Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council: June 28, 2007 — Report from the Chair

Council demands apology from Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board Chair Calvin Harris

At the Council meeting of May 24, 2007, the Chair asked if there was any objection to the Council demanding an apology from Calvin Harris, Chair of the Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board, for his actions towards the Council. There was no objection. On June 27, 2007, the Chair of the Council wrote an email to Calvin Harris that the Council “deserves and demands your written apology.

The message chronicles Harris’ abusive behavior at four meetings of the Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board. These are excerpts:

1. [January 30, 2006] “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.”
2. [September 18, 2006] “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…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!’”
3. [January 22, 2007] “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.’“
4. [April 30, 2007] You, Calvin Harris, apparently planned to "abolish" the Council…You told DJJ to exclude five of the seven members appointed by the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council from the meeting...then, invited new faces to seat themselves at the Board table.
   
   “Curiously, during the meeting…you said there is no advisory council. The fact that DJJ Deputy Secretary Rick Davison…said DJJ has no authority to get involved in issues between local boards and councils…coupled with the presence of a reporter from the St. Petersburg Times, gave you pause for reflection.”

The letters closes, in part, with “Calvin Harris,…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.”

The email was sent to Harris with copies to all Board members, Pinellas County Attorney Susan Churuti, DJJ Secretary Walt McNeil and Gov. Charlie Crist. The letter was also forwarded to all members of this Council.

A copy of the June 27, 2007 email to Harris demanding his apology is submitted for the record.

Council requests public document from Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board Chair Calvin Harris

The Chair, as the Council representative to the Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board, repeatedly asked for a copy of the letter from State Attorney Bernie McCabe to the Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board that designates Vance Arnett to represent the State Attorney at Board meetings. Harris said it existed and “would be happy to send [Council Chair Plyer] a copy of the letter…if that makes the world any better for you…” After an exchange of 12 emails during which Harris said he did have and did not have the letter, Harris concluded with “You need to get over it!” The Chair replied, “Please send me a copy of the Bernie McCabe letter…”

On June 25, 2007 the Chair sent an email to Joslyn Wilson, at the Office of the Attorney General, asking the OAG to intervene in this matter. To date, the OAG has not replied.

A copy of the June 25, 2007 email from Plyer to Wilson is submitted for the record.

Grant review update

At the Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board meeting of April 30, 2007, DJJ announced its grant awards for Pinellas County, based on the recommendations of the “Juvenile Justice Circuit Grant Committee”—instead of the recommendations of the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council.

On May 24, 2007, the Chair of the Council wrote DJJ Assistant Secretary Prevention Cassandra Jenkins for her explanation of why the department awarded $67,659 to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Police Athletic League (PAL), ranked last by the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council, and disregarded the Council’s first place recommendation YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg,

June 8, 2007, DJJ Deputy Secretary Rick Davison wrote: “the Department…funded the Police Athletic League…as recommended by the Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board.”

June 16, 2007, the Chair responded: “Your email…is unsettling in the Department's disregard for the law.” The email then pointed out the faults in Davison’s explanation.

June 17, 2007 Davison answered: “…as reasonable people do, we respectfully disagree with your position.”

If there is no objection, the Chair, on behalf of the Council, will contact DJJ’s Office of Inspector General. The Council will ask for an investigation into the DJJ grant award process.

Copies of the emails between the Council and DJJ on the issue of DJJ’s apparent disregard of the law in its grant application process are submitted for the record. Also included are applicable excerpts from the transcript of the April 30. 2007 Board meeting.

Next Council meeting: 9:00 a.m. Thursday July 26, 2007 at the Seminole Community Library.

This report is submitted for the record by Dave Plyer, Chair, Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council.

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