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Open letter read by Plyer at C6JJB meeting 1/22/07
January 22, 2007 Calvin Harris
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 [top] |
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