crime!  Just ask your God, he will tell you the same thing.  It doesn't matter if the person stealing is your friend or not, it is still a crime! 

On your next propaganda post I want you to answer one question for all of our readers to see:

If/when the Sheriffs department brings charges against Henessey for stealing the generator from station 2, will you then say you were wrong for defending Henessey and apologize to the firefighters and the union for slandering them? 

I'm guessing probably not, because the standards and values you keep holding the firefighters and "OUR" commissioners too you and your cronies don't answer too yourselves.

P.S. You keep calling yourself a tax payer in the district but according to Taxcollector.com you haven't paid your property taxes for the last year.  Must be a typo.

Mud slingers! I can't stand them!!

First let me apologize to the family of Mrs. Thompson who Debbie (she doesn't deserve to be called Mrs. Willis anymore) has regrettably drug into her vindictive little world that she calls a blog.  The fact that she would use the unfortunate death of Mrs. Thompson to further her vengeful attack on Southern Manatee's personnel, sickens me and probably anyone else who reads her blog.  I really don't know I continue to read her propaganda.  Maybe it's because I get a little chuckle from her slanted view or maybe it's because I feel the need to defend our honor.  Either way, it's getting to the point that I feel like I am the only idiot reading her blog.  

After reading her attack on Commissioner Reuben, I decided to do a little digging myself.  I think it's hypocritical for someone to mention Reuben's list of accidents when she herself had 3 traffic violations last year, in less than 12 months!  How does she still have a drivers license!  And not to mention Douglas Willis who plead guilty to eluding police, reckless driving, and carrying a concealed weapon!  Thank God there was no one riding a bike while he was fleeing the police!   

I must say, for a woman who preaches of fiscal responsibility and misappropriation of funds, I am offended at the rocks that you continue to throw in your FORECLOSED glass house!  The fact that you are still living in a house that is no longer yours makes me sick!  Where I come from that's called STEALING!  You preach your conservative values yet you yourself are exactly the problem!   It sucks when someone starts digging up your past and personal misfortunes, doesn't it?

Bringing up the unfortunate past of others while you yourself have your own skeletons, is 

hypocrytical in my book.

 

Here we go again...

It's 2011 and we are still talking about the past.  We are still bringing up names that used to mean something around here.  Today we are a new fire department with new management and new citizens to help ensure our district is properly managed.  Yet we still seem to have these old names bubbling up and releasing a fowl smell.  We were promised that there were going to be no more posts yet here we are.  I feel it is my duty and responsibility to remind our readers why and how we got to this point.

  I think we need to take a step back and look a little deeper for a moment.  Mrs. W. says she is looking out for "the taxpayers" but I have to ask, where was she when the former commissioners allowed chief Hennessey and Chief Gover to have such elaborate iron clad contracts?  She blames the media for creating a witch hunt yet  I think most of the "taxpayers" would have been appalled to know that Tom Hennessey was guaranteed a 4% raise on top of what the firefighters received (if anything) each year.  This is on top of his already bloated base salary of $130K a year (with longevity its closer to $160K).  While the economy is in the dump and people are losing their jobs, he was getting huge salary increases. He was in charge of 5 fire stations.  Sarasota county's chief didn't make that much money and he was in charge of over 50 stations.  You attack the firefighters salary but defend the chiefs ridiculous salary.  It is painfully obvious that you are not "looking out for the taxpayers" as you state you are, instead you are looking out for your friends and your friends, friends.  If you were really looking out for the district you would have been upset to find out that even after all of the wrong doings chief Gover was found guilty of, he still couldn't be fired.  as a matter of fact, he would have had to commit a felony in order to be fired.  This is the kind of contracts that the Bradenton herald and the community are appalled at. 

You continue to defend our former chief, what was his name.....ummmm?  Oh yeah, Tom Hennessey.  Let's talk about Tom Hennessey (upstanding citizen of the year) for a moment.  You state he was "cleared of any wrong doing" yet he did receive a laptop which chief Gover admitted he had deceived the board when he gave it to Tom.  Was Tom just an innocent player in this ordeal or is he smart enough to know when he is receiving something of great value he must turn it down?  Lets let that one sit for a moment.  How about when he instructed Assistant chief Thayer (in his own words) "to not have the attorneys present" during his pension meeting.  Why do you think that was?  Maybe it was because he knew the attorneys would have told the board that his lump sum request might have a negative impact on the pension, therefore denying his request for a lump sum.  Your right, maybe he did nothing wrong by the letter of the law but you being a christian woman I would hope you can see that what he did was, in Gods eyes, deceitful, self serving and wrong.  The final few years of his career were not about the firefighters or the fire department.  It was about how to make his retirement better.  And with the help of the former commissioners, he did just that.

Enough looking backwards.  It's time we move forward.  I understand your apprehension toward the union.  I myself am not too fond of them.  I must admit though, without the union we would not have been able to rid this department of the garbage and put in place new commissioners that have only the districts best interest's at heart.  I believe if you give them a chance you will see they are men of great character and are devoted to making our department the best in the county again.  as much as I enjoy this playful banter, I would hope you could set aside your bitterness for a while and join with us to try and make this department even better.

It's a conspiracy I tell you!

Have you ever tried to have an argument with someone and each time you try to rebut a comment they have made, they stick thier fingers in thier ears and shout "I can't hear you, I can't hear you!!  Probably not because that is what children do.... and apparently Mrs. Willis!  Am I the only one that that has noticed that on her blog she has allowed "0" comments on each of her propoganda posts?  Could it be because she is affraid the comment's left by some people might actually make sense?  Or maybe its because like those so called "9/11 Truthers" (what a bunch of nut jobs) she is unable to actually make a case for her argument?  Instead, she makes accusations and will not let anyone (who was actually there) make the case for the truth.  I think they do the same thing in China and the middle east, where the only opinion you are allowed to hear is thier opinion.  Gotta love those communists!  As I have said before, this is an "open blog" not an OPinionated EDitioral.  Unlike mrs. Willis' blog, everyone has the oportunity to speak here.  Even Mrs. Willis.         

You were saying......

I must apologize, It has taken me to long to respond to all of Mrs Willis' comments.  I've been out celebrating our recent victory every night since the election like it was Hanukkah!  Now keep in mind this is with 4 Captn-N-Cokes on board and both hands tied behind my back!  Here goes....

http://smfdvotersbeware.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-voters-can-expect-now-ugliest.html#more

* “vote themselves a 3% raise…” First and foremost NOTHING enters a firefighter’s contract without being agreed upon by the Board of Commissioners (BOC). As the current contract was created under the now removed Ranney & Anderson, your beef is with them. As a side note, do you have any comment for the 5% raises that Hennesy had in his contract, when he was the ONLY employee of the district that receiving a raise?

* “average firefighter wages start at $50 - $60k…” A firefighter after achieving 1st class (4-5 years), with longevity and specialty pay might make $50k but I assure you no one is walking in off of the street making that kind of bank. 

* “union contract demands…” Again, the contract is agreed upon by the district and the union. As a side note, if a negotiation cannot be reached between the union and the district, do you know who has the final say? It’s the district! They still have full control. The union only gives us an opportunity to ask for something.

* “3% sounds small…” Quick math lesson: 3% of $1,000 is $30, not $300. And by the way, any tax increase last October, which was implemented by your dear Ranney & Anderson, was done before the contract was ratified.

* “The worst part is…” I’ll give you this one. Our district has lowered taxes in the past (were you here for the Palm-Aire Commissioners?) with disastrous results, forcing the Inter local agreement with CHFD. Perhaps there are areas of the budget that could be reduced which would enable lowering our taxes. Are there any expenses in our department hat could be lowered? Did we need a $30,000 phone system, $70,000 lightning protection? What about the allegations (you know they’re true) of misappropriation of funds against some of the current and former administration?

* “Ruben has promises…” I assure you the department has NO SHORTAGE of legal advice. I sincerely doubt that the BOC would remove the Fire Chief on a whim. If the allegations of wrongdoing are true, I would hope/expect that the BOC would hold the Fire Chief to the same ethical and legal standards that is expected of us, the firefighters.

* “Ruben will then make…” The BOC hires the Fire Chief. Yes, they have the authority to hire/promote whomever they chose but those decisions are, in reality, made below the BOC. By the way, you continue to state that all of these promotional opportunities exist when the investigation (conducted by an investigator appointed by Ranney and Anderson) has yet to show any wrongdoing. If all of these allegations are false… Oh, never mind. 

* “opposition by Assistant Chief Thayer…” How do you dismiss someone on “false accusations” when there is an investigation being conducted? Just as much as you don’t want to hear it, I do want to hear the TRUTH!

* “Bennett may get his job back…” If there is any truth in your blog, this is the one that I want to happen. Jerry was injured on the job and then fired because workers comp refuses to perform the surgery his private doctor said would fix him. It is an expensive surgery and it’s cheaper for workers comp to retrain him for another occupation than to fix him. This department and its citizens have an OBLIGATION to help a firefighter that is injured on duty, not discard him because he is the one who brought the union to SMFR! His termination was a blatant anti-union message that sickens me. 

* “Firefighters from Tampa and St. Pete…” I was at the polls. I assure you there was not a single firefighter from Tampa or St. Pete. We had ONE firefighter (I think from West Manatee) assisting family members of one of our employees. You can claim Bob Sweat told you but since I saw former Commissioner Ranney drive by my poll THREE TIMES and former Commissioner Anderson and Assistant Chief Thayer each drive by once, I’m betting that’s your source. The reality is we had several firefighters’ family members standing with them, along with the new Commissioners and their families. While the faces may have been unfamiliar, all but the WMFR firefighter I already mentioned were part of this department.

* “Dropping all these ludicrous…” Again, the investigator that was appointed by the old BOC will determine what’s ludicrous. BTW, if you shoot me your email address, I have an email to forward you; just don’t open it in front of your kids or at church…

* “Not promoting putting Pete Donchenko…” What promotion? All of these allegations are false, right? I fail to see how a BOC could terminate an employee when they have done nothing wrong (well, except for Jerry).

* “Let Deputy Chief Berry…” Are we referring to the same Deputy Chief that your beloved former Commissioner Anderson voted for as the new Fire Chief but lost in 3-2 vote against Chief Gover?

* “let the department run right…” The only evidence of good ol’ boy I’ve seen is your grandstanding for people that have some serious allegations against them, with proof to back up the allegations. I understand that everyone is innocent until proven guilty but c’mon. Your efforts to dismiss these allegations are the type of good ol’ boy thing we are trying to get away from. If it’s not okay for a blue shirt firefighter, it is not okay for 5 bugles either.

* “Hennesy’s name through the mud…” As a taxpayer, you should be appalled at the allegations against him. Perhaps the accusations are false and the investigation will reveal that. Perhaps the photographs that support the allegations are fake and the public records have been doctored, perhaps…

* “dirty campaign overall…” Every bit of our campaign was ethical. We went door to door to speak with the voters and inform them of the issues and what the Commissioners that we support are going to do to fix it. We put out signs, after receiving permission from the property owner, unlike Ranney who literally put a sign on vacant property owned by what is now, a new Commissioner (pretty sure he wouldn’t have agreed to that).

Oh, by the way, we reported every penny we received and spent, as required. How did Anderson and Soloman buy any signs if they never received a penny? And that’s who you want in office?

* “and start fresh!” AMEN, SISTER!!!

Time to go sleep this one off.......

Photos emerge of the intimidating firefighters!! How dare they!

She was right!  Those guys are clearly intimidating...
That looks like Brandon Ellis, Sean Connor and Jarek Dehart with hair!  Who am I kidding, that looks nothing like Jarek!

(Good pic guys, keep'em coming!)

Time for some clarification!

I think the biggest problem we have had over the last few weeks is lack of "correct" information that has been doled out by the media and the public, mostly because of this gag order that has been placed on us.  Apparently it only applies to US, but we will try to attack some of these issues without stepping on Chief Johnson's toes.  It does make it increasingly difficult to tackle these issues with one hand tied behind my back but since my fellow blogger has gotten a lot of her information from her neighbor (who happened to be a commissioner who was under the same gag order), I'll pretend for a moment that I received my info from my neighbor. Were gonna look at some of the comments left by Mrs. (don't confuse me with the facts, I've made up my mind!) individually so you all can also chime in and tell us what you think.  Maybe Mrs. Willis will grace us with her presence and comment on some of these accusations.....(Holding my breath)!

1) "The really sad part is that I completely understand the fear-based, paranoid tactics the union used to get into the middle of US.  ...letting the union lead them around like bulls with their nose rings."  Let me first start by reminding all of our readers (especially the conveniently misinformed Ms. Willis) that it was the old commissioners (Ranney, Ruben and Anderson) and our administration 9 years ago, that had us standing at the polls to get them in office "leading us around like bulls with their nose rings" as you so eloquently put it. I didn't hear you banging your drum then! Now please don't misunderstand me.  The commissioners that we just ousted brought a lot to our fire department.  They got us out of the financial ditch that we were in and in the broad spectrum they made this department a better place.......but!   Their came a time a few years ago that our commissioners and admin. decided that taking care of themselves was more important than taking care of the firemen and the district.  They were approached individually before we brought the union in and asked  them to please help the firemen have a voice in the decisions that effect our lives every day.  At first we thought we might be able to get a few of their support but eventually the Evil Emperor planted his seed in them again and he began quietly spreading rumors "If anyone comes against me (meaning him and his entourage) I'll have them fired!  If they take me to court I'll settle out of court and errors and omissions will pay them but they will never have their job back!".  What could we possibly do after that?  We tucked our heads and said "Yessa mass-ta!" Finally a few brave soles made the drive down to Sarasota and spoke with the guys from Local 2546.  they explained our plight to the union and the drama that unfolded after that I don't have enough time now to get into. We will hold that story for another blog.  Fast forward a few years and we (the firefighters, NOT the union) found some gentlemen in our fire district that understood our situation and were willing to try and help us bring our department back to the way it was before.  Before the corruption in admin. when the citizens and the firemen were what our department was all about.  I challenge you to find anyone in our district (Except Mrs. Willis) that doesn't absolutely love our firefighters.  We are the most caring, hardworking, professional, courteous and giving firemen in the county.  I love everyone of them, they are my family.  Because they are my family, I will do everything in my power to protect my family now, and in the future. 

A new beginning.........

Imagine the starwars theme playnig in the background and the credits scrolling away into the cosmos beginning with the title "A new beginning...".  What do you think those credits would say?  What would the story be?  I can tell you how a fellow blogger would write that script.
It begins with the wonderful planet of SMFR where the weather is always perfect and the people are so nice.  Then one day the evil union empire found this hapless planet and decided to move in and take over.  They brainwashed the people of planet SMFR and turned them into their zombie servants!  Seriously...?  Ok, I'll play along for a minute.  I would make a few small changes to the script if it were me considering, unlike my blogging counterpart, I was actually there!

First, you'd have to go back a whole lot further to the beginning, not episode 3 where the other blog begins.  Before the evil emperor was, well you know, evil.  He was at one time very well liked and respected.  He knew how to shake babies and kiss hands like the best of them.  Over time the chief, oops I meant the senator Palpatine, began to see how much power he actually had.  He took that power and used it for his own benefit.  He encompassed himself with people sensitive to the plight of his agenda.  Meanwhile, the emperor was quietly vetting his predecessor Lord Vader until eventually,  together, they became the most powerful force in the universe.  They ruled the galaxy with an iron fist daring any of the hapless underlings to undermine they're rule.
Then comes in Luke.  You all know who he is.  He is the man who will bring balance to the force.  His destiny was to end the evil emperors rule.  He couldn't do this by himself though, he needed some help.  He needed the rebellion.  He understood that he couldn't take on the empire by himself and he needed the full resources the rebellion had to offer. Without Luke and the rebellion the people of planet SMFR could not stand up to the evil emperor without being frozen in carbonite like Hans Solo. 
Ok, I'm sorry for dragging you through this ridiculous story.  I hope you understand that this is not a story about the union or the chief.  It's not even about the commissioners.  This is solely about the firefighters of SMFR and their futures.  When we brought the union in 2 years ago it wasn't because we wanted 50% raises, gold, jewelery and what ever the other blogger says we were trying to obtain.  It was because we wanted some security in an economic environment that had none.  We wanted the things that we currently had to remain the same and not lose it.  We wanted the same luxury that our chief was enjoying....a contract.  Nothing more. 
I find it somewhat humorous, and hypocritical,  that my fellow blogger defends the former chief who gashed this fire department for about $150K a year while he was there. Yet she complains about my meager $48k a year. But that's understandable because you are as you put it "un-biased".   And who signed those fat contracts?  Former commish Ranney and the rest of his cronies.  But my fellow blogger says she wants fiscal responsibility.  Where was she over the last 10 years when these commission board meetings were finished in under 20 mins?  My guess is she didn't have much interest in it until the firefighters decided to challenge her neighbor, former commish. Ranney.  again, she is un-biased.....whatever.
Well It's time for me to step back and listen to what you guys have to say.  Please feel free to respond anonymously and openly.  Oh and by the way, unlike my blogging counterpart, I won't filter the responses!!