U.S. Attorney John O'Neill Investigating Corruption

Adam Smith of The Saint Petersberg Times really went out on a limb by declaring Kevin White the political loser of the week. I disagree with Smith on declaring Mitt "I'm unemployed" the winner of the week. Romney's visit to Tampa was a disaster.

The real winner of the week was U.S. Attorney John O'Neill. Not only did O'Neill get a 10 count indictment on White, O'Neill is making progress on the Jim Norman corruption case. It appears O'Neill is investigating Norman's aide Ben Kelly.

Kelly began working as Norman's commission aide in 1996, earning $24,960 year, according to county personnel records. He was making $71,928 a year when he left the county in November 2010 to join Norman in Tallahassee. Kelly earns $63,000 annually as Norman's Senate aide.

Kelly worked on Norman's campaigns for county commission, and served as campaign treasurer for Norman's Senate run.

Kelly and his wife, Heather, were paid $31,480 for work on Norman's Senate campaign from August 2008 through October 2010, according to Florida Division of Elections records.

O'Neill is aggressively investigating corruption with members of both political parties. Tampa has had its share of political corruption. We finally have a U.S. Attorney that wants to hold elected officials accountable for their misdeeds. That makes the people of Hillsborough County the winners of the week.

Kevin White Indicted

Former Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White has been indicted. White accepted bribes of $10,000 in cash, steak dinners and a 2003 Lincoln Navigator. White received 10 charges, including bribery and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

George Hondrellis was indicted for paying bribes to White. Hondrellis used the bribes to White to secure a spot for his towing company in the rotation. White was the chairman of the Public Transportation Commissioner at the time. Hondrellis also bribed White's father with money and the Lincoln Navigator.

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Fire Renee Lee

The Hillsborough County Commission needs to fire County Attorney Renee Lee. She has repeatedly proven herself to be undeserving of serving in government. Lee was investigated for potential criminal wrongdoing when she awarded former County Administrator Pat Bean. Pay increases as to be approved by commission members. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated Lee and Bean. Criminal charges were not filed. However, the report is seriously damaging to Lee's reputation.

Lee's pay raise

”February 26, 2007

The accountant for Lee, Kathy Taylor noticed Williams signature where Jim

Norman would normally sign, indicating BOCC approval of Lee’s salary increase.

Taylor does not say anything to anyone but Novak and they both remark in an

email correspondence, this date and, in part, “oh well.” Novak advised she made

the remark because Lee was always “pushing the financial envelope” regarding

salary, outside counsel expenses and spending issues in the County Attorney’s

Office. Taylor and Novak advised they did not feel ‘it was their place’ to say

anything. Both later acknowledged a fear of Lee’s position and influential power.

Norman was suppose to be the person that was suppose to approve of the pay increase. It gets more bizarre. Lee gave herself an award.

Lee sent the following email to Bean and Hill subject titled “Extra Mile Award”:

After attending the Budget kick off meeting this morning Beth (Novak) reminded

me that a provision in my contract allows me to receive the award…see page 10,

Section E. Hillsborough agrees to make available to the attorney such other

benefits that are not specifically covered by this agreement as they now exist,

and may be amended from time to time, for other employees of Hillsborough. . .

Thank you for the award. FDLE Special Agents interviewed Novak who did not

remember “reminding” Lee about a “provision in her contract” and found the

content of this email unusual as Novak had no prior legal training or experience.

32. Michelle Sekouri, Executive Assistant to the County Administrator followed Bean

into Bean’s office on an unrelated matter, after a meeting at which Lee was not

present. Sekouri was present when Hill walked into Bean’s office holding up a

piece of paper and asked Bean, ‘Did you see this?’ Sekouri testified Bean

advised she had not seen what Sekouri believed to be the aforementioned email

from Lee, dated February 02, 2007 subject titled,” Extra Mile Award.” Sekouri

testified Hill advised Bean that Lee wanted the one percent salary increase. Bean

was surprised at this news. Bean and Hill then engaged in discussion regarding

Bean and Garrity’s eligibility for the award. Bean advised Hill to get with the

human resources department in order to resolve the matter. Sekouri testified she

recalled details regarding the event because she could not forget the look of

surprise on Bean’s face.

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Florida Has A Corruption Problem

From 1998 to 2007 Florida has had 824 public official convicted of various crimes. New York came in second with 704. This is a good time to bring this up that Charlie Crist, Marco Rubio, Kendrick Meek and Jeff Greene have all made the CREW list for corrupt candidates. One of these men will end up being a United States Senator.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White was caught breaking campaign finance rules by spending $6,100 on his personal wardrobe. White tried to get away with the bogus billing by citing the owner of BC Men's Wear as his fashion consultant. White was found guilty in court of sexually harrassing former employee Alyssa Ogden. White is the favorite to win the District 3 race.

Former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom was charged with official misconduct, grand theft and conspiracy. He also used nonprofit money from the Republican Party of Florida to charge $173,000 on a credit card. Sansom still has not repaid the money. Sansom got a standing ovation from fellow Republicans when he steeped down as Speaker.

Former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer was indicted on several counts of felong grand theft. Greer set up the bogus company Victory Strategies to profit from billing the RPOF. Greer attempted to destroy the paper trail by bringing a paper shredding machine to the RPOF offices. Crist defended Greer until the near end.

Florida has an obvious corruption problem. It is time for citizens to back changes that will hold public officials to a higher standard. The Florida Commission on Ethics lacks teeth. The Attorney General office under Bill McCollum showed an unwillingness to investigate Sansom. This isn't a partisan issue. This is about having honest public officials. A democracy cannot run if the people do not trust their elected officials.

Valerie Goddard Running for District 3

Valerie Goddard is running for the Hillsborough County Commission District 3 seat. Kevin White is the incumbant and I would love to see him lose. You can meet Goddard this Saturday.

Date: Saturday, June 19, 2010
Time: 9:30am – 3:30pm
Location:Meet at Hess Gas Station on Corner of Florida Avenue and Linebaugh
Street:10001 Florida Avenue
City/Town: Tampa, FL

Update: the Goddard campaign left this comment.

Hi from the Goddard campaign.... we are meeting at at that location to canvass the neighborhood..

We will not be there from 9:30 to 3:30. We will be meeting at 10:00 to go door to door until 3:30.

Quote of the Day

"Nice quote: 'Never trust the bureaucracy to get it right.' From the book 'Lessons in Disaster': McGeorge Bundy - p. 96."

Mark Sharpe, Hillsborough County Commissioner.

Mr. Commissioner, did the HCC get it right when they voted to pay the legal bills of Commissioner Kevin White's sexual harassment suit. White lost the case.

Kevin White Sexual Harassment Scandal

Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White has been accused of sexual harassment by recently fired staffer Alyssa L. Ogden.

During an interview with her parents present, Ogden said the overtures began within days of her taking the job, when she said White, 42, took her on a trip to Atlanta. There, she said, White took her to dinner with friends and later asked to share a hotel bed with her.

Ogden said the advances continued in the form of requests for kisses during private moments at County Center and promises of career success if she would relent to his sexual appeals.

"It was all the time," she said.

In another article, Ogden said White took her to her Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game. The Commissioner requested a kiss. When she declined he threw money on the table. White denied that he made any sexual advances towards Ogden.

"I'm sticking to what I said," Ogden said Wednesday. "I know for a fact what happened. Of course he's not going to admit it."

Ogden is 23 years-old. I'm trying to think about what motivation is would have to go public against a local politician and can think of nothing. I don't see a vast right-wing conspiracy against a Democrat.

If people are expecting me to support Kevin White just because he is a Democrat then they are sadly mistaken. Two St. Petersburg Times articles doesn't prove his guilt. The Equal Employment Opportunity Office needs to thoroughly matter. If White is innocent he name should be cleared with no resonable doubt. If Odgen's version of the events are true then White needs to be held accountable.