Thursday, December 06, 2018

Volusia sheriff calls council members 'scumbags' in dispute. (WESH 2 TV NEWS)

Horrible inarticulate Volusia County Sheriff MICHAEL CHITWOOD is a bumptious bully.  

Who does Sheriff CHITWOOD think he is -- St. Johns County Sheriff DAVID SHOAR?

So Sheriff CHITWOOD disagreed with the Volusia County Council's defense of its 1970 Charter, and 6-1 vote to challenge Amendment 10, which embraces four (4) subjects, including whether Volusia County must elect its Tax Collector.

CHITWOOD's not an expert on Florida's Constitution, and neither am I.

But CHITWOOD's lack of civility on a matter of constitutional law shows a depraved heart, like President DONALD JOHN TRUMP.

TRUMP, SHOAR and CHITWOOD resemble the Three Stooges on Steroids, attempt to chill, coerce, restrain, intimidate and browbeat anyone who disagrees with them.  

CHITWOOD may be right -- Volusia County and its political bosses may be corrupt.  

But calling the Volusia County Council members "scumbags" for litigating Amendment 10 is a sign of a spoiled brat.

Let the grownups in the room -- judges and lawyers -- speak on the merits.   Pray for CHITWOOD and his ilk to find humility and humanity. 










Volusia sheriff calls council members 'scumbags' in dispute


 SHOW TRANSCRIPT

Volusia County’s sheriff is calling county council members "scumbags" for voting to challenge a state constitutional amendment that granted five county-level offices, including sheriff, more power by having them directly elected. 
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood called six members of the council who voted to challenge the amendment in court "our scumbags of the week in Volusia County." 
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Chitwood posted the insult immediately after the council voted 6-1 to challenge the amendment which Florida voters approved last month. 
The amendment gives sheriffs, tax collectors, elections supervisors, clerks of court and property appraisers more control of their budget and personnel by making them constitutional officers. 
Florida counties affected by the amendment included Volusia, home to Daytona Beach, and Broward and Miami-Dade counties in South Florida.



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Explanation of Amendment 10 portion concerning constitutional officers (League of Women Voters website):

Florida’s counties are divided into charter and non-charter counties. County charters are voter-approved documents that act much like local constitutions in that they outline how the county is governed. Twenty of the state’s counties, including its largest – Miami-Dade, Broward, Pinellas, Orange and Duval, to name a few – operate under charters. Some of those counties have stopped holding elections for offices such as tax collector, instead transferring those duties to county departments. In other instances those offices are elected but some of their duties have been removed or altered. This part of the amendment would apply to those 20 charter counties by requiring them to let voters elect someone to all five of the county offices in the state Constitution – sheriff, property appraiser, tax collector, supervisor of elections and clerk of circuit court. According to a CRC analysis, voters in eight counties have approved charters that changed or eliminated at least one constitutional office. Miami-Dade, for example, does not elect a sheriff. Volusia and Broward counties don’t have elected tax collectors. These offices would have to be restored if this amendment passes, and voters allowed to elect someone to those offices every four years. The amendment is silent on whether charter counties could make those races non-partisan, as Orange County voters have attempted to do, and it’s not clear whether those counties could impose term limits. For most counties, this amendment would take effect on Jan. 5, 2021, if it passes, but counties would be required to hold elections for those offices in 2020. For Miami-Dade and Broward counties, it takes effect on Jan. 2, 2025, but those two counties have to hold elections for the constitutional offices in 2024.

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