Berry
gets a bye instead of boot
Education references not checked
Columbia
County, FL (Posted March 18, 2010 at 09:05 am)
by Stew Lilker
Barbara Jeffords contributed to
this story.
Ex Republican Chief, Jack Berry, got a bye instead of
the boot, when Columbia County's Lake Shore Hospital
Authority Board failed to consider its past chief's
education references and his inadequate resume, when it
considered him for a job that only months ago he used to
do for free.
The Observer's March 9th story,
Good Ole
Boy and Former Republican Chief gets Hospital Authority
Nod, ended this way:
Because of the recent
scandal in Lake City regarding the educational claims of
the past city manager, the Authority Board made sure it
checked and announced that it did check all the
educational references of the candidates.
It is unknown if the Board
requested Mr. Berry's
DD214,
which would have verified the claim on his
fourteen line resume that he had Hospital
Administration experience and education. No one asked
about this at his interview.
All the present Board
members, save for one, had Mr. Berry in the top spot.
Board member Pattison, who was against the position, was
absent from the meeting.
February 17th, 2010 – Authority to check education
references
A look back at the audio of the February 17, 2010
Authority meeting reveals that there was special mention
made of the background checks and particularly the
background check for education.
Board Chairman Vann, during the general discussion
regarding the background checks told the Board, "If
anybody needs to be eliminated, they'll be eliminated
before we get down to the short list. That's what we
want to shoot for."
Neither Mr. Vann, nor anyone else volunteered how Mr.
Berry's
fourteen line resume qualified him to make the cut.
The selection committee was
secretly assembled by Chairman Vann, who along with
himself, chose the Authority Attorney, Marlin Feagle
and the Authority's inside accountant, outside
auditor and financial advisor, Richard Powell, to be
on the selection committee.
As Authority Chairman, Mr.
Berry was their boss and was instrumental in
covering up the fact that Mr. Feagle had worked for
years without a contract and looked the other way at
the obvious ethical and legal violations of the
inside account, outside auditor and financial
advisor being the same person.
A short time after that, at the very end of the
meeting, Barbara Lemley asked Authority Chairman Vann,
"What would be done as far as verification of their
graduation from whatever institution they feel they
graduated from?"
Board member and Lake City Advocate, André Washington
replied, "That's a good question."
Columbia Bank President and Board member Bruce Naylor
said, "That would be part of the background check, I
guess."
Ms. Lemley added, "But who would know?"
Board member Dr. Wassem Khan, the Shand's Chief of
Staff, "You could call the registrar's office."
Ms. Lemley added, "I don’t think you can do it
verbally. I think that was the issue with Scott
Reynolds."
A few moments later, Mr. Vann adjourned the Feb. 17th
meeting.
March 8th – selection night -- Mr. Vann gets amnesia
-- Mr. Berry's military education references not checked
After looking at Board member Dorothy Pattison's
empty chair all evening, Mr. Vann forgot to mention that
earlier in the day, Ms. Pattison, an opponent of the
executive director position and a proponent of the care
of the indigent, had resigned.
On March 8, 2010, neither the Lake Shore Hospital
Authority Board, nor Bruce Naylor, who appeared to be
somehow involved in the background checks, had Mr.
Berry's DD214, which would verify his claim of "Medical
Administration" education in the military.
During the Scott Reynolds affair at the city, the
Lake City Reporter was knee deep in dragging the hapless
Mr. Reynolds through the coals time and time again on
its front page.
This time, it is Columbia County's Repo Man, Jack
Berry, whose educational claims clearly need to be
investigated, along with how with only a fourteen line
resume he made the cut to the final five.
A careful look at Mr. Berry's
resume reveals that
Todd Wilson, the publisher of the Lake City Reporter
is one of Mr. Berry's references.