Professor JOSEPH SAVIAK, Associate Professor of Public Administration, Flagler College (HCN)
Flagler College Associate Professor of Public Administration JOSEPH SAVIAK, currently conducting an online smear campaign against Mayor Nancy Shaver, was fired by the Orange County Sheriff in 2001 for misusing office letterhead to threaten State Bar officials with "civil and criminal liability" when he flunked the Bar exam.
See two news stories below.
As the Florida Bar website reports today, fifteen (15) years later, Professor JOE SAVIAK never got a Florida law license and still does not have a Florida law license. Wonder why?
Perhaps it's because he used a Sheriff's letterhead when he threatened to prosecute the Bar when he flunked the Bar exam.
I have filed my records request No. 2016-418 with the Orange County Sheriff and the Florida Bar.
SAVIAK is a close associate of St. Johns County Sheriff DAVID SHOAR f/k/a "HOAR."
Critics Say Sheriff Can't Focus On Job
Beary Responds On Radio, Internet
November 22, 2001|By Scott Maxwell, Sentinel Staff Writer
The Orange County Sheriff's Office has become so embroiled with in-house problems in recent months that the sheriff is having trouble focusing on fighting crime, critics say.
Sheriff Kevin Beary says the criticism may be distracting, but he strongly defends his operation. The real problem, he contends, is a rash of unwarranted attacks.
With one of Beary's top officers recently sentenced to federal prison, the office was rocked again this month when Beary fired his chief of staff -- the sheriff's one-time close friend and now staunch critic.
And that comes just a few weeks after several county commissioners, who control his budget, questioned the way Beary runs his office and how he spends the public's money.
The events have prompted the sheriff to launch a public-relations campaign -- including Web pages, an opinion piece in the Orlando Sentinel and appearances on radio shows all aimed at addressing the office's critics.
Beary said Wednesday that he thinks he is keeping residents safe and running his office efficiently. "At times it does get distracting, but you suck it up," he said. "I always face criticism. It goes with the turf."
Recent criticisms include slow response times to high-priority emergencies and the fact that Beary has been out of town for four of the past 15 weeks.
According to the office's tracking system, it takes deputies 9 minutes, on average, to respond to the highest-priority emergencies. That's up from 6.7 minutes in 1990.
But Beary and his aides say the new computer system that tracks response times is flawed because it includes times for false alarms. Beary thinks the actual time is somewhere between 6 and 8 minutes.
As for his travel, Beary acknowledged that he has been gone 30 days in the past three months, including a two-week personal trip to Russia and to attend conferences..
BEARY: MEETINGS PAY OFF
The sheriff said most of the conferences help him learn about issues such as gangs and terrorism and often allow him to make connections that help the department win grant money.
Beary's calm explanations in a Wednesday evening interview were more reserved than some of his responses on the Internet and radio in recent weeks.
On his office's "Just the Facts" Web site, which he created this year to fend off mounting criticism, Beary takes on County Commissioner Homer Hartage, who has asked questions about rising crime rates and the number of residents shot by deputies.
Since 1997, Orange County deputies have shot 29 civilians -- six fatally -- according to office records. That's nearly three times as many shootings as in Broward County. But it's about the same number as Hillsborough County and 30 percent fewer than Jacksonville. All of the offices are comparably sized.
On the personally signed Web site, Beary said Hartage's questions do the community "a gross disservice" and asked, "Would Hartage have us lay down our weapons and not protect the citizens of Orange County or ourselves?"
Hartage, however, said he doesn't understand why the sheriff doesn't simply respond to those who are asking questions instead of criticizing them. He said he has not received crime statistics that he requested from Beary's office more than six months ago.
County commissioners control the sheriff's budget.
Joe Saviak, who was Beary's longtime friend, former campaign manager and chief of staff, said Beary's office is not the same as it was a year ago, which is why Saviak said he turned in his resignation in September.
CAPTAIN GETS 7 YEARS
Saviak attributed some of the changes to the arrest and August conviction of Victor Thomas, a former sheriff's captain who agreed to help move counterfeit goods and what he thought was 40 pounds of cocaine to Orlando from Miami. Thomas was sentenced to seven years and three months in federal prison.
In September, Saviak said he decided to resign because Beary was no longer listening to him -- or anyone else with valid complaints.
"I have repeatedly warned him about problems within the agency," Saviak said, referring to slowing response times, frequent travel by the sheriff and county commissioners who were becoming irritated with the office. "When he said there was no way he was going to address those issues, it was time for me to go."
Saviak gave notice that he would work through the end of the year, but then last week, Beary fired him.
Beary's aides, however, say Saviak is the one who has changed. They paint a picture of a man who snapped after he failed to pass the Bar exam required to become an attorney in Florida.
Saviak challenged his failing grades by writing letters on Sheriff's Office stationery to the Florida Board of Bar Examiners and a Supreme Court justice. In the letter to the Bar, Saviak told officials that they could be subject to "civil and criminal liability" if they did not act appropriately.
Beary declined to talk about Saviak, but his top officials said the two incidents violated office protocol and were the reasons Saviak was fired.
Saviak concedes he made mistakes. But, like Hartage, he says that Beary's office is spending more time trying to discredit him than it is defending the mounting accusations and problems.
Some argue the sudden fallout between Saviak and Beary is indicative of overall problems at the office. Most observers agree that the dispute was unexpected.
Just last month, after all, Beary attended a birthday party for Saviak. And earlier this year, Beary gave his chief of staff the office's Distinguished Service Medal with the words, "Your devotion, expertise and loyalty are unparalleled in the history of our agency."
County Commissioner Bob Sindler, who also attended Saviak's birthday party last month, was shocked to learn that Saviak had been fired.
"I thought they were really close buddies," Sindler said. "Everything seemed hunky-dory. I have no idea what's going on."
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Sheriff's Political Liaison Resigns
Joe Saviak, Who Ran Sheriff Kevin Beary's Election Bids In '92 And '96, Will Teach And, Possibly, Enter Politics.
October 4, 2001|By Doris Bloodsworth, Sentinel Staff Writer
The Orange County sheriff's chief of staff, who engineered two of Sheriff Kevin Beary's successful political campaigns, has resigned.
Joe Saviak, 33, who joined the sheriff's staff full time in January 1999, said he was leaving to pursue a teaching career at a college or university.
"I'm ready for new challenges, and I've always wanted to teach," he said.
The resignation becomes effective Jan. 15. Until then, Saviak plans to finish police academy training at Valencia Community College and a master's degree in criminal justice.
Saviak, a familiar face among Republican circles, has managed numerous political campaigns, including Beary's 1992 and 1996 elections. His wife, Carol Saviak, was in charge of Beary's 2000 political race, in which he was unopposed.
Beary credited Saviak with rallying support for significant public-safety legislation, such as funding for the sheriff's Juvenile Arrest and Monitoring program and restoring millions of dollars in retirement benefits to deputies, firefighters and corrections officers statewide.
Although Beary said the two had a difference of opinion, both men agreed to maintain an amicable relationship.
"We're still friends," Beary said.
The sheriff said he does not plan to replace Saviak, who had been promoted in May to his $100,000-a-year position. Saviak served as a liaison to county and state government leaders and assisted the sheriff with legislative issues.
But teaching may not be the only career Saviak plans for the future. He hinted he may make his own political bid.
"It's always possible that I will seek to serve in public office," he said.
Have you seen his facebook recently? Transphobic, racist, sexist, etc. This man is supposed to be leading and educating and instead he is posting memes about horrible ideals that no decent human should stand for. His friends all comment and are horrible. Terrible, terrible, terrible! Just scroll through May and you will see enough of this. Read his comments, see what he is posting and commenting on, and you will see.
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