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Transcript of C6JJB Meeting Links to key subjects in the transcript of the January 22, 2007 meeting of the Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board
Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board Meeting January 22, 2007 2:00 PM Board of County Commissioners Conference Room 315 Court Street Clearwater, Florida
Transcript of video tape taken by Matt Sullivan with Greg Pound's camera Transcribed by Cathy Corry 2/07
Board members: Statutory mandated: Vance Arnett - representing Bernie McCabe, (not a voting designee) Pinellas Juvenile Justice Council appointees: Susan Biszewski-Eber, Dave Plyer, Greg Pound, Norm Roche, Bruce Wright Pasco Juvenile Justice Council appointees: Calvin Harris, Martha Lenderman, Paul McClintock, Teri Simpson, Ken Welch DJJ Representatives: Tim Niermann, LaVetta Waters Public: Cathy Corry, Matt Sullivan, others Pinellas County Sheriff Deputy: William Cunningham
TRANSCRIPTION: [Harris announces Pinellas JJC no longer recognized] Calvin Harris: Dave Plyer was uh notified Dave Plyer: Point of order. Harris: by state DJJ last week that his group Plyer: Point of order. Harris: is not recognized as the council. Plyer: Point of order please. Harris: and we are forming we are forming we are in the process of forming a juvenile justice council. Plyer: Point of order. Harris: And so the old, the old Board is still in effect until the new Board, the new council is formed, which means that Dave Plyer is a member of this Board, but the other people that were appointed by that Council are not official members of this Board and they will not be seated. Plyer: Point of order! Bruce Wright: That is simply not true. Plyer: Point of order. Point of order! Harris: You'll get your turn. Plyer: Point of order! Point of order! Harris: If, if Plyer: Point of order! Point of order. Point of order. Harris: So if, so what I'm saying is that. Wright: That is simply not true. Plyer: Point of order! Point of order. Point of order. Harris: No, you’re not, and, uh I need to ask, so that we can conduct our business, Plyer: Point of order. Harris: I need to ask Mr Wright, you, and Mr Roche who are not members of this Board, Plyer: Point of order! Harris: you all need to ah, you can be in the audience, but you will not be seated as part of the Board. Plyer: Do not, do not move [Sullivan-audience: by what, by what authority?] [Point of order: Plyer suggests that Vice Chair conduct meeting] Plyer: Point of order. [Cathy Corry-audience: I have the membership list. It includes all those names. It was just emailed to me, on Friday; Friday morning by Danielle Williams at the request and direction of Cynthia Lorenzo, Interim Secretary for the Department of Juvenile Justice.] Plyer: Now, my point of order. It is appropriate that the Vice Chair conduct this meeting and appoint a Nomination Committee to elect a Chair at the next Board meeting. On October 26, 2006, Calvin Harris was replaced on the Board with a new appointee from the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council. Harris and the permanent members of the board were notified of this on October 30, 2006. At that time, Harris ceased to be a Board member and was no longer an officer. Sometime later, Pasco County's Juvenile Justice Council appointed Pinellas County Commissioner Harris to this Board. However, that does not reinstate Harris as Chair of this Board. -PAUSE- Plyer: So it would be appropriate that the Vice Chair conduct this meeting. Harris: No, what is appropriate is that those members who are not members of this Board excuse themselves. And then we will continue our business. That's Mr. Wright, Mr. Roche, and I'm sorry, what is your name? Wright: Point of order Greg Pound: Mr. Pound. Greg Pound Harris: Ok, Mr. Pound. Wright: Point of order. You have just heard and seen what's come down from Tallahassee. Harris: And now, since you're not a member, then, when we get, when we get to Board member comments, that's when you will speak. Wright: No, I'm sorry. I am a member. Plyer: Point of order. When was this decision made? [Sullivan-audience: Where's the writing?] [Vice Chair McClintock begins to conduct meeting] Paul McClintock: I'm conducting this meeting; you have the floor. [Harris orders Sheriff's deputy to remove Board members appointed by Pinellas JJC] Harris: Uh, Deputy Bill, will you, we need to escort these people. McClintock: We need a sergeant-at-arms. Plyer: No, sir. Wright: You can not. Plyer: No, sir. Wright: You can not do that because we are elected to that Board and the paperwork is right there. Plyer: Let me read you something before you take another step. [Corry-audience: speaking to Deputy Cunningham -Here is Cynthia Lorenzo's direct cell phone number] Sheriff Deputy William Cunningham: OK [Corry-audience: speaking to Deputy Cunningham -and you can call her] Cunningham: That's not my business. Wright: Well, it is. Plyer: No sir. These people have a right to be here. Cunningham: You've been asked to leave. Harris: Your, you are, and you will be. Plyer: These people. Harris: But, your group is not the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council. Wright: Yes we are the the juvenile justice council. We've been recognized by the state. You can not say that. Plyer: Let me read something into the record since I'm still a member. Apparently, Calvin here has been doing some work on the side without notifying anybody else, at least not notifying me. Anyway, I get some sort of a letter; is this what we're talking about here ah?" At the September 18, 2006 meeting of the Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board, it was decided."? Harris: Well, well. Plyer: Well, I'm trying to get to get to where we are. Harris: We don't have, at our last meeting, and you all have the minutes, the Board, this Board, determined that it needed a group that represented the program [Sullivan- audience: Under what statutory authority? Under what statutorily authority?] Harris: and and and it was approved by this Board that we'll form, that we form a new, more broad-based council so this is not news to anybody. Plyer: No. Harris: And that was approved. Plyer: No, that was not approved. [Sullivan-audience: By what statutory authority?] Harris: And that new council will be, is recognized by the state of Florida as meeting those ideas and ideals that they look for in providers and services. And so and Mr. Plyer was, you were informed that your group is not recognized. Plyer: Do you recall what your motion was? Do you recall what the motion was? Harris: Is not recognized. And so I'm not playing these little Robert's Rules or or trying to play any mind games. What I'm telling you is that these people are not gonna be seated. They are not a part of this Board and that's that. [Point of order: Plyer argues against Harris's demands] Plyer: Point of order. [PAUSE] Harris: You want McClintock: Pardon me. Go ahead. Point of order. You're recognized by the Board. Plyer: I want to read something here because I have yet to hear any statutory authority that, that speaks to this gibberish. Harris: Well, I've heard no statutory authority that says that you can exist. [unintelligible] Plyer: Yes, I'm going, I'm gonna to read you the statutory authority that says we exist and if you don't like it you can call the legislature in Tallahassee, who is also Harris: You exist but in a different sense [unintelligible] [Plyer reads letter from Harris to Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council 1/5/07] Plyer: No. Not at all. Not at all. And I'm relating now to something I read in a letter apparently addressed to me uh that Greg Johnson handed to me and uh [pause] I'm just, I'm gonna read the letter first, so that we all know what we're talking about. At the, And this is apparently from you to me. Harris: Not apparently. It is from me to you. Plyer: Oh, OK. Harris: And you knew that. Plyer: Because I never received it in the mail. I was handed a copy. Harris: Well, I wanted to make sure that you didn't deny receiving it. That's why we had it hand-delivered it to you. Plyer: Oh, I wouldn't I wouldn't deny it. I'm going to read it into the record so we all know what the playing field is. [Plyer reads Harris' letter of 1/5/07 – text of letter follows.] Transcript of letter from Harris read by Plyer January 5, 2007
Mr. Dave Plyer P.O. Box 15202 Clearwater, FL 33766
Dear Mr. Plyer:
At the September 18, 2006 meeting of the Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board, it was decided that the Board was in need of more broad based input from community groups and providers in order to continue to meet the needs of our community and our youth. To that end the Board approved the establishment of an Advisory council composed of a broad range of providers and members listed as statutory members, to provide advice and counsel to the Board as intended in the statutes. Pursuant to Board direction such an advisory council will be formed. With the formation of said council, your group will no longer be recognized as a DJJ council. If you and/or members of your group are desirous of providing input to the Board you will need to form an independent alliance.
Yours truly,
Signed Calvin D. Harris Calvin D. Harris, Chair Circuit 6 Board [Plyer reads PCJJC's open letter to Harris] Now, I took the liberty of putting down some thoughts about this. To you Calvin. [Plyer reads his open letter to Harris of 1/22/07 — text of letter follows.] Open letter to Harris read by Plyer January 22, 2007
Calvin Harris 315 Court Street Clearwater, FL 33756
Calvin:
In your letter to me, dated January 5, 2007, you write: “…the September 18, 2006 meeting of the Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board… approved the establishment of an Advisory council… to provide advice and counsel to the Board as intended in the statutes… With the formation of said council, your group will no longer be recognized as a DJJ council...” By “your group,” I believe that you mean the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council.
Your letter was handed to me by Greg Johnson, Assistant Secretary for Prevention and Victim Services, Department of Juvenile Justice, on January 9, 2007. The letter is on Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners’ stationary, addressed to me, signed by you and is curious in its logic.
First, what the Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board approved on September 18, 2006, was this motion, as restated by you: “We’re going to create an advisory council to give us advice.” Nothing in that motion supports the action threatened in your letter. In fact, such action would be contrary to F.S. 985.664 (1): “There is authorized…a juvenile justice county council to be established in each of the 67 counties.” The Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council is so authorized and has been in continuous operation for years.
The statute defines the purpose of the boards and councils thus: “to provide advice and direction to the department [of Juvenile Justice]… to address the emerging and changing needs of Florida's youth who are at risk of delinquency.” The statute does not read: “’To provide advice and counsel’ to a juvenile justice circuit board…” However, Article II Section B, 2 of the Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board bylaws states: “Advisory Members may consult with and counsel the Board and shall not have voting privileges.”
In other words, neither Florida statute, board bylaws nor council bylaws give one body authority over another. Nowhere in these documents do you have authority to dictate: “your group will no longer be recognized as a DJJ council.”
You end your letter proclaiming that you are: “Calvin D. Harris, Chair, Circuit 6 Board.” You were once the Chair of the Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board, but no more. At the public meeting of the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council, on October 26, 2006, the Council appointed six members to the Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board (a power given to county juvenile justice councils by statute). Your two-year appointment was not renewed. The Council notified you of this, on October 30, 2006. At that point, you ceased to be a member of the Board and lost your position as Chair. Tim Niermann, Circuit 6 Chief Probation Officer, told me the Pasco County Juvenile Justice Council recently appointed you to the Board. This appears to be a perversion of F.S. 985.664 (7) (a) that states: “in appointing members to the circuit board, the county councils must reflect…the circuit’s geography and population distribution.” In any event, the Board must elect a new Chair, according to its bylaws. For now, you are not it.
At past meetings of the Board, you dismissed its bylaws: “Just a piece of paper.” You refused a Board member’s right to speak, knowingly allowed ineligible votes and told the public: “Shut up!” Currently, as a Pinellas County Commissioner, you are apparently using Pinellas County tax dollars to represent Pasco County. Now you send threats. Have you no shame?
Dave Plyer, Chair Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council 727.799.1431 [Applause] McClintock: Yes Vance, you have the floor. Harris: I would be glad to receive that if you want to provide a copy. Now, at this point, ah, we all know what the rules are and we will go to our quorum count. McClintock: I have Mr. Arnett with a remark. Harris: Oh, I'm sorry. [Arnett asks Niermann for DJJ's position] Vance Arnett: I've heard two conflicting statements of where DJJ stands on this. Tim, can you shed any light on this? Tim Niermann: Well, DJJ does not formulate the councils or the boards. ok. We have one contracted position to provide support to the boards and councils. Now, our Assistant Secretary for Prevention [Greg Johnson] did provide Mr. Plyer with that notification at the statewide board and council meeting and I guess at that point in time he was a a conduit to pass the information from, at that point in time, uh, Commissioner Harris who was acting as the Chair of the Board. [Lenderman moves to elect Harris as chair] Martha Lenderman: I'd like to make a motion if I can, to elect Calvin Harris as… is it, I'm not sure we need to do this, but to reassert our intentions of earlier, uh as the Chair of this Board. McClintock: I would second that nomination. Plyer: Well, according to our bylaws unfortunately, we need a nomination committee. McClintock: [unintelligible] OK, I appoint a nominations committee. Lenderman: And that's appointed by the Chair, I believe. Harris: OK [Corry, audience: The Vice Chair.] [Sullivan, audience: The Vice Chair.] Lenderman: The Vice Chair. McClintock: The nominations committee, would you accept (spoken to Vance Arnett) we'll take a. Actually I, this is this is a tough thing to do, cause we can't really resolve anything, even on a vote, until we determine who, in fact, may be here and may not be here as Board members. [Harris complains about PCJJC] Harris: See, this is what got us into problems before. That with the Council we allowed a group to just say that they were the Council and drive everybody else away and change the rules. And nobody said anything. Wright: Point of order. That is simply not true. Wright: Point of order. Harris: and and and that group can not dictate to this group. We are the Board and and Dave Plyer's not a lawyer. I mean we have sitting on this Board the State's Attorney, the Public Defender, [Sullivan, audience: not here.] Harris: judges and [Sullivan, audience: not here.] Harris: and and and and I'm not having, I'm not having some layman tell me what Florida law is. You know. We know what we're suppose to do and we're not doing this [crowd noise]. [Sullivan-audience: Can you give us the state statute?] McClintock: Sh, sh, sh. I'll recognize you when. Harris: There's a place for public comments and everybody in the gallery is not going to come in. We're going to conduct our meeting now and and the only person here from that group who speaks at this time is Dave Plyer because. McClintock: He's recognized. Harris: This council, this council, this Board will maintain the membership until the next meeting when all of the new council members would have been appointed. Now that's not so hard to understand. Plyer: Yes, it is very hard to understand. Harris: And and Wright: Yes it is, sir. Harris: And if you want to be [Corry-audience: It's illegal] Wright: It's illegal. This McClintock: Your point, David. Wright: Point of order, please. [Point of order: Plyer argues Harris has no authority to make these decisions] McClintock: David. No, David is up. Plyer: Wait. Hang on a second. Point of order. Plyer: You have absolutely no authority to make these decisions. None. Zero. Nada. You can check with the lawyers at DJJ. You can check with the uh uh Florida legislature. You can read the damn bylaws, our own bylaws, and you can also read the Florida statute that governs us. Nowhere in those documents is there anything that says a council or a board has any control or authority over another body. Period. I mean, how difficult can that be? McClintock: David, I would advise you not to damn anything else in the future. Plyer: Yes, that’s a very good. I apologize for what I said. McClintock: Public comment comes at the end. [Wright argues Harris/McClintok have no power to declare him a non-member] Wright: Ah, point of order. I am. McClintock: No, you have no point of order. Wright: Yes I do. Plyer: He is a member of this Board. Wright: I am a member of this Board. Harris: He is not a member of this Board. McClintock: I'm sorry. Plyer: No, he is a member of the Board. Wright: You just [Sullivan-audience: By what authority?] Wright: Specifics. [Corry-audience: He's a member of the Board. DJJ sent me the list. You can call Cynthia Lorenzo] Harris: He's not a member of this Board and, and, and [Sullivan-audience: By what statute do you decree that?] Wright: Point of order. Do you not see the list? Harris: who is not recognized by DJJ representatives and so we will. Wright: Point of order. Do you not see the list? Point of order. Do you not see the list? Harris: We don't receive. McClintock: You will be allowed to speak at public comment. Harris: We don't receive information from those people who are not DJJ [unintelligible]. Wright: Excuse me. Point of order. It is right on the list there. Read the list. No? You're not going to do what DJJ instructs you to do? Harris: We have, we have our list. Plyer: No. Wright: Your list is right there. That is from DJJ. [Sullivan: Show us your letter from D.] McClintock: [Unintelligible] You're part of the public as far as I'm concerned. Wright: No, I'm part of the Board. McClintock: Please be restrained. Plyer: Point of order. Wright: Point of order. Point of order. McClintock: Please be restrained and control yourself. Don't speak until the end of this meeting. Wright: Point of order. McClintock: You have no point of order. Wright: Yes I do Plyer: By what authority are you speaking? [Sullivan-audience: By what statute do you operate under?] Plyer: By what statute are you allowing [unintelligible] to speak? McClintock: We're going to, we're going. I think what we may do is call for an adjournment of this meeting today and seek legal counsel from Tallahassee and get a referee if necessary. Wright: It might be good to seek legal counsel because I certainly will. You can not prevent me from being on a Board that I was elected to, duly elected by a recognized juvenile council. McClintock: You are part of the public. Wright: And, you can change your mind at this last minute? That it's not a juvenile justice council? McClintock: Please don't threaten, please don't threaten this Board or members. Wright: It's not a threat, sir. It is not a threat. I am saying that I will seek legal counsel. Harris: You have that right. This is the United States of America. You can do that. But in the meantime, in the mean time, Plyer: If I can get a word in edgewise. Harris: uh, the the people who are members of this Board will receive information and its not now. Now, that's just the way it is. [Sullivan-audience: By what authority or statute do you do you make that decree?] McClintock: You're part of the public. [Sullivan-audience: I elected the members on the Board. I'm the Vice-Chair. So.] Harris: That explains. McClintock: Public speaking will be at the end. [Sullivan-audience: Sir, are you the Chair?] McClintock: I am the acting Chair, as Vice Chair. [Sullivan-audience: Thank you. Thank you sir. Excuse me] Plyer: Now. [Arnett asks if there was a motion to adjourn] Arnett: Did you have a motion in there somewhere? McClintock: There was a motion to nominate the Vice, the vi. I can not make a motion as acting chair. But the, but the motion was. Arnett: To call for an adjournment? McClintock: to call for an adjournment [Harris declares he will create a new council to appoint new members to the board] Harris: Cause we're going to suspend the meeting and, and we will uh the new council will appoint its members and we will have a meeting and we will seat those members and uh… McClintock: Recall a new board meeting at that time. Harris: Yes, yes Plyer: Now. Point of order. Just so that there's no confusion here. If we're going to call some sort of meeting every member of the Board at this time, that includes these gentlemen here [acknowledging the members appointed by the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council] should be notified as well as a public notice be put out about this meeting. McClintock: OK Harris: OK, we will put a public notice out and we will notify members of the Board. Uh, it we are not going to notify all the members of the public who want… we'll put out a public notice and the members of the Board will receive a written notice of the meeting and that's who will receive it. [Sullivan-audience: I have a public comment] Plyer: Who are the members of the Board? [Sullivan-audience: I have public comment] Harris: They are not members of the Board. Plyer: That's your arbitrary position. Lenderman: Do we have a motion for approval? McClintock: We have a motion on the floor. And I will seek a [unintelligible] the motion Lenderman: Second. Welch: What's the motion? McClintock: The motion is to adjourn, temporarily suspend this meeting temporarily and to recall after [unintelligible] [Sullivan-audience: I, I,] McClintock: All in favor? Lenderman and others: Aye Wright, Plyer and others: Nay Plyer: Oppose [NOTE: No vote count taken on Ayes and Nays] [Harris declares he does not cater to the public] [Sullivan-audience: I, have one one one issue. I would like the Board to submit the statute that says you can dismiss a a a juvenile justice council. I would like that in writing. The statute that you say you can eliminate a council and make up your own. Harris: Uh, any any public records information will be handled the way it's always, it will be requested in writing. You're not going to come in and request up and think we're gonna write letters. [Sullivan-audience: Cater to the public?] Harris: Uh, no, I'm not, no. [Sullivan-audience: not going to cater to the public?] Harris: No, public records requests are handled in a particular way and you know that and it's not you standing up there asking me for stuff. [Sullivan: No, you're saying you have auth, authority.] Harris: Ask your lawyer. [Sullivan-audience: I, uh, The state's, state's attorney is my lawyer.] Harris: This meeting is adjourned. McClintock: They spent so much money on that damn parking lot. Wright: This is a farce. This is a farce. [Sullivan-audience: Kangaroo Kourt] Wright: I have a lot of ears in the media and you guys know that. I will be glad to talk to them. [Sullivan: Kangaroo Kourt, . . . If they planned, they'd have ropes]
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