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Columbia County
Commission News
Index of Stories 2012-11-10
• 2009 -
2007
Beginning in 2013 County Commission
News is combined with County News
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Posted December 07, 2012 09:10 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Last night, Columbia
County lived up to a reputation that in many
parts of the civilized world is met by snickers
and worse for the way it conducts its business
and treats its citizens. Two board chairs
ignored Navy veteran, Sammy Dunn, who sat in the
audience with his hand up for 26 minutes before
anyone on the Board acknowledged he was alive.
Waiting for his turn to speak, newly elected
commissioner, Bucky Nash, looked up at Mr. Dunn
and said, "I think the public needs to be a
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Posted November 2, 2012 06:30 am | Part XXVII
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Last night, Columbia County made its voice heard
throughout North Central Florida to Washington, DC, to
the West Coast and all points in between, when it
approved a resolution by Vice Chair Stephen Bailey to
withdraw from the troubled Obama Stimulus Funded North
Florida Broadband Authority (NFBA). As the Commissioners
voiced disappointment that the promise of the NFBA was
not met and the unserved and underserved of North
Central Florida and Columbia County would not have high
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Posted October
10, 2012 10:45 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Last night at Columbia County's fair grounds, outgoing
Commissioner Jody DuPree couldn't stretch his promised
three hour events/convention center presentation much
past one hour. His $28,000,000 parting shot at the
County Taxpayers, if approved, would give them a debt
that would span generations, a place to have a rodeo,
and give Ellisville, just a name at the end of an off
ramp, some meeting rooms that are now
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Posted October 9, 2012 03:50 am | Part XXVI
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Last Thursday night the North Florida Broadband
Authority's road show, minus the $10,000 a month NFEDP's
Jeff Hendry, the man in charge of Community Outreach for
the NFBA since 2010, traveled to Columbia County. They
came to ask for free tower space and answer questions.
Other than a few hardball questions, the County
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Posted October 05, 2012 8:10 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Looking to part Columbia County
taxpayers with their money is nothing new for Florida's
legendary premier good ole boy county, but the proposed
$28,000,000 convention center, which is being pushed by
outgoing County Commissioner Jody DuPree and his group
of handpicked fellow committee members, may well be the
biggest hair brained scheme in the history of North
Central Florida.
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Posted September 21, 2012 04:35 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Last night the Columbia County Commission voted for the
6th year in a row to leave south end County residents
paying outrageous fire insurance rates because it
refuses to put a fire substation or contract with the
City of High Springs to supply fire service in the far
south end of the county.
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Posted August 18, 2012 05:55 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Columbia County's long standing
designation as a Rural Area of Critical Economic
Concern means that not only is it considered
economically challenged by the state, but most
recently Tropical Storm Debby has made it a
victim of a natural disaster, which is an
additional element of a Rural Area of Critical
Economic Concern. With overtime and materials
mounting into what must be many hundreds of
thousands of dollars, last night the County
Commission showed that nothing...
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Posted July 06, 2012 09:59 am
Last night, Columbia County's governing board
met in regular session for the first time since
the record three days of monsoon like rains
began a little over a week ago, bringing
national attention to this north central Florida
county, dubbed by the state a "Rural Area of
Critical Economic Concern." Board Chairwoman,
Scarlet Frisina, sounded water logged herself,
as she and the public listened to the reports of
County personnel, and representatives from both
the state and federal governments, however, it
was the words of the public that had folks
leaning forward in their seats.
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Posted June 13, 2012 07:05 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Columbia County's patrol deputies put
their lives on the line every time they make a traffic
stop or respond to a call. They are the police in green
that the public knows up close and personal. Every day
many of them make decisions that affect the lives and
well-being of the public - decisions that are not
reflected in their pay scale.
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Posted May 25,
2012 09:30 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – "Good morning ladies
and gentlemen. This is a formal hearing before
the Florida Public Employees Relations
Commission in the case of local number 4895,
Columbia County Professional Fire Fighters
Association – International Association of Fire
Fighters vs. Columbia County Board of County
Commissioners. My name is Suzanne Choppin. I am
the designated hearing officer in this case." So
began this barely noticed public meeting, which
once again pitted Columbia County against the
IAFF. (1
comment)
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Posted May 18, 2012 01:55 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Last night at the County
Commission meeting, 34 year veteran School Board
member Glen Hunter stood in front of the County
Commission to convince them to assume the
District's aquatic center. He came without any
history of usage, maintenance or staff costs and
never mentioned how much it cost to run the
pool. In legendary Columbia County, this is
business as usual.
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Posted May 04, 2012 05:22 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Columbia County never disappoints
when it comes to denying someone their
Constitutional rights. Last night was no
different, when as citizen Jeffery Brown
concluded his 10 minute presentation, Sheriff's
Deputy John Hatcher, uninvited, walked from the
middle of the auditorium and stood a few feet
from him. Mr. Brown had received no warnings,
was not using fighting words and was being
polite. After Mr. Brown had gone 3 minutes over
the time (2 comments)
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Posted April
20, 2012 08:15 am | Updated April 24, 2012
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Last night Columbia County
residents got a reprieve from more restrictive
speech regulation. Columbia County Florida never
disappoints when it comes to devising rules
restricting the rights of its citizens or others
to address the County Commission.
After the meeting,
Assistant County Manager Lisa Roberts explained
it was County Manager Dale Williams who came up
with the new language. (3
comments)
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Posted April 19, 2012 08:05 am
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Tonight's Columbia
County Commission docket is a doozy. Topping
the bill is a little item on the consent agenda
from the County's Utility Committee, the
committee in charge of the Ellisville Utility
Boondoggle. A little piece of land was
overlooked when the County purchased the
derelict sewer plant in Ellisville. The
purported County Engineer, John Colson, sat in
on those meetings and his company, Donald F. Lee
and Associates should have done the surveys. The
appraised value $159 – the offer $5,000.
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Posted April 5, 2012 08:15 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Columbia County and Lake City workers haven't had a
raise in years. Tonight, hidden away in the County
Commission Consent agenda, is a proposed change in the
contract between Donald F. Lee & Associates, Inc. of
Lake City and Columbia County. This contract has been in
effect since 1991. It expired in
1992. Tonight Donald Lee is seeking raises for some its employees,
swapping job titles with another, and creating a new
position... Donald Lee has eliminated the position of Survey
Technician and replaced it with a Senior Technician at
an increase of 44% over the old position.
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Dist V Com Scarlet Frisina Breaks Tie: Votes to
put residents on hook for $300,000 loan to
Suwannee Valley Transit Authority. Collateral –
what's that?
Posted March 02, 2012 07:59 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Last night, at the Columbia County,
County Commission meeting, residents laughed and
snickered at Jack Berry protégé, District III
Commissioner Jody DuPree, after he orchestrated
a last minute agenda addition that went around
in circles for an hour and a half. Residents
were incredulous as County Attorney Marlin
Feagle and County Manager Dale Williams couldn't
come up with any SVTA collateral that could be
used to secure the loan. Finally, Chairwoman
Frisina ended the agony with her tie breaking
vote.
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Posted February 20, 2012 01:55 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – This past Thursday night,
February 16, 2012, Columbia County Sheriff Mark
Hunter once again spent his time at the
evening's County Commission meeting sitting out
of view in the shadows. In over three years as
the County's chief law enforcement officer, he
has worked to make himself invisible, rarely
addressing the County Commission or the people
that elected him and never speaking out against
the pitiful pay of his patrol officers. This
past Thursday was no different.
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Posted February 20, 2012 01:55 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – During the February 16, 2012
County Commission meeting, Commissioner Jody DuPree
claimed that Sheriff Mark Hunter is "always tryin to
figure out how to get raises for his people. So not at
one moment has the Sheriff of Columbia County ever not
tried to fight for his people... He has approached this
board about that on many occasions." ¶ Not really.
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Posted January 27, 2011 05:35 pm
Columbia
County's veteran IT Director, Todd Manning,
tendered his resignation this past Wednesday,
January 25, 2012. Mr. Manning was the man in
charge as the County upgraded its computer
network into the 21st century.
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Columbia
County, FL (Posted January 24, 2011 10:58 am) |
Part II
The Suwannee River/St. Johns River Water
Management Districts multi county/city working
group picked up steam last night as it looked
for a direction and method to keep a watchful
eye on the region's water resources and the
water management districts that by Florida
Statute are entrusted to manage them. It was
never explained by Columbia County, the
facilitators of the event, why the water
management districts were intentionally kept
from updating the gathering on the joint
progress being made by them, the DEP and the
State of Georgia. These multijurisdictional
issues are the very issues that the group was
formed to address.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted January 23, 2011 04:50
pm) | Part I
All the counties and cities represented in the
recently formed Water Working Group that are
meeting tonight in Columbia County are
represented on the board of directors of the
Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD)
or the St. Johns Water Management District
(SJRWMD). It has yet to be established why the
counties don't go to the water management
districts and address them directly. That may be
answered to night, along with the reason that
the directors of the SRWMD and the SJRWMD were
refused a place on the
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(Posted January 6, 2012 07:50
am)
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL– Last night, the Columbia
County, County Commission spent millions in
taxpayer dollars and is looking to borrow
millions more for various projects throughout
the County. The County Staff backed off from its
recent practice of providing power point
presentations, which provided clear graphical
explanations of expenditures, and instead went
back to the practice of a lot of talk, followed
by slam dunk votes from the Commissioners.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted
November 21, 2011 07:15 am)
It's called a Miracle Field. It is a baseball
field where children of all ages, regardless of
the challenges they face every day can play and
show how special they are. During last
Wednesday's Tourist Development Council meeting,
hotel owner Nick Patel brought to the TDC the
long dormant idea of an ADA baseball field. He
told the TDC, "There is one field that can be
ADA accessible
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Columbia County, FL (Posted December
16, 2011 09:15
am)
At
last night's Columbia County, County
Commission meeting first term commissioner,
Scarlet Frisina, was in the driver's seat in
her first full meeting as County Commission
Chairwoman. For the first time in a long
time the tone was relaxed as Commissioner
Frisina slammed the door on the yearlong
autocratic rule of the DuPree reign. Folks
got a chance to speak, questions were
answered and the threat of illegal police
removal was left at the front door. As the
meeting drew to a close, Chairwoman Frisina
removed...
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Columbia County, FL (Posted December 02, 2011 06:05
pm)
Columbia
County's proposed Westside Community Center was
initially approved to be built on July 1, 2010
when the County Commission approved the project
at a public hearing and determined that it would
suit the community's needs to self perform the
project. The County claimed this would result in
savings to the community, business for local
contractors and work for their employees.
Commissioner Bailey wants some time before
moving forward -- that may not be a bad idea
considering the County's recent expenditures
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(Posted Dec 01, 2011 06:25 am) Part II)
This past Tuesday evening the hundreds of
people that traveled from as far away as Chiefland, Jacksonville and Keystone Heights and
places in-between to come to Lake City for the
tri county water powwow were denied the
opportunity to hear the Executive Director of
the Suwannee River Water Management District,
David Still, and the Saint Johns Water
Management District make presentations regarding
the recent controversial water permit to JEA.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted December 01, 2011 06:25 am)
Part I
Columbia County Florida's homeless County
Commission played to a packed house at the
School District Administration auditorium
Tuesday night as Columbia County called three of
the 15 counties represented by the
Suwannee River Water Management District
together. These three counties, Columbia,
Hamilton and Suwannee are the three North
Central Florida counties which were directly
impacted by the May 10, 2011 decision of the
Saint Johns River Water Management District
to issue a to permit to
JEA, the Jacksonville municipal electric,
water and sewer utility. This permit allows
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Columbia County, FL (Posted November 08, 2011
07:55 am)
Once again, Columbia County Florida's infamous good
ol' boy County Commission did not disappoint, as it
thumbed its collective nose at the County's 32,000 plus
registered voters during its once every ten years
redistricting deliberations. At every opportunity the
County Commission made sure the public did not comment
on the proposals. At times the public could not see the
proposals.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted October 9, 2011 07:10
pm)
During the October 6, 2011 Columbia County Commission
meeting, evil spirits once again took over Columbia
County's infamous good ol' boy County Commission. Long
time County Manager Dale Williams appointed a committee
based on an event that never happened. He claimed in his
Annual Report that facts determined by a committee
formed by the Tourist Development Council (TDC)
indicated possible revenue opportunities for the County
should an "Events Center" be constructed. The facts,
reported by the County Manager himself, at a TDC meeting
indicated just the opposite. Any events center will have
to be subsidized by the county's residents forever.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted October 1, 2011 08:30 am)
Thursday night,
September 29, 2011, Columbia County's handpicked
Charter Review Commission (CRC), met for its
third meeting. Invited to come before the CRC
were the five members of the County Commission.
County Manager Dale Williams added himself to
the agenda. The County Manager's urgent topic,
removing the charter provision, that gives the
public real time free and unfettered access to
the same supporting information used by the
County Commission and other County Boards at
their public meetings.
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Columbia
County, FL (Posted September 23, 2011 01:55 pm)
The Columbia County Commission as they are about
to approve the 2012 budget. Chairman DuPree was
the only commissioner who dressed down for the
event, coming to the meeting in work boots,
jeans and a dungaree shirt. Long time
Commissioner, Ron Williams can be seen slouching
in his chair way to the left.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted September 9, 2011
07:50 am)
Everyone visible in the photo works for the County
except for the man seated in the front row. As County
Manager Dale Williams, in dark jacket, presents the
budget, the Board Chairman is headed to the side door.
It is not clear if this was to answer his phone or to
spit.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted
September 2, 2011 09:45 am)
Columbia County
Florida's infamous County Commission once again
buried its collective head in the sand last
night when, without comment, except for a few
misguided words from its chairman, District
III's Jody DuPree, they once again passed a fire
assessment routine that benefited the family of
Dist IV Commissioner Stephen Bailey and many
land developers and the rich, famous and well
connected in the County.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted
August 22, 2011 11:45 pm)
Columbia County, after years of wrangling with
the high performing Region 7 Florida Crown
Workforce Board, appeared to have finally made
peace with the other three counties in the four
county Workforce Board region. That was until
the August 18th County Commission meeting, when
the interlocal agreement, which had been
approved weeks ago by the three other counties
in the region, made a sudden...
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Columbia County, FL (Posted August 12, 2011 09:15 am)
Yesterday's budget work shop was like most other
recent Columbia County meetings, only worse, as only one
member of the public attended. Yesterday's hot budget topic was
the West Side Library – Keep it open or shut it down? The
Westside branch is approximately 5 miles down US 90 from
the main library, which serves as library headquarters
and is located in the heart of downtown Lake City.
(Photo: Commissioner DuPree asks about the library
fund.)
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Columbia County, FL (Posted July 8, 2011 10:20 am)
The bizarre actions of Columbia County's
infamous County Commission continued last night
when they surprised everyone and awarded a
five-year trash contract to the second lowest
bidder, the French-based company, Veolia
Environment, after County Chairman Jody DuPree
asked Veolia's representative to testify on the
inadequacy of the lowest bidder's proposal,
Republic Services, headquartered in Georgia.
Waste Pro, the current county trash collector
and only Florida-based company in the pack was
thrown under the bus, even though they offered
to meet the lowest bid. In a 3-2 split, the
DuPree contingent (DuPree, Bailey, DePratter)
voted to buy French. (Photo: All the carters -
see story for caption)
(1
comment)
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Columbia County, FL (Posted July 06, 2011 03:40 pm)
One week ago today, June 29, 2011, Columbia County’s
department heads lined up like obedient little Indians
and suffered through the last of the Commissioner DuPree
imposed County Commission budget workshops. At least 95%
of what the County Commission learned during the three
months of meetings could have been learned by
reading the different department's power point
presentations, rather than having them read to
them. The series of workshops served nothing
more than to stroke the ego of County Commission
Chairman DuPree, who asked 95% of the questions.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted June 17, 2011 08:07 am)
Columbia County's infamous County Commission
didn't disappoint last night when it approved an
ordinance making County taxpayers subject to
maintain roads in subdivisions with few or no
homes. While many counties in Florida form
special taxing districts, which require
homeowners in subdivisions to pay for the
maintenance of their own roads, Columbia County
continues to subject all taxpayers to maintain
the roads of the few.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted June 01, 2011 05:59
pm)
Last night at the Columbia County, County Commission
meeting, the stampede to fork over $1,519,600 of County
tax payer dollars to the County Manager's best friend,
Bayfield's Sam Oosterhoudt, for wetland mitigation bank
credits continued at a full gallop. That nobody knew how
many credits the County needed or when they would be
available made absolutely no difference to Columbia
County's notorious good ol' boy County Commission, which
plans most of its business under the cover of darkness
to take care of somebody's friend. (Photo:
Commissioner DuPree)
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Columbia County, FL (Posted May 26, 2011 06:45 am)
| updated 08:55am
Florida's infamous Columbia County, long known
throughout the state as the home of anything
goes Good ol' Boy politics and corruption, out
did themselves at last Thursday's May 19, 2011,
County Commission meeting, when the Board
suffered another one of its famous bouts of
collective amnesia, this time to the tune of
$1,519,600. The Board rallied around its
chairman, Commissioner Jody DuPree, who after
months of negotiating with the County Manager's
best friend, claimed that he was not negotiating
at all. (Photo: Jody DuPree)
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Columbia County, FL (Posted May 23, 2011 04:20 am)
This past Thursday night, May 19, 2011,
Columbia County's infamous and unprepared County
Commission, while disregarding ongoing union
negotiations and avoiding and discouraging input
and participation from both the public and the
County's EMS workers, took one hour and
forty-five minutes to eliminate 20 years of
loyal service and threw Columbia County's EMS
first responders under the bus.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted April 29, 2011
10:07 am)
In Columbia County
Florida, whenever one thinks the legendary good ol' boy
County Commission has reached a new low, they pull a
rabbit out of a hat, never disappoint, and outdo
themselves. Last Thursday's County Commission meeting
was no exception, unless one counts the meeting before
or some of the ones before that.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted April
28, 2011 02:50 pm)
For the first
time in six months, yesterday afternoon at 3 PM,
the County EMS paramedics, represented by Lance
Hill and the County, represented by outside
council, Mike Grogan, faced off at the
negotiating table. After a series of charges and
counter charges, the sides got down to brass
tacks.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted April
23, 2011 08:15 am)
With
budgetary woes facing county governments across
the state and the nation, this past Thursday
evening, the County Commission decided to fund
Pop Warner football for 2010 and 2011 with old
county money. After Pastor Alvin Baker's
spirited appeal to the Commission, the
Commissioners, without a scintilla of financial
material from the requesting Richardson
Community Center – Annie Mattox Park North,
Inc., voted to give the group $10,000.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted April 21, 2011 09:40 am)
For years, Columbia County's good ol' boys have
intentionally been running EMS at a deficit. The
County gave away the profitable side of the
ambulance business. They were not straight with
either Lake City or the County residents, never
telling them that EMS could have been run at no
cost to the County.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted
April 08, 2011 10:20 am)
Communities
all over the country are supporting buy local
campaigns. Last night, Ms.Val Leitner, the
president of
Blue Oven Kitchens, a nonprofit kitchen
incubator serving the 10 county area of
north-central Florida, addressed the Columbia
County Commission and asked them to support a
Buy Local campaign with a Re-Invest Day
proclamation. She was turned down cold.
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(Posted April 4, 2011 04:45
am)
After
reading,
Columbia County Commissioner's pool remains a
death trap - State turns deaf ear, this
article it has really opened up my eyes. While I
was considering moving to northern Florida and
after reading what goes on in Columbia County, I
can honestly say Columbia County is not on my
lists of best places to live, but rather sounds
like a County to stay away from. ¶ ...you just
may be saving an innocent person from a tragedy
down the road.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted
April 1, 2011 08:55 am)
The Observer's recent coverage of the unfenced
pool in Columbia County Commissioner Jody
DuPree's yard has brought many comments, calls
and communication with the Observer and the
State. ¶ The office of newly elected Attorney
General, Pam Bondi, advised in a boiler plate
response to a local resident that... ¶ Gov
Scott's office, while initially appearing to
take an interest in this issue, has fallen
silent.
|
Columbia County, FL (Posted March 17, 2011 06:00 am)
Florida has some of the toughest pool safety
regulations in the world, for good reason. In the
Sunshine State, "drowning is the leading cause of
accidental death in and around the home for children
under the age of five." If a child falls into your pool,
because of Florida's attractive nuisance law, not having
a fence around the pool is the same as leaving a loaded
47 Magnum on your front steps for a child to pick up.
For the majority of folks, this would seem to make
sense. For County Commissioner Jody DuPree and Columbia
County Building Inspector, Harry Dicks, they seem to
have other ideas.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted March 8, 2011 08:55
am)
Even the innocuous gets swept under the carpet in
Columbia County. One would think that even in the
legendary Columbia County a presentation to the Water
Management District would be public knowledge. This
morning at 9 AM, County Manager Dale Williams is
scheduled to make a presentation, on behalf of the
County Commission to the Water Management District. The
County wouldn't acknowledge this was going on until
04:10 pm yesterday afternoon.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted March 02, 2011 07:35 am)
Yesterday morning Columbia County's EMS
qualifications ranking committee met to rank the
four responders to replace the County's EMS
ambulance service. The four responders, in the
order of their rankings were: Lifeguard
Ambulance; Century Ambulance; Rural Metro
Corporation; Columbia County EMS Association.
The Columbia County EMS Association, the folks
that have been providing EMS service to the
county for twenty years, was considered
nonresponsive. ¶ Mark Kazmerski, former County
Commission candidate, EMS expert and flight
medic said, ""Someone has an ax to grind with
EMS. Someone on that board has an ax to grind."
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Columbia County, FL (Posted Feb 16, 2011 07:55 am)
I am here
tonight to speak on behalf of the Columbia
County EMS Association, IAFF Local 3510. At the
last board meeting this Commission unanimously
voted to move towards the privatizing of this
county’s EMS services. We are against this move.
My purpose here tonight is to provide additional
information for your consideration concerning
your decision to privatize EMS.
|
Columbia County, FL (Posted Feb 16, 2011 07:55 am)
I am active on local, state and national EMS the
councils. As business manager with a national
air medical company my job is interacting with
EMS and hospital management throughout a twelve
county region in north east Florida.
Mr. Grogan
may be an experienced labor attorney, but an expert on
EMS operations he is not. His statements two weeks ago
were not only inaccurate, but key points concerning the
issue were left out.
|
Columbia County, FL (Posted Feb 15, 2011 10:55 am)
While Florida Governor Rick Scott is looking to
create jobs in Florida, the good ole boys of the
Columbia County Commission are working to ship
them to South Carolina. Up for approval on
tonight's consent agenda is a contract with a
company whose web presence is boiler plate mumbo
jumbo and whose contract requires a virtual oath
of secrecy for the county. In a county where the
words – open, transparent, and accountable are
like words of a foreign language, this would
appear to be a perfect match.
|
Columbia County, FL (Posted Feb 14, 2011 06:15 am)
Columbia
County, long thought by many to be the premier
law breaking and corrupt county in Florida, has
shown again that the concept of "reasonable
notice" for public meetings - for the county's
good ole boys - means no notice at all... Ms.
Roberts has asked that the County Commission
approve her and Com DuPree's recommendations at
the February 15th Commission meeting, even
though the recommendations were made out of the
Sunshine.
|
Columbia County, FL (Posted Feb 04, 2011 09:23 am)
Last night, Mike Grogan, the county's long time
labor attorney and union busting hired gun, took
aim at the county's unionized EMS workers and
the City of Lake City. The county's newest
commissioner, Rusty DePratter, joined the silent
march to send the county's EMS workers to the
gallows and at the same time, leave the county's
Lake City residents without County EMS. Mr.
Grogan came to the meeting with a nine minute
prepared presentation. During that time, not one
positive word passed his lips regarding county
EMS or its crews. (Photo: Mike Grogan addresses
the Board)
|
Columbia
County, FL (Posted Feb 02, 2011 11:11 am /
last line updated 12:55 pm)
Last night in Mason City, Columbia County held an
informational meeting. The purpose: To explain that some
folks may be eligible for
CDBG grant money to repair their houses (and mobile
homes) and that there is also money available for water
meter hookups in Ellisville. No one knew how much money
was available; there weren't enough applications for the
attendees; there were no handouts; there was no power
point or presentation explaining the program and there
wasn't a map... no one explained how much money was being
shifted from the $750,000 Federal Grant into the coffers
of the
NFRPLC and away from the rehab...
|
Columbia County, FL (Posted Jan 24, 2011 11:59 pm)
Last Thursday
night, January 20th, Columbia County’s legendary
good ole boys continued a tradition by awarding
another monopoly to Century Ambulance. The
Commissioners' mouths were zipped tight when
this item came up for a vote. Once again, the
Commission inflated the cost of ambulance
service for anyone in Columbia County, giving
them no choice but to use Century Ambulance for
transport. A few months ago, Century Ambulance
gave the County a gift worth, according to the
County, $17,586.
|
Columbia County, FL (Posted Jan 24, 2011 06:15 am)
As Columbia County does its very best to mangle
anything that resembles good government, County
Commission Chairman, Jody DuPree, has now come up with a
new scheme to keep the public in the dark, violate the
County Charter, and most important for Mr. DuPree and
the County Commission, keep from having to answer
questions. ¶ Listen carefully, as 32
year veteran Commissioner
Ronald
Williams kicks off the conversation and delivers his
three economic development talking points.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted
Jan 05, 2011 07:10 am)
The Columbia County Commission and the
Industrial Development Authority, the County's
engines of economic development have been
dropping the ball for years, missing and losing
one business opportunity after the next. ¶
Facilitated by the departing IDA's Gina
Reynolds, the IDA took over a year to establish
an overpriced and ineffectual web presence. The
amateurs, who manage both the
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Columbia County, FL (Posted Dec 20, 2010 10:59 am)
At the Thursday, December 16th Columbia County
Commission meeting, newly elected County Commission
Chairman, Jody DuPree, decreed that County Commissioners
will "no longer serve on any City [of] Lake City
committees." Lake City is the County seat and known
throughout Florida as the capitol of Columbia County.
Com Stephen Bailey moved the appointments and non
appointments and the rest of the Commission voted along
in lockstep.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted Dec 06, 2010 08:58 am)
This past Thursday evening, the Columbia County,
County Commission showed once again that its good old
boys still have issues when it comes to dealing with
women. The first two ladies made it through the
gauntlet, but the third, Columbia County Commissioner
Scarlet Frisina was snubbed again. (To hear the audio go
to the
rest of the story) (file photo)
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Columbia County, FL (Posted Nov 29, 2010 01:08 pm)
Newly under the auspices of County Manager Dale
Williams, the IDA has gotten worse. Now, the IDA is
incapable of servicing its own web presence and it
shows.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted Nov 22, 2010 02:47 am)
Columbia County's good old boys slid $171,580
back to Sheriff Mark Hunter, who after being
blown off at the November 4th County Commission
meeting, was mysteriously absent from last
Thursday's meeting.¶ The Sheriff has the most
budgetary latitude of any Constitutional Officer
and can move his money around virtually without
oversight. ¶ The $488,660 Sheriff Hunter claims
to have spent on vehicles in 2009 appears to be
an all time Columbia County record.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted Nov 13, 2010 10:30 am)
Commissioner
Weaver thanked the County Commission for their
support of the library. Com Weaver explained
that he came from a very poor family and that
his first Library was the magazines his father
borrowed from the barber shop. He explained his
father was a reader.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted Nov 012, 2010 06:55 am)
While the new Columbia County, Fort White Public
Library is not quite ready for prime time, the
Observer has learned that today - Friday,
November 12, 2010, at 10am, there will be a
private dedication ceremony in advance of the
public dedication and grand opening... The Fort
White Public Library is another County building
designed for public assembly without an
automatic fire suppression system.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted Nov 04, 2010 08:50 am)
Columbia
County's long time County Manager, Dale
Williams, has issued a
mystery memo about conversations he didn't
hear at meetings he didn't attend. The memo,
which is attached to the consent agenda of
tonight's County Commission meeting, addresses
this year's Lake City and Columbia County
Health...
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Columbia County, FL (Posted Oct 28, 2010 09:25 am)
On Tuesday morning, October 26th, the County
Utility Committee met, minus its Chairman,
Commissioner Jody DuPree. Unlike in the rest of
the civilized municipal world, where it is the
practice of the Clerk to call the roll at the
beginning of a meeting, Columbia County's good
old boys skip over that formality in order that
they may come up with a creative reason for
someone's absence after the meeting. (photo -
Com Scarlet Frasina).
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Columbia County, FL (Posted Oct 09, 2010 06:10 am)
For years, the legendary "good old boy" Columbia
County Commission, impressed with what it
clearly considers its "imperial" self importance
has squashed those who dare to question or
comment on its behavior and performance... It
was my time to speak and Commissioner Williams
kept interrupting me, obviously so that I could
not ask my final question before my time ran
out. (Lake
City Journal photo)
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Columbia County, FL (Posted Oct 06, 2010 07:35 am)
Members of the Columbia County Ida listen at the
workshop. No one knew about the economic
development ordinance that was passed in 2004.
In the photo from left to right are Marc Vann,
Carlton Jones, Gus Rentz, Suzanne Norris, Jeff
Simmons and Gina Reynolds, who is the assist.
director.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted Sept 30, 2010 05:00
pm)
This year's Columbia County Commission final
budget hearing could have been held in Death
Valley, with only a very small handful of
residents showing up. After three years of
planning, Florida's most discourteous and rudest
group of public officials has succeeded in
making sure that County budget hearings don't
occur on the night of a County Commission
meeting, where at least some members of the
public might be in attendance. After the usual
presentations by the County Manager your...
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Columbia County, FL (updated Aug
30, 2010 05:15 pm - orig. Sept 14, 2009)
Beginning in 2005
any person in Columbia County with a more than
five acre homestead has been ripped off by the
County Commission. The County continues to drag
its feet on reviewing the fire rates for vacant
land, while at the same time giving huge savings
to the largest landowners in the county.
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Columbia County, FL
(posted August 4, 2010 03:15 pm)
Thursday night,
Columbia County's long time County Manager, Dale
Williams, is scheduled to present his annual report, as
required by the County Charter. For years, with the
stamp of approval of the County Commission, this
provision of the Charter was just ignored and there were
no annual reports...
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Columbia County, FL
(posted July 23, 2010 08:25 am)
At Tuesday's
July 20th Special Utility Meeting, County
Commissioner Ronald Williams has once again set
meeting decorum and common sense on its ear. The
legendary Williams, long known for his erratic
behavior which runs the gamut from charming to
rude... lived up to his billing at the County
Commission Special meeting this past Tuesday
night, demonstrating once again why many
Columbia County citizens don't get involved in
county meetings.
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Columbia County, FL
(posted July 22, 2010 09:05 am)
Hard economic
times mean nothing to a County Commission drunk
on its own power and known for backroom dealing
and working in the shadows... Last minute
changes and additions to county agendas are a
way of life in Columbia County, however, a
change to an ordinance, unless it is of a minor
nature, requires re-noticing of the ordinance
and subsequent public hearing...
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Columbia County, FL
(posted July 22, 2010 06:50 am)
Tuesday night
the Columbia County Commission approved three
utility ordinances and rewrote one in the
continuing saga of the Ellisville Utility
Boondoggle... Citizens Against Forced Utilities
member Patrick Lee told the Commission: "I have
concerns with the economy of scale with this
program. We have not discussed the elephant in
the room"... At least 5000 residents were
opposed and silenced...
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Columbia County, FL
(posted July 06, 2010 04:45 pm)
Ronald
Williams, the long time Columbia County District
1 commissioner announced during the Thursday,
July 1st County Commission meeting that he is
running for another term as county commissioner.
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Columbia
County, FL (posted July 01, 2010 08:58 am)
This project,
which has been instigated by rogue commissioner
and Jack Berry protégé, Jody DuPree, is an
example of good old boy cronyism gone mad. Of
course, the laws regarding many aspects of this
Com DuPree project have apparently been violated
both in fact and spirit -- nothing new at the
Columbia County Commission. (photo: Com DuPree)
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Columbia County, FL (Posted June 25, 2010 10:20 am)
At yesterday morning’s governmental focus group
the Columbia County Commission was invited and
chose not show up, not to send the County
Manager or any other representative of the
County government. The lack of County interest
in the downtown of Lake City continues.
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Columbia County, FL
(posted June 21, 2010 10:30 am)
The
helter-skelter world of Columbia County
continued at this past Thursday's County
Commission meeting when the County Commission
once again demonstrated that modern world
finance, accountability and plain old common
sense aren't even a dream of the legendary
Columbia County Commission.
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Columbia County, FL (posted June 06, 2010 11:30 pm)
CAFU
celebrated their accomplishment of getting four
thousand signatures on their petitions to stop
mandatory water hookups in Ellisville and
countywide this past Friday night... They also
celebrated standing tough against the county,
after County Commission Chairman, Ronald
Williams, proposed a secret meeting between
himself, County Manager Dale Williams and four
members of the executive board of CAFU...
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Columbia County, FL
(posted May 18, 2010 10:35 am)
There was a
jubilant scene at the Columbia County Supervisor
of Elections Hdq after the Citizens Against
Forced Utilities filed their petitions for a
referendum to stop mandatory utility hookups in
Columbia County. This would not have been
necessary had the county commission made an
attempt to listen to the people that elected
them, instead of Columbia County's "good old
boys." (1
comment)
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Columbia County, FL
(posted May 17, 2010 08:45 am)
In November of
2006, your reporter presented the County Charter
Review Committee (CRC) with an amendment to the
County Charter called Enhanced Public Notice.
The purpose of this amendment required the
County Commission to post their agendas and
associated backup material on the county web
site... That November, the voters approved the
amendment with an 82% majority... After a slow
start, the county is up to speed and the
Observer spoke with County Manager Dale Williams
for his thoughts on this important piece of
citizen approved legislation.
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The man in charge is Com Jody DuPree.
Columbia County, FL
(posted March 30, 2010 09:55 am)
The
Ellisville Utility Boondoggle continued rolling
along at Tuesday morning's Columbia County
utility committee meeting as the county prepared
to pick the pockets of all Columbia County
residents to pay for its own big dig. The
brazenness of the shameless Columbia County good
old boy out of control governance harked back to
the bygone era of
Boss Tweed, when Columbia County Manager
Dale Williams chose county financial consultant
and inside-outside auditor, Richard Powell, to
help design the final utility rates. (1
comment)
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Columbia County, FL (Posted April
12, 2010 12:30 pm)
From time to time the office of the Board of
County Commissioners receives requests for
assistance that are outside our abilities and
scope, but nonetheless touch our hearts to the
extent we want to help. I did not speak to this
family directly. My telecommunications expert
Kimi Roberts did and she told me the need was
genuine...
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Columbia
County, FL (posted March 27, 2010 - 01:55 pm)
It was a sad
day in Columbia County Thursday night... Com
Williams' treatment of Com Scarlet Frisina was
particularly disturbing, as he pointed his
finger in her face, wouldn't allow her to talk
and treated her more like one of his hunting
dogs than a representative of the people.
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Columbia County, FL (posted March 25, 2010 4:45
pm)
The
infamous and legendary Columbia County has
waited for the 12th hour to make available its
dueling rate studies. Waiting for the 12th hour
has been their MO for years. All the rate study
documents are now available here...
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Columbia
County, FL (posted March 25, 2010 8:05 am)
The
Ellisville utility boondoggle continues as Jack
Berry protégé, Dist. III Com Jody DuPree (right)
has partnered with Com Ronald Williams (left) in
closing out public comment and keeping the
County Utility Rate Study under wraps for over a
week.
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Columbia County, FL
(posted March 24, 2010 11:55 pm)
At the March 4, 2010
County Commission meeting, County Chairman, Ronald
Williams, who has for years complained at every
opportunity about the County's mistreatment by the City
regarding the City's non contribution to EMS, joined
with the top county management in collectively failing
to prepare a complete agenda for the County Commission
meeting, leaving off a very important item.
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Columbia County, FL
(posted March 19, 2010 11:50 pm)
At last night's Columbia County Commission meeting it
was apparent once again that Columbia County is being
left behind in the dust trails of yesteryear, as even
the most simple forms of governance leave long time
county commissioner and current Board Chairman, Ronald
Williams, confused and unable to effectively govern,
demonstrating once again that good government has no
place in Columbia County.
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Columbia County, FL (posted
February 11, 2010, at 03:30am)
The Board's only African American member, Ronald
Williams, a man who has for years watched rampant drug
dealing in the hood and a declining school system, told
the Board, "The Chair also agree with staff
recommendation... Unless somebody got a golden goose to
lay a golden egg... The library is the least thing that
we have to worry about right now."
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Mr. Manning spends much of his time at meetings playing
solitaire and ...
Columbia County, FL (posted
February 04, 2010, at 02:30pm)
I cannot think of a
reason to justify this expenditure. At a time when the
county has rolled-back the wages on their employees like
Walmart having a sale, cut funding to publicly sponsored
youth sports programs, cut back on library programs and
moaned about budgetary woes, I find this
request utterly distasteful and a potential complete
waste of taxpayer money.
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Columbia County, FL (posted
January 26, 2010)
Like a bull in a
china shop, Jack Berry protégé, County Utility Sub
Committee Chairman, Jody DuPree is following in the
footsteps of his mentor, former LSHA boss Berry. Instead
of spending millions without a plan in order to take
care of the "good ole boys" in the land scams around the
Hospital Authority, the Columbia County Utility
boondoggle is going to cost the working families of
Columbia County tens of millions in one of
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Columbia County, FL (posted
January 19, 2010)
Anyone could walk
into the new Fort White library with a gun, a fight
could break out, a car could careen through the front
door, a child could be abducted and no one would be able
to see it. Columbia County's "good ole boys" approved
this plan digging in, never admitting a mistake.
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Columbia County, FL (posted
January 5, 2010)
A Columbia County
Commissioner, with benefits, makes about a thousand
dollars a week. Some folks think that they have a
right to know why their commissioners cannot attend
a Board meeting. If three out of five weren't
showing up, one would think the public has a right
to know where their Commissioners are. Not in
Columbia County.
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