Richard Clark, Attitudes, Actions and Ethics

[Diane Melendez]

With Martha Barrett winning a seat on the School Board, she has resigned from her post on the Charter Revision Committee to be replaced by Jessica Deal, who was councilman Daniel Davis's assistant and now works for the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce. Somehow it always seems to work out that those with political inroads and close relationships to power brokers always have connections that bespeak of political influence. It is really very troubling. It begs the question as to whether or not everyone on the review committee is seeing things with a balanced and unfettered eye. This became more apparent when some on the review committee resisted the idea of more independence and power for the Ethics Office and its committee. What is everyone worried about hmmmm. Having to answer to someone other than their buddies?
Martha Barrett stepped down from the Charter Revision Commission Thursday. Barrett was recently elected to the Duval County School Board District 1 seat vacated by Stan Jordan. Jessica Deal, who will replace Barrett on the commission, was approved at the Tuesday City Council meeting. Deal (right) was an assistant to Council member Daniel Davis and currently serves as director of business advocacy for Cornerstone, the economic development arm of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce.

http://jaxdailyrecord.com/dmail/hr.gif http://jaxdailyrecord.com/articles/09_25_09/1a.jpg

[CS Foltz]

Slippery Dan's assistant huh? This does not bode well for the public...........they damn sure better not try to clip out the Ethics Officer......I will be keeping an eye on things!

[Diane Melendez]

Watch closely CS. I have been told that Richard Clark is now trying to undo the Ethics Office, after voting to keep it. Big mistake on his part, especially on the heels of the reversal of most budget cuts. A person has got to stand by their words and decisions, especially in today's political atmosphere. The trust the council thought they would gain through interaction with the public about budget and the finance committee budget hearings has been blown to bits after Clarks back room agreements with the mayor. I am not sure he has not fully realized that yet. He also mistakenly described the function of the ethics officer and commission as more of a "teaching" facility as opposed to investigative agency. Hello....Richard....the mayor was the one who came up with the idea of a "hot line" to report potential wrongdoing. The ethics office is by design not only there to instruct and teach it is there to find out if there are and have been ethical violations with hundreds of complaints and several real concerns now being looked into, it is clear the office is both wanted and needed. It is also something the citizens expect. Cut back on this office or director. Absolutely not. The people want more not less. In fact the ethics directives that were removed four years ago, need to be restored. No more duck and run when it comes to ethical violations.

[MindingEye]

Somehow it always seems to work out that those with political inroads and close relationships to power brokers always have connections that bespeak of political influence. It is really very troubling.


It is more than troubling, what goes on politically everyday in Jacksonville is illegal.
It is past illegal, we have no representative government, no Representative Democracy.

Does this bother anyone?

[MindingEye]

In fact the ethics directives that were removed four years ago, need to be restored. No more duck and run when it comes to ethical violations.

Ordinance changes initiated illegally and/or that were passed but did not follow the procedural requirements of law are invalid if questioned before the five year mark.

This is my personal interpretation of the Florida Statute that states that "illegal ordinances" are permanente only after five years if illegally passed. To me this implies if they are questioned before the five year mark they can be made toast......

Anyone know if this is the interpretation of this statute?

Nothing politically is done by the law in Jacksonville so the change in the ethics ordinance
can be shown to have been done illegally, no luck needed!:biggrin:



166.041 Procedures for adoption of ordinances and resolutions.—


http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?mode=View%20Statutes&SubMenu=1&App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=ordinance&URL=CH0166/Sec041.HTM (http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?mode=View%20Statutes&SubMenu=1&App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=ordinance&URL=CH0166/Sec041.HTM)

7) Five years after the adoption of any ordinance or resolution adopted after the effective date of this act, no cause of action shall be commenced as to the validity of an ordinance or resolution based on the failure to strictly adhere to the provisions contained in this section. After 5 years, substantial compliance with the provisions contained in this section shall be a defense to an action to invalidate an ordinance or resolution for failure to comply with the provisions contained in this section. Without limitation, the common law doctrines of laches and waiver are valid defenses to any action challenging the validity of an ordinance or resolution based on failure to strictly adhere to the provisions contained in this section. Standing to initiate a challenge to the adoption of an ordinance or resolution based on a failure to strictly adhere to the provisions contained in this section shall be limited to a person who was entitled to actual or constructive notice at the time the ordinance or resolution was adopted. Nothing herein shall be construed to affect the standing requirements under part II of chapter 163.

[CS Foltz]

Oh I agree Ms D.........my take on things has convinced me even more of some sort of wheeling and dealing took place when Mr Clark made that trip with Johnny over to Paris! They had more than ample time to discuss, plan and ferment and I am not real happy about the situation.........I will be watching!

[Ben Better]

I agree with CS on the Paris trip. What, other than vigilance, can be done to stop Clark from dismantling the Ethics Office? This has to be prevented at all costs.

[Ralph W]

Mr Clark was roundly vilified on this forum prior to ascending to the high office he now holds <G> because it seemed he presumed too much as he attempted an end run around council rules. By prematurely spilling the beans in interviews he was forced to backpeddle and was bailed out by fast talking spin and an infusion of cash that could be explained away. He went to Paris.

As I recall, Mr. Clark joined this forum, was accepted with open arms and lauded for openess and actually threw out some platitudes and assurances that he was one for all and all for one for the people.

Then he disappeared...

and resurfaced whipping butt and taking names...

and falling on his face as the budget review process wound down to the day infamey.

Now, there is speculation that during the Paris trip there was much gladhanding and talk involving the old you scratch my back and I'll do yours. On the surface it sure looks damning.

I think I'll talk to my councilman and see if he's transparent enough to at least hold an open mind and live up to his public statement that he is there to implement the will of his constituents. Maybe he knows some likeminded council members.

Now, where is the Council President who was so willing to come out on a public forum and bare his soul, so to speak? Perhaps he would be willing to answer the questions as to why certain budget cutting recommendations were completely ignored while he and the others on the budget committee were completely willing to endure the egg on the face and the somethings rotten smell for the inane and inconsequential budget cutting measures actually suggested.

Was it an intentional action intended, by prior collusion, perhaps in Paris, to portray the collective council inept and that father really does know what is best?

[Diane Melendez]

Richard knows that I did not and still do not think it was appropriate for him to go to Paris on tax dollars, especially when this city is struggling financially. As it turned out, the council did not pay for the trip, the Chamber of Commerce did, and that move by Hightower was very telling when it came to who had interest in Clark going to France. The media was very vocal about this and it was clear the taxpayers of Jacksonville were not impressed. I was very vocal of my discontent on that issue. I was also equally critical of the "Emergency" status declared for a batting cage worth over $168,000.00 being pushed through as a "no bid" project, without public input knowing that the funding from one district would be used in another without any of the normal and lawful process of public comment or taking of RFP's in an open bid process. The emergency status was removed and the contract put out for bid as well as the public hearing process being restored.

Following his assent to the position of Council President Richard joined the forum. The JOL administration will always welcome new members and give each one a chance to share their views, ideas and perspectives. In this case we did and do welcome Richard to post and hope he will continue to do so. That doesn't mean we agree with all of his views and actions. But I for one do believe in fair discourse and don't like dirty tactics, which is why when an attempt was made to "set up" Richard and some other members of council. I exposed the sham and denounced it. I do not approve of dirty tactics, no matter who those actions are intended to impact. It's a low life behavior and I don't approve.

Right now, I have serious concerns as to the motivations of Mr. Clark and his interaction with this Mayor. For two people who seemed to have been at each others throats, they now seem to be "agreeing" on most issues. Clark dropped all the proposed cuts of the Finance Committee keeping only the 3% across the board cut which happens to be something this mayor wanted all along. Peyton also wanted to hit hard the issue of Police and Fire fighters pensions and raises. Now it appears that he is content to sit back and let Clark lead the way on this and walk through the fire with FOP and other bargaining entities. Which is working quite well actually. The attention of Nelson Cuba went from a Gate boycott to the "Buffons" on the council. Looks like the Peyton/Clark tactic is working well.

Right now we have ended up with a tax increase with no real in depth dissection of where our tax dollars actually go and no serious understanding of the waste and no matter what is being told to the public, there is serious and purposeful waste. A budget was passed full of the written in political paybacks which include $32 million and funding for a Metro park redo, a 10 million dollar floating fund for the courthouse in addition to the other funding that is publicly known and discussed, every AMIO still has a job, not a word about the millions funding the Equestrian Center. Millions are still going to top heavy, crony run non profits with little or nothing to the small street level efforts which desperately need it. Funds to Delaney's UNF still flow at several levels, some for scholarships benefiting a handful of low performing students, funding for a staff member of the college and other goodies. Then there are several hundred thousand dollars going to the organization Mike Weinstein operates, again for scholarships for students with low GPA's, and the legacy of this budget continues the waste.

With all of this funding being directed to special interests and a whopping $32 Million in "New Expense" for a Metro Park redo (that ties into Peyton's agenda and it is "not" all about river access), that did not go through the public hearing process, we now hear that Peyton and Clark both are agreeing that funneling a newly available $5,000,000.00 into the Jags Stadium for repairs is a good idea. But it is a lousy idea. In fact it stinks, because currently this city does not fully and properly fund the upkeep of the buildings and properties we own. When it comes to taking care of our current assets, this budget actually cuts the funding for public buildings and as a result, assets that should be protected are left to fall apart or be dealt with on a emergency basis rather than regular and meaningful upkeep. That costs this city millions. The roof at the police memorial building leaks, a chunk of the roof at the coliseum has blown out more than one of our senior centers are in serious need of repairs and updates, community centers for the most part are closed and in "disrepair", especially in the communities in which they are most needed. Weeds grow on city lots throughout the county, pulling up concrete and asphalt along with them. The Riverwalk is in serious need of repairs, updating and upkeep. My guess is that will only be addressed when another portion of it falls down and my hope is there will not be a child walking on it when it does. The Snyder church is growing mold and has serious needs which are unaddressed and the list goes on. But the hell with all of that, lets take every penny of the newly available $5,000,000.00 from bed tax funds and put it to the needs of Tom Petway and Wayne Weaver, everything else the city owns can simply go to hell.

Richard has been voicing his pride at having involved the citizens in discussions and town hall meetings about the budget. The people for a moment thought he was engaged and cared. Perhaps the council would indeed worry about the constituents rather than fulfilling the role of handmaids to the mayor. That view was blown to hell when none of what the citizens worried about was ultimately addressed and the visible budget process we were all entertained with through the Finance Committee in the end was nothing but wasted time, energy and resource because nothing discussed or agreed to by that committee stuck, with the exception of the across the board cuts, which cannot even be made a reality, because someone failed to fully understand that the pay they were hoping to cut cannot be cut at will, but must survive a bargaining process. Good luck with that.

Finally was the "pride" that the council meeting and final public hearing for the budget finished in a record "15 minutes", with three people speaking, two of them from agency's getting money through the budget who wanted to praise the council, and one guy commenting of the fleet costs for the JSO. It was pathetic, but everyone, the citizens, media and special interests knew, there was nothing left to discuss, no public comments that would make one damn difference, because the public was not involved in the final tooling of this budget. That happened in a private office during "shade" discussions and the public, well we are left with the bill, broken promises and less trust than we had a few short weeks ago. Top it all off with even the suggestion that Clark thinks the Ethics office in Jacksonville is nothing more than an "educational" tool that could be cut, I for one have lost any faith I had in Richard making good decisions for Jacksonville at this point and it is now more than evident that he will do what the mayor wills. The change of opinion on the Ethics office, well that is the influence of Peyton and Mullaney who just don't cotton to having someone with the integrity and strength to do what is right looking over their shoulders. In this case that someone is Carla Miller and the ethics commission. It is clear oversight is needed now more than ever. It looks like the people have been sold out again.

[CS Foltz]

I agree 101% with you Ms Diane..........I keep thinking about the quote" Budget on the back of a napkin" unquote!! Mr Clark has not seen fit to respond to much of anything and that pretty much labels him in my book........one of them for sure!

[jbm32206]

Clark joined the forum, I'm sure, with the intent to quiet us all down....it didn't work.

[CS Foltz]

Ms JBM...............you might be on to something there, I mean I have not seen him post anything for quite some time now and there is probably a reason for it! None of which is good!

[MindingEye]

Was that not obvious!
We swooned all over him like a harlot
in the house of the rising sun
and he blew us all off….. :biggrin:

[MindingEye]

That happened in a private office during "shade" discussions and the public, well we are left with the bill, broken promises and less trust than we had a few short weeks ago.


Dian when will you be ready to start listing the laws that have been broken?

PS. there are only shade meetings that are legal and then with word for word notes taken,
your use of shade discussions says that the Sunshine Laws have been violated.
You are saying these laws have been violated are you not?

Come on, say it, we know the patterns, ........

[Diane Melendez]

ME, you are more than welcome to list the broken laws and confront the city with them and contact any and all legal authorities you think can help you get this city act within the law, fairly and in the sunshine. I have enough on my plate right now and not enough time to do it all. The majority of what I am taking care of is out of the spotlight and behind the scenes. What people read about here is the tip of the iceberg. You always bring up the issue of laws and are clearly attuned to what you feel is improper or illegal going on in this city and ask me what I am going to do about it. What are you going to do about it? Take charge and take care of business. I know I do.

[Jose Gaspar]

I agree with CS on the Paris trip. What, other than vigilance, can be done to stop Clark from dismantling the Ethics Office? This has to be prevented at all costs.

Throwing his but to the curb in 2012.

[CS Foltz]

I agree Senor Gaspar.....he is not in my district though. Mr Meserve is and if I have anything to say about it, he won't be much longer!

[MindingEye]

The majority of what I am taking care of is out of the spotlight and behind the scenes. What people read about here is the tip of the iceberg. You always bring up the issue of laws and are clearly attuned to what you feel is improper or illegal going on in this city and ask me what I am going to do about it.
There is political power in this blog. The question is does one use it one's self or does all who read the blog get the knowledge and information and act to magnify the results by more individuals acting on the problem. If not those who take office in the future will not be held to account for their actions as the present politicians are not held to account now.

If one keeps swatting flies and never fixes the screens one will always have flies in the house. One has to fix the screens to keep the flies out of the house otherwise new ones will forever be inside.


You always bring up the issue of laws and are clearly attuned to what you feel is improper or illegal going on in this city and ask me what I am going to do about it.


No, I ask you to refer to and discuss the parts of the law that controls the things pointed out by you on the blog. You know the laws.

I do not ask you what you are going to do about the activity, I ask you to refer to the law that prohibits it and describes the way it should have been done.

Again, if the Citizens do not know the law then the next politicians can break the same laws broken in the past.


To leave the Citizens ignorant of the law is to only replace the present politicians with one's own "favorite" politician and then one's own politicians will enjoy all the illegal processes found in the past.- Mindingeye

[Diane Melendez]

ME, we are completely aware of the power of this forum and we know how widely read it is. We are followed internationally and at the highest levels of U.S. Government. JaxOutLoud is here to give people of Jacksonville a voice and empower everyone who reads by educating them as to what is going on in this city politically and otherwise, often making them privy to things they would not normally know. The information is here, the examples are here, the contacts are here and each person has the right to engage themselves in their community to whatever degree they like or not.

Clearly you have your own ideas about forums and their functions. What I don't think you get is that your ideas remain mostly in your own head and when you do share them here, it is in some abstract fashion that would have us read between the lines. Most of us just can't take the time and effort. If you have a concern, please state it clearly. If you do not find the answers to some of your own questions or concerns here, you clearly know how to do that, so go for it. If you find important information and you want to share it, please do so. Beyond that, I just want you to recognize that it is not my responsibility to do all the work and come up with all the answers. It is a collective in which everyone can play the part they are most comfortable with.

Seriously, if you feel the need to know more or do more, then for heaven sake, just do it yourself or create a forum yourself that meets the internal standards you hold and somehow expect us to fulfill. We can't do that for you. We are what we are and if you don't find what you need here, there is a worldwide web just waiting to be explored. Simply put, don't place your expectations on me or the forum. They belong to you and they are yours to fulfill.

[GatorChomp85]

I wouldn't be so fast to give up on Richard Clark. He only had a few true allies through this whole budget cut ordeal and unfortunately that was not enough. Him acting as if everything is hunky dory with the mayor's office is probably more of him just being a good sport since he lost the battle but I don't think he's done fighting.

[jbm32206]

I don't have the faith in him as you....IMO, he failed and he'll have to really prove himself to convince me that he's more than blowing smoke. He started out with this budget cutting talk, but ended up proving he (and the finance committee) has little to no real substance.

[Diane Melendez]

I am not so sure GC. Time will tell, but so far it's been looking like one step forward and two steps back. There was a whole lot of bluster and postulating before the budget discussions started and then he folded when they got him behind closed doors. He could have shown some "brass", stood his ground and let the issue go before the full council, as most budget's in the past have, but this time "agreements" were cut behind the scenes. That just doesn't fly on the heels of grand announcements of transparency and public inclusion. The final "public hearing" was a laughable farce. Then falling into step with Peyton and Mullaney to keep the Inspector General's office which is infact a duplication of efforts by other entities at well over a million in one breath and then be talking about cutting "Ethics" which is a one woman office staffed by an globally recognized expert in ethics and former prosecutor who knows what she is doing, backed by a commission that doesn't cost a dime and talk about any sort of cut is not impressive. Follow that with jumping in with Peyton on the $5,000,000.00 to the Jags stadium for repairs while other city structures have far greater need and are actually serving a needed service to this community, like the main office for the JSO, as opposed to a stadium for sport, well, these things are sizable missteps on the heels of other sizable missteps. Either he is going nut up and support the people or play the mayors way. It is pretty clear who he is more interested in pleasing right now, and it's not the voters and taxpayers.

[CS Foltz]

If I were Mr Clark I would make a last will & testament for my political life is over! I do not trust him and if he has gone to the dark side there is no return!