Update, December 2, 2024:
AMCD has dawdled and delayed response to my records requests since September. The requested information would have helped inform debate on the future of Mosquito Control. Some might call the unconscionable delay "election interference."
Nevertheless, I got 37.8% of the vote running for Seat 1.
The XUE regime rejoiced that this blogger, a longtime critic (since 2006-2007) would not be on the AMCD Board.
But voters elected T.J. Mazzotta, who is perceptive and unlikely to be manipulated.
He's much smarter than some of the other AMCD Board members, who seemingly lack ethics or critical thinking skills. Some of them smarmily parrot how "hard" the staff is working, while taking their crummy advice and voting illegal bonuses for Board members.
In America, we expect government employees to work "hard." That's a trite trope and a shopworn cliche, constantly emitted by AMCD Commissioners, including one who entitled Republican, Ms. Catherine Brandhorst, who missed some 37 meetings in a row and is still demanding an illegal bonus.
We'd be happier if our maladroit AMCD mismanagement worked "smart," read their board books, did their homework, and didn't break the law with impunity or seeming immunity.
On December 12, 2024 at 5 PM AMCD will meet to consider rescinding the illegal Commissioner bonuses.
Will anyone apologize for illegal bonuses? Will anyone apologize for evading records requests?
President Harry S Truman eloquently said, "when I make a mistake, it's a beaut." President Truman had a sign on his desk that said, "The Buck Stops Here." Bill Clinton once said, "I was dumb as a post to say that" (e.g., that he smoked pot but "didn't inhale").
Will Mosquito Commissioners show some humility and ability?
Or will Mosquito Commissioners condescend, contrive excuses, and stick their noses in the air, looking down their distended nostrils at lesser mortals? Will it be "Business As Usual?" (See Ed Slavin, "Business As Usual," Common Cause Magazine, January 1989)(exposing Administrative Conference of the United States, later defunded by Congress from 1995-2010 as a wasteful advisory 100-member federal advisory committee, which was under Reagan and Bush a louche lapdog, plumbing for enhanced corporate and government power and prejudiced against open government and Freedom of Information).
Smart ass behavior from then AMCD's current CFO and Business Manager are contrary to the genius of a free people.
Staff making up excuses for the Auditor's refusal to meet with the Board.
Staff insulting and disrespecting Board member Martha Gleason for asking questions.
Hiring a maladroit lawyer who pads bills with travel from Pensacola, who is no scholar and lacks ability.
Staff expecting Board members to cower to power.
Staff incurring 36% cost overruns on Mosquito Control Building and filibustering about it.
Staff euchring Board members into voting themselves illegal pay raises, exceeding the $4800 pay cap.
Enough trite tropes about the staff "working hard." We expect them to do their jobs and not commit crimes.
Enough authoritarianism, retaliation, sexism, gag orders, flummery, dupery and nincompoopery.
Does being the Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County mean never having to say you're sorry?
AMCD works for us. If Xue and his henchmen won't respect our rights, they can quit or be fired. Is it time for them to go? You tell me. Out the door in '24?
Update, November 27, 2024:
Outstanding coverage by Noah Hertz on Jacksonville Today website:
Bonuses for mosquito control board may have been improper
A board of elected officials in St. Johns County may have violated the law by giving themselves holiday bonuses for at least six years, including $1,000 the past two years.
The five-member board of the Anastasia Mosquito Control District approved the bonuses Nov. 21 for themselves and the agency’s 44 employees.
The holiday bonus is on top of the $4,800 annual salary board members take home — the maximum the state allows for mosquito control district board members.
One board member said the bonuses are necessary because, unlike the district’s employees, elected board members don’t receive regular raises.
“It’s simply not fair,” Commissioner Catherine Brandhorst said during the meeting last week. “Employees receive a raise every year. They receive a cost-of-living adjustment, and we receive nothing.”
But Florida law is fairly explicit on the issue.
Florida statute states that mosquito control board members cannot supplement their maximum $4,800 salaries with anything other than travel fees for official business.
Florida’s law also states that elected officials are barred from voting on any measure that would provide a direct monetary benefit to that official.
The Mosquito Control District is a special taxing district separate from St. Johns County’s government. The district handles mosquito control through spraying insecticide, offers education on mosquitoes — like the disease vector museum the district operates — and conducts research on effective insect-killing. It’s all overseen by a five-member board of elected commissioners.
At least one of the commissioners is having second thoughts about the bonuses.
Commissioner Martha Gleason was absent from the meeting and questioned the vote after she said a constituent alerted her that the bonuses may be against the law.
“I want to assure you that I take this matter seriously and will be proposing a motion to revoke the Board bonuses at the upcoming December meeting,” Gleason posted on Facebook. “It is essential to uphold transparency and accountability in our actions as public servants.”
Gleason, who was elected to the board in 2022, told Jacksonville Today she wasn’t completely on board with the measure last year — although she voted to approve those $1,000 holiday bonuses for board members and staff. She said her main focus last year was on the staff.
But after hearing this year that the bonuses could be against the law, Gleason reached out to the board’s recently appointed attorney, Amy Myers.
Myers confirmed to Gleason this week that there is no provision in the district’s charter that “authorizes this additional compensation for Commissioners.”
“If there is authority elsewhere in the statutes, I am similarly unaware of it,” Myers continued.
Ben Wilcox, director of the government watchdog group Integrity Florida, isn’t aware of anything either. But, he said the state’s mechanism for investigating a potential violation like this relies on a constituent filing an ethics violation.
“I don’t know if the Florida Commission on Ethics would find that the complaint had legal sufficiency or not,” Wilcox told Jacksonville Today, “but it would still be worth somebody trying to file an ethics complaint.”
Larger bonuses proposed
The bonuses were nearly higher before the board settled on the $1,000 amount.
Commissioner Brandhorst recommended changing the bonuses to be based on merit: $500 for every year served on the board.
Brandhorst’s 14-year term on the board is coming to an end now that T.J. Mazzotta has been elected to her seat. Having served since 2010, Brandhorst would have taken home a $7,000 bonus under the change she proposed.
Her proposal didn’t go anywhere. Commissioner Trish Becker called it “wasteful.”
Jacksonville Today was unable to reach Brandhorst for comment this week.
It was not the first time Brandhorst has met with friction from fellow commissioners. Earlier this year, the board sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis complaining about Brandhorst’s repeated unannounced absences and tardiness at the monthly board meetings.
The board holds public meetings once per month at the district’s headquarters at 120 EOC Drive near St. Augustine.
The topic of bonuses will be addressed at the next board meeting, at 5 p.m. Dec. 12.
Dear St. Johns County residents:
Four (4) misguided, ill-advised Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County Commissioners voted themselves an illegal pay raise, disguised as a "$1000 CHRISTMAS BONUS," violating F.S. 388.141(2).
I think Mosquito Control Commissioners should do the honorable thing> they should vote to rescind the vote and to return the money they wrongfully voted to pocket for themselves.
The 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution, proposed by James Madison, became effective 202 years later, bans any Congressional pay raises until after the next election.
Our local Mosquito Control District broke the law by voting themselves $1000 bonuses, exceeding the $4800/year pay cap in Florida mosquito control law, F.S. 388.141(2).
Thank you for your support in the November 5, 2024 nonpartisan election for Mosquito Control. Honored to receive some 55,560 votes (nearly 37.8%).
What's next?
Please read my November 24, 2024 e-mail to AMCD and other officials, state and federal law enforcement, et al.
Update: 8:07 AM, November 25, 2024: The District's attorney agrees that there is no law allowing for the $1000 bonus. Commissioner Martha Gleason has informed the District that she will move to rescind the illegal Commissioner bonuses.
Thank you.
12. THIS SUBTLE CORRUPTION OF OUR MOSQUITO CONTROL DISTRICT BY COMMISSIONERS IS INDEFENSIBLE, AND MUST BE ENDED AT ONCE. IT'S OUR MONEY.
MOSQUITO CONTROL DIST., REPAYMENT OF SALARY
Ms. Jeanne E. Brooker, Chair
Collier Mosquito Control District
600 North Road
Naples, Florida 34104-3464
Dear Ms. Brooker:
On behalf of the Collier Mosquito Control District you have requested our assistance in determining how to apply section 388.141(2), Florida Statutes. According to your letter a commissioner of the mosquito control district was recently elected to serve as a commissioner of a fire control district. The terms of office of these two districts overlapped by approximately six weeks. The commissioner was paid a salary by both the mosquito control district and the fire control district in violation of section 388.141(2), Florida Statutes. There is now a question as to which district should be reimbursed the amount of the salary paid to the commissioner.
Chapter 388, Florida Statutes, governs the operation of mosquito control districts established prior to July 1, 1980. (Section 388.021, Fla. Stat. On or after July 1, 1980, mosquito control districts are to be created pursuant to s. 125.01, Fla. Stat.) A review of the history of the Collier Mosquito Control District (district) shows that it was created as an independent special tax district as a result of a referendum in 1950. (See 50th Anniversary Historical Narrative, Collier Mosquito Control District, found at "www.collier-mosquito.org.") A board of commissioners, each elected for a four-year term, possesses the power and duty to carry out the district's purpose to control and eliminate all species of mosquitoes. (See ss. 388.101, 388.161 - 388.191, Fla. Stat.)
Compensation of the board's members is set statutorily. Section 388.141(1), Florida Statutes, states:
"Members of the board of commissioners of independent special tax districts may each be paid a salary to be determined by the unanimous vote of the board which shall not exceed $4,800 for each commissioner during any one year; however, this section shall not be construed to limit compensation of district commissioners where higher amounts have otherwise been authorized by special act or general act of local application. Said members may be reimbursed for expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as provided in s. 112.061." (Section 112.061, Fla. Stat., sets forth a uniform plan for per diem and reimbursement of expenses for travel or public officers, employees and persons authorized to incur such expenses on behalf of a public entity.)
Clearly, the statute recognizes that a mosquito control district commissioner is entitled to a limited salary and reimbursement of expenses incurred in the performance of his or her duties.
Section 388.141(2), Florida Statutes, provides a specific limitation for mosquito control district board members receiving compensation from more then one district:
"No board member of a mosquito control district shall receive compensation except for per diem and travel expenses authorized pursuant to s. 112.061, for serving on more than one special district board in this state. All special districts, regardless of the existence of other specific provisions of law, shall comply with this subsection."
It appears that the Legislature intended for the salary of a board member of a mosquito control district to be the sole compensation made to that commissioner.
While the statute does not provide direction as to how a commissioner should deal with accidental multiple compensation payments, it would appear to be appropriate for the board member to return all funds paid outside the scope of section 388.141, Florida Statutes, that is, to return compensation from any special district other than the mosquito control district. For the period of time that the commissioner was a board member of the mosquito control district, he or she was limited by section 388.141, to receiving compensation only from that district.
I trust that these informal suggestions will prove helpful to you in addressing this issue. This informal advisory opinion is provided to you by the staff of the Opinions Division in an effort to assist you. The conclusions herein are those of the writer and do not constitute a formal Attorney General's Opinion.
Sincerely,
Gerry Hammond
Senior Assistant Attorney General
GH/t
Our AMCD Board of Commissioners for the Anastasia Mosquito Control District lists its members, board agendas, and contact info.
AMCD Commissioners
Elected by the VOTERS of St. Johns County
Mrs. Catherine Brandhorst
Email
Term 2021 – 2024 / Seat 1
Mrs. Martha Gleason
Email
Term 2023 – 2026 / Seat 2
Mrs. Gina LeBlanc
Email
Term 2017 – 2024 / Seat 3
Mrs. Trish Becker
Email
Term 2019 – 2026 / Seat 4
Ms. Gayle Gardner
Email
Term 2021 – 2024 / Seat 5
Appointed Officers
Dr. Rui-De Xue,
Executive Director
Since 2005
Hired 4-14-03
Ms. Amy Myers,
HAHS, LLC
AMCD’s Attorney
Since 01-11-24
Ms. Julieann Klein, CPA
Lombardo Spradley & Klein CPAs
AMCD’s CPA
Since 9-11-03
No comments:
Post a Comment