|
|
|
June 27, 2007 “Calvin Harris, the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council deserves and demands your written apology.” from Dave Plyer <d.plyer@gmail.com> date Jun 27, 2007 8:41 AM Pinellas County Commissioner Calvin Harris, the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council expects your apology. You, Calvin Harris, have corrupted every meeting of the Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board since January 30, 2006 with your unprovoked and open hostility towards the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council. On that day, you poisoned the air at Board meetings when, without warning or rationale, you cried, "We may not be able to control the [Pinellas County Juvenile Justice] Council, but if you don't support DJJ [Department of Juvenile Justice] we will ask that you be abolished." You repeated that threat at every meeting and not once did you, or could you, show cause. By September 18, 2006, you had made Board meetings so toxic that you, and a few other members of the Board, felt free to attack the character of individual members of the Council. The members of the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council, that were the focus of your assault, were not present nor had you ever met these citizens. Never a debate of ideas. No. You chose the coward's critique of the Council based on email addresses of its members! Board Vice Chair Paul McClintock singled out one address, and with insight gained from his pinnacle of ignorance and bias, declared that its owner "appears to be a school-shooter type, to me." When a member of the Council protested, you shouted, "You, shut up!" At the next meeting (January 22, 2007) you, Calvin Harris, reinforced your contempt for democracy. You opened the meeting with the arbitrary decree of a tyrant that the appointees to the Board by the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council were not Board members! To enforce your dictate, you ordered a Pinellas County Sheriff's deputy to remove those Board members from the meeting! Your capricious and lawless act quickly ended the meeting as you slithered off to, in the words of Vice Chair McClintock, "seek legal counsel from Tallahassee and get a referee if necessary." You, Calvin Harris, apparently planned to "abolish" the Council at the following meeting of the Board (April 30, 2007). You set the stage when you stipulated that DJJ send meeting notices to select members of the Board—members chosen by you—so they could plan to attend, as DJJ called it, this "important" meeting. You told DJJ to exclude five of the seven members appointed by the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council from the meeting. You did this by withholding information from them. The department obediently supported you. You, then, invited new faces to seat themselves at the Board table. The Board's agenda for the meeting had one item of old business: "New Advisory Council"— your euphemism for a group, chosen by you, to replace the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council. Curiously, during the meeting, you skipped "Old Business." When asked, you said there is no advisory council. The fact that DJJ Deputy Secretary Rick Davison was there, and said DJJ has no authority to get involved in issues between local boards and councils, dampened your plans. Davison's announcement, coupled with the presence of a reporter from the St. Petersburg Times, gave you pause for reflection. Calvin Harris, your behavior towards the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council is neither acceptable nor professional. You are a Pinellas County Commissioner. You should know better. You were elected to serve the people and the people deserve better of you. Now, you owe the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council a sincere apology for your unconscionable behavior towards it. We would demand that your apology include your assurance that you will never again attempt to overthrow, abolish or otherwise impede the legal operation of a juvenile justice county council or attack its members. Unfortunately, you continue to demonstrate that your "word" cannot be trusted. Calvin Harris, the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council deserves and demands your written apology.
Dave Plyer, Chair |
|
|