Who is Really in Charge Here?
Who will finally be the scapegoat for Quentin L Hampton’s and Mayor Green’s berm fiasco?
Manager Harden,
While taxpayers are appreciative to finally receive the information contained in the just released Bolderjack, Halsema Et al, forensic review of the Dunlawton Ave Drainage Improvements Project their report is incomplete in at least 2 regards ….. both of which need to be addressed to permit closure of this aspect of berm’s deletion.
1) The final question in your December 9th 2014 memo instructing that a forensic accounting review be conducted must be answered unequivocally. To wit
When Mr. Gianinni recommended approval of Change Order No. 1 ( Final), on behalf of QLH, did QLH have proper documentation to assure themselves, as representatives of the City, that Maci Corporation had given the City correct credit for deletion of the berm ?
2) As between QLH and the Public Utilities taxpayers need to know who reported to whom specifically in this arrangement, AND how was that hierarchical relationship codified. Accordingly
What are the respective roles and responsibilities of QLH as the Design Engineers and Contract Administrators, AND Fred Griffith as the Project Manager in terms of the specific non-feasant and possible mal-feasant actions disclosed in both the Neff Report of May 14th 2015 and the Bolerjack Report of May 26th 2015 ?
Ted Noftall
for responsible government – 2016
Freddie is a mentally unstable idiot who is also a lousy engineer,
Yesterday he was told he had been in charge of engineering in the City all along and that was being terminated because of all the embarrassment he had caused for QLH, the Mayor and Council. .
That much we know,
What we don’t know is if Freddie e is stupid enough to take the fall for Green and QLH.
Who thinks Freddie should rat them all out, and sue the City for a million bucks.
I think he should share what he knows about the dirt that vanished over the years. Everyone knows how Green was panicking when the activists wouldn’t let that one alone. He was in poor Fred’s office on a daily basis as well as David King’s project manager from QLHA making sure everyone was on the same page if there was an investigation. I hope Fred shares everything he knows about the mayor that has provided him with job security for not questioning Green’s directives professionally. I think Fred just did what he was told just like Gravel Gerty does what she is told whether it is ethical or not. The only difference is that Freddie is ending up a scapegoat just like Roger Smith and Gravel Gerty will announce her retirement and squirm out of here with bags of taxpayer money and her pension on July 17th of this year just like Parker and Shelley. I hope Freddie spills everything he knows about the mayor and someone resurrects the knowledge of destruction of city records that several city employees witnessed Gravel Gertie acknowledge with a wink and an eye and bury in a whitewash.
If Ted is elected as our next mayor, Port Orange is certainly doomed! He will ruin everything that makes Port Orange great. If he has any balls he will apply for the CM position, that way he might be able to accomplish some of his ridiculous ideas, as Mayor he will lose a lot of council votes 4-1. He always says how the city should hire someone from the private sector, step up and apply Ted, then you could have Mark as your finance director and Mike as your assistant CM. Ted stop bullying the CM and council, they aren’t perfect but neither are you. And no this isn’t Lance.
Yes . . . Fred will sue, and he will prevail. Bottom line is that Fred is not the CM, Asst. CM or Director of Utilities. He is a line level, at best middle manager level employee, who was not closely supervised and held accountable for a really really long time. Does that make him deserving of a complete pass? Nope, not at all. But watch and see, he will sue, and he will win, and he will win big. Fred and his wife are probably actually smiling from ear to ear right now. Hopefully Fred is not stupid enough to sign one of those “if you leave on your own accord, and promise no litigation, we won’t officially terminate you” deals. You know, the Ken Parker way of dismissing employees.
As for Ted, he most certainly will run for Mayor, and his campaign will look like a Russian three ring circus. If you step outside of his small tight circle of so called “activist”, most people think he is a completely arrogant, self centered, destructive cancer, who has zero human decency or ability to respect anyone other than himself. He does not want to be helpful or constructive. He takes great pleasure in being destructive and critical of everything. He will never get elected in this City, and he knows that. He will however create more chaos and cost the tax payers more and more money. That, we all know is certain!
I will give ‘Hawkeye and Destructive’ one thing They both have more nerve than a tooth.
The senior staff of this City has been proved to be as incompetent as their manipulative Mayor is crooked time and time again and Hawkeye and Destructive are still dutifully selling the let’s ” blame the messenger explanation ”
I hope Ted will indeed be running for Mayor because the day he announces as Claudette Ray said there will be two sounds coming out of City Hall a collective sigh of relief by the good and decent employees of whom there are many and a wail of start terror by Hawkeye and Destructive and there ilk..
Port Orange needs a Mayor with both the knowledge and moral convection to say and do the things required to restore trust in Port Orange government. Go ahead and start telling us who has demonstrated a greater willingness to do this than Ted.
FINALLY! Some comments that actually tell it like it is. Fred is a scapegoat, but not for QLH and not for the Mayor. From what I’ve read, QLH didn’t approve anything they weren’t authorized to approve, so get off their backs. Fred is an employee of the City, nothing more. He did the job that was given to him. Should there have been more supervision…maybe, but there wasn’t, so get over it and get off is back. Although, crap does roll down hill.
By the way, the name calling of this employee is horrific, especially after a medical procedure. How old are you people? You sound like jr. high kids. Tell me Ted how would you feel if someone did this to you?
Ted as Mayor, God help Port Orange. But then, he doesn’t seem the type that would actually get his hands dirty, down in the trenches where he might actually do something worthwhile. He’s going to stand back, throw rocks and tell everyone how wrong they are. I think Port Orange would be in even worse turmoil with Ted or Ford at the helm. Although, it seems like Ted is pretty much running the City now.
It’s about someone put this guy (and the Gardners) in their place.
Oh by the way, will Fred sue the City? I sure hope so, they deserve to be sued and they deserve to lose. I don’t know Fred personally or his wife, but from what I’ve seen, Fred is a guy who tried to do the job he was given. That’s it. His wife is not dummy and she doesn’t see to be the person anyone will walk all over. I think the City may have just stepped in it.
Mrs. G. Nice try. Fred stepped in it and has tracked it all over the city for many many many years. Now, he FINALLY! has to pay his dues. Its’ about time.
Ted “for Mayor.” Didn’t he try that in 2012 and got his @$$ kicked in the election by a nearly 70 year old Green who hardly had to put out a single sign? He is a typical annoying transplant from Canada who needs to go back well north of the border. Green may not be able to run for Mayor again, but you can bet your wad that he will make damn sure that Ted will never be his successor.
Bruce you are right Green will try to pull out all the stops to defeat Ted. Fortunately for the people of Port Orange Green will not succeed.
You are wrong in your election history lesson. Ted never ran against Green.
Ted didn’t run for Mayor in 2012, he ran in District 3 and wasn’t successful.
Thanks for the correction on who Ted ran against in 2012. Still think Green will invoke every contact he has to make sure Ted never gets elected. And make no mistake, Green is still a very powerful player in the game whether he runs or not, and actually, he may be even more powerful since he will not be running again.
He pulled everything in his power for Sonya….where did that get him??? Huh???
There are none so blind as those who do not want to see and Mr or Ms Finally is a s blind as they come.
Apparently ‘Finally’ does not want to see that QLH has been accommodating Mayor Green with junk engineering for his il conceived grandiose schemes paid for with taxpayer dollars for the past 30 years, or that Freddie was their inside rubber stamp guy.
There is an old adage warning about the necessity of hanging together lest everyone be hanged separately. With Freddie of the bus and on the hunt it will be entertaining to SEE how long Green and QLH will be able to hang together.
Poor ‘Finally’ won’t be able to SEE any of it.
As for the name calling ‘ after a medical procedure ‘ no less — loosen the bandage around your head immediately and lighten up.
No insult was given or taken by Freddie until it became politically expedient to do so when Don ‘finger in the air’ Burnette and Sonya ‘low blow’ Laney tried to take Ted out in their sneak attack on Ted and Candidate Bob Ford that back fired horribly. Until then Freddie fancied the name himself believing that it brought out the Captain in him.
Ted and a lot of us likely come from an age where everyone had nick names: Ace, Bear. Cue ball, Harvard, Lefty and yes even Peg leg are just a few I remember well.
I do not understand the city administrations logic. If the forensic report is interpreted as showing negligence on the part of Fred Griffith, Andrew Gianinni from QLHA, and QLHA as the consulting engineering firm managing the project then why does the city fire Fred while they continue doing millions of dollars with of projects utilizing QLHA? The city is currently utilizing QLHA on a multi million dollar reuse lake outfall project. Why is the city firing Fred Griffith without going after QLHA in court for relief? I am not saying that QLHA is necessarily at fault here one way or the other, I am only saying if that is the city’s finding why are they only punishing one person while continuing to do business with and reward the consultant?
The answer is that the city manager, the administrative services director, and the public utilities director have been collaborating to offer him up as a scapegoat for a while now and hope that by bullying and coercing him he will go into the night quietly to protect his pension. The city will never do the same to QLHA because the management of this company knows way too much about the mayor, Parker, and the rest of the city administration and Harden realizes that and knows he cannot get away with scapegoating or bullying them. Therefore Fred Griffith will suffice as the sacrificial goat. This is all simply fine with Mr. Elmer Gantry, Gravel Gerty, and Mr. Smiling Bunny Teeth.
Yes Neff got bagged in Seminole County takes a trip to Tallahassee to the ethics commission and now he bags Fred in Port Orange. Harden gets bagged in Winter Park for attempting to procure tax free vehicle purchases from public works fleet maintenance for him and his church buddy so now he bags Fred. Someone needs to expose Gravel Gertie before she gets out the door in July. It reminds me of a victim of domestic violence or molestation growing up to be the victimizer. Well Elmer will be gone in August and back to his Victorian mansion restoration and Gertie will be a lady of leisure in July. Smiling Bunny Teeth if he survives past his probation will be alone with all the new friends he has been making that he has screwed with their livelihood and work environment. Things may become extremely lonely working around all the new friends that despise you.
I’m not really sure how the City views Fred Griffith’s role as project manager for the various Quentin L Hampton blunders of late. Was he supposed to be their boss? Their adviser? Their rubber stamp?
It’s always been pretty obvious that he defers to the QLH boys whenever they’re together so it’s hard to picture him as captain of the ship. Likewise, the regulating agencies like St Johns River Water Management and Fla Dept of Transportation have given QLH tremendous leeway as the Engineers of Record. Even the City Council has given them almost complete control over millions of dollars by making them simultaneously the design engineers, contract administrators, and inspectors of its projects.
If Fred Griffith is truly being forced out over the recent screwups while QLH keeps getting more and more jobs, it’s obviously just another political whitewash.
It is always a political whitewash and that is why the mayor has probably directed David Harden and the administrative services director to procure a new batch of ICMA department heads to replace the last set of hacks because they are all trained in the art of political whitewashing and are definitely not independent thinkers in addition to having zero integrity as most of us know it. They are imported not only for their expertise in political whitewashing but because they are also conveniently available as a scapegoat if necessary. The trade off is that they will be endlessly recycled and rehired for six figure plus jobs, there records will show that they resigned in good stead, and another crooked bunch of politicians will hire them in another city in true ICMA FCCMA Florida League of Cities Chamber of Conference manner. Fred is not one of them. Fred is just a not too bright person who the mayor took a shining to because Fred was willing to sit in a puddle of water if mayor Green told him his ass was on fire. Now he is being served up as a scapegoat via Smiling Bunny Teeth Andy Neff who was hoping to gain some prestige from the activists and a few people on the council. I do not think the activist are buying it and see right through him. Hopefully one day we will have some city officials, a city manager, and city administrative management that has some morals, integrity, and intelligence.
Come on Mike. We all know you are smarter than that. You know why Fred is being fired. It’s because you, your wife and Ted want blood, and the city has finally decided to give you some. You and Ted will stop at nothing until you have systematically devastated a once great city, many a career and a lot of good people. Your intentions are not good or beneficial, and your persistence to have someone’s career laid across the chopping block has finally paid off. I’m sure you are celebrating what you perceive as a great victory for you and your so called “activist” buddies. So don’t act bewildered, claim your victory like a champion. After all, you have worked hard for it.
Exactly! Wonder how they (noftal and the gardeners) would feel if the shoe were on the other foot? Crucified for doing what you are told is your job. I’d say they should be embarrassed and ashamed, but they are so self righteous I’m sure that’s not in their makeup. Watch out, karma will visit sooner or later.
I am confused on who fired Fred Griffith. . . He did work for the City and the Mayor did he not? — Why is someone else allowed to fire a city employee?
Fred works for the city’s but these 2 so called activists have made such an uproar about something they know absolutely nothing about, the city felt like they had to chop off someone’s head.. Fred was it this time, but you can bet they’ll be after someone else soon. People like these 2 or 3 if you count the wife are never satisfied until they have “their” good old boys doing exactly what they tell them to.
You are classically demonstrating the Nuremberg Defense with your post above……what the lower level Nazis said at the Nuremberg Trials…….”I was only following orders”. Look Anon…people have choices in life. To do the right thing or the wrong thing. And yes…there are consequences for doing the right thing in corrupt environments. And they can be very scary. How Nazi Germany went down the road it did to total destruction.
Freddie rather obviously is complicit in his fate here…but believe me, Gardner and Noftall and I want to see the folks who told Freddie to do this stuff to pay the consequences. He is a lower level functionary. Let’s get the big boys who have repeatedly been insulated from any consequences..both in and out of the city. I personally would give Freddie immunity on all of this if he would just tell the truth about who told him to do what and when and to give us the entire story of these various mismanaged projects over the years.
hank to Dianner. will there be some public document explaining why FG was fired?
They will pull out a number of past disciplinary actions wherein Fred offended some Port Orange administrator and a few minor things such as that and string them along with whatever they can extract from the forensic report and attribute to him. They recently began writing him up for some behavioral bull shit and royally screwed it up. That was supposed to be laying the ground work for the ultimate scape goating. The current director that was recently shit canned in Seminole County and up before the ethics commission in Tallahassee the week he was hired here has been tasked for setting up the paper trail, put it all together, and then delegate it to his assistant director to be the signatory that officially does the deed. Seems like a lot of loose ends that will ultimately come back on the tax payers as a big law suit. As the saying goes, “Oh What Tangled Webs We Weave When At First We Do Deceive.”
If Harden and Neff have been hunting Freddie ala paper trail then that means either the Mayor or at least 3 councilmen want him gone. Beginning to look more and more like Freddie was shit canned not for cause but for the embarrassment he was causing for people in high places.
The good news is that Freddie is going to out them all.
Excellent question Hank. Wish I knew the answer.
I think FG might be inclined to provide more of a smoking gun for us. Perhaps the old boys did not like F recently reporting a correction in the contract work for Wilbur by the Sea/Port Orange. The exact location of this work sends up some suspicious smoke signals.
If as some think, that the grand old boy network fired FG in order to placate a handful of activists, city government is even more of a disgusting revolting delvelopment.
— hank
You hit the nail on the head!
So let me get this straight Anon. The City did not fire Freddie because of the tons of mis-feasant actions the City and its consultant uncovered on just one project BUT RATHER he was fired to placate the activists.
Even you cannot be writing this bull crap with a straight face.
More likely what you are saying in a round about way is that sure there was a ton of mis-feasant actions that have cost taxpayers millions on this and a hundred other contracts BUT SO WHAT that is not a good enough reason to fire anyone.
Is that what you are really saying Anon…. Be honest.
Well honestly it doesn’t really matter what i say and I refuse to get in a “pissing” context with you, at least no more than I have. Everyone’s opinion seems to be wrong in your eyes and your opinion is all that matters. I’m quite sure you and your few friends don’t as much as you think you do. You’re just very vocal about any knowledge you may have or think you have
Fred may not be one of my favorite people, but you and your buddies have stooped about as low as you can get. Attacking him or anyone in this blog and that includes the QLH staff is very childish and unprofessional. Name calling is something my 10 year old would do.
I’m deleting this blog from my server, it does nothing but show how idiotic some people can be.
Either keep it professional or pick up your marbles and go home.
As a former employee that managed projects for the city in the past I can tell you that since the consulting engineers work for the city, the project manager is supposed to have the final say on the project and is in charge over the consulting engineers and the contractor. Sometimes people higher up in management will influence or override the project manager. I don’t know how it is with some people and their jobs but most folks do what their superiors tell them to do. I don’t know if this was the case in this situation. I’ve had it happen to me. Nuremburg defense? Maybe. Most people want to keep their jobs so they can pay their bills and feed their kids. Just sayin.
Hi Woody, how is it going? I know exactly what you are saying about pressure from upper management and the city managers office to override one’s honest decision. It makes you wonder though, with all these activists gunning for someone would they actually back someone up that held their ground and took the high road. It seems that in their blood lust against the mayor and the city administration they are oblivious to the collateral damage that they cause in many cases for individuals that are trying to do the right thing. It is a good thing to fight against injustice but it is a bad thing to live stricly for the enjoyment of the fight.
Thank you Mr. Woodman for your thoughts on these issues. I for one do not care for the Nuremburg principles to be applied to these city issues. We have serious issues, but not on the scale of the atrocities associated with the Nuremburg trials.
Correct me if I am wrong, but unless an employee’s acts involve criminality , it is a rational defense to offer that he/she was following orders.
Producing false documents may be of a criminal nature.
In any case,bottom line employees and middle supervisory employees cannot escape the spotlight of such inquiries which mismanagement has prompted.
Unless the issue involved criminality, I would expect it to be permissable and rational to state “I was following the orders of my superior and City Manager”.
To expect that a city worker would not be put into such a delicate, uncomfortable position is unreasonable.
I would like to see more inquiries or investigations where it is asked, even if the city employees does not volunteer such information, if he/she had been told, directed, implied or ordered by any superior to perform according to the issue being investigated. — hank
Sometimes as a city employee, especially in mid to upper management at the departmental level you get into damned if you do, damned if you don’t situations. Do what you are told or be fired or do what you are told and get fired.
” Correct me if I am wrong, but unless an employee’s acts involve criminality , it is a rational defense to offer that he/she was following orders”
I’ll take a whack at that correction by suggesting that you know better than to equate criminality with right and wrong.
Actions criminalized by government edict may still be right by every sense of morality and justice we possess, as may other non-criminalized actions be found to be odious and abhorrent by those same standards.
Whose actions would you condemn Mr Springer – the criminals who enabled the Antebellum Underground Railway, or the non-criminals who enabled the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment ?
For any and all of its perceived faults, we live in the greatest nation on earth because those few in each generation, when asked to pay the price for doing the right thing ` DID SO
If the Mayor and Managers in Port Orange are so un-scrupulous as to demand P.O.E.’s to compromise their integrity and what they clearly know to be right from wrong then they need to speak up, and if that means accepting the possibility of having to find a new job then that is the price expected of the handful that may fall in that category.
If you are thinking that is not fair you are correct it is not. Neither is life itself for that matter.
Mr.Woodman, there seems to have been a rumor that FG had been fired, but now the rumor is that he was not fired. Can you shed any light on that? — hank
Botched Forensic Revue = Botched Firing. Harden back peddled before the appeals period was up because he realized he orchestrated the collection of the defunct data as the inputs to the forensic revue. The president of QLHA exposed the erroneous information that was supplied to the consultant for the forensic revue by Harden. The city council hired this senile old numb scull as the interim city manager and compelled him to provide them with a scape goat to appease the activists. Harden will be out of here in a couple of months and back to his Victorian mansion restoration project before anyone is able to hold him accountable for this. This may mitigate a potential lawsuit against the city from Freddie and Brad. I am not so sure Noftall and Gardner will be so lucky. Anyway I bet Noftall and Gardner will go into hiding and will be saying very little about anything they have imprudently held themselves out to be experts on. They are certainly not experts on tort law, because whereas you can rage on about public figures with defamatory comments that may be materially incorrect, you cannot do that to lesser employees and private business owners in a way that can be detrimental to their livelihood.
Let me see if I have understood Tron correctly. Harden has stated pubically that the record keeping by Freddie and QLH has been abysmal and the City will likely escape a lawsuit, but Ted quoting Harden will likely not be so lucky.
Seems like Tron needs to lighten up on either the ass or glue he has been sniffing.
The only thing Ted has held himself out as a expert on is the ability to detect nonsensical bull shit answers and on that he seems to be a quite proficient.
. .
Hey Seems Like, I have a question for Ted Noftall and Mike Gardiner. Will Ted and/or Mike elucidate in detail on what specific professional malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance QLHA or any of its associates are responsible for in the employment of their consultation services on the Dunlawton Canal Flood Mitigation Project?
Mr. Hey Seems Like, I bet you can take a cruise around the world and Ted or Mike will not reply to this. I think they have their balls in a pickle jar. I think Ted and Mike will take up sucking on Werthers butter scotch candies and watching the Lawrence Welk show with Hank Springer for a new hobby to fill their spare time in the future.
Hey Joint Tortfeasors when did it become Ted and Mikes responsibility to do the work of Council and the CM in establishing the malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance of anyone. The only information and testimony they have access to are those given by the participants themselves.
All Ted and Mike have done is pose logical questions and point out the inconsistency and half truths in the answers that have been given.
This investigation is not over by a long shot and it would seem unlikely that Freddie and QLH will be exonerated based on their inconsistent answers to date.
If Ted Noftall and Mike Gardiner only posed logical questions based on available information then they have nothing to fear and can come out of hiding. I think, if you review all of their public statements spoken or in writing, they have gone beyond that. If you sift through all of these statements, assertions, and conjectures that have been made by them you will find many that go beyond the information that anyone has supplied and show that they may have made certain assumptions that are materially incorrect.
Once again, if this is not the case, Mr. Noftall and Mr. Gardner have nothing to fear and they can come out of hiding and clarify this issue, but we know that is not the case. Do you understand what I am saying Ted, or is this Mike?
LOL! Seems like that’s already happened, the 2 “activists” have been really quiet of late. Could it be they see the writing on the wall and have crawled back in the hole from whence they came and are hiding so hopefully those they have attacked will forget? I’d say don’t bet the farm on it!
I think Tron pretty much shed the light on it with a little embellishment. Through all of the reports and audits/revues we still don’t know how the berm deletion was legitimately authorized without council approval. It didn’t seem to make it on the agenda for the change order at the end of the project. Where was it written in plain language that the berm was deleted? All we have heard is a lot of excuses and explanations for the rational used in the berm deletion. That to me is still a major issue to be settled and answered for. We as citizens have the right to get the answers.
Woody you obviously know what you are talking about and maybe you can identify and concur with this. The city in general, and public utilities specifically does not make clear what constitutes the role of a project manager. In many cases they name an administrator or engineer the project manager and some middle level manager or supervisor who really understands the project the field project manager which is in effect someone who supplies the actual technical support and has the knowledge to make critical decisions but does not have the authority. On projects with EJCDC contracts which require an engineer of record, unless their is a consulting engineer involved the city sometimes assigns an in house engineer that has very little knowledge or understanding of the projects. Those kinds of in house undertakings without a consulting engineer can become very precarious because the actual people that have the authority do not possess the technical understanding and often impose their will on the field project manager and work against them. I think any city administrators and engineers should be required to obtain professional project management certification and those in charge should fully understand and clearly define what constitutes a project manager. You cannot be responsible for something you do not have the authority over and if you are made responsible you better be given the authority and it better be in your job description, classification, and salary. Things like contract law, legalise, principals of engineering, and financial aspects of the contract such as pay draws, penalties, and change orders are all things that are outside of the scope of authority of what the city calls a field project manager.The problem in the city is that you have big wigs and engineers that have this in their job description, classification, and salaries and possess the authority but do not understand what constitutes being a project manager and are too used to relying on and passing the buck to subordinates that know what they are doing but do not have any authority, direction, or incentive to do it.
You are correct P.O.E. I have never met an engineer with the technical knowledge that I think they should have of our or any utilities systems and operations and maintenance of these systems As the field project manager you are basically attempting to babysit the engineers, inspectors and contractors without any authority. Three of the previous utilities directors told me that as field manager my job was to train the engineers and report engineer screw-ups to them so they could correct them. I was the field manager on the Dunlawton drainage project on behalf of utilities and had myself removed from the project early on. Go figure. Most of our veteran employees involved in the more technical jobs in utilities can engineer circles around our engineers. It’s all about the stamp. This is a very touchy subject with me that really gets me pissed off. I have nothing good to say so I think I’ll stop.
What our city needs is for Port Orange city employees, current or former, who know the truth or have parts of the truth about all these issues, to come forward in some safe setting, either with the State’s Attorney or our local responsible media and get the information out about the berm, its deletion, and all the other projects that have been so poorly designed and built. Internal controls not followed by project managers. Bizarre accounting practices. And yeah. Where did all that dirt go? We need a few brave “Deep Throats”.
As John Dean said about the Nixon White house back during the Watergate era, there is a cancer growing on this administration. And it’s not a recent cancer. And without courageous people stepping forward to expose these wrongs, it will continue. Green has this business model honed to a science. Some poor unfortunate lackey is always his proxy for consequences. It’s never Allen Green. Teflon Al. Been there 30 years, either on council or as mayor for 16 years, his fingerprints are all over “it”, but somehow the blow is always deflected. And that pattern continues because as we all know, retribution is alive and well in Port Orange government. People are afraid for their jobs, their pensions, etc. I get it. But who will finally say “enough is enough”?
I find it outrageous that Fred Griffith, a mid level Port Orange manager who rather obviously never made a decision on his own about anything, and is the “Professional Engineer” rubber stamp and “gloss of legality” avenue for all of these taxpayer funded boondoggles, is taking the fall for the wealthy principals of QLH who are Brad Blais and Andrew Giannini. Men who made their big time money on the backs of the Port Orange taxpayer.
Hey….Ain’t a fan of Freddie for sure. But this is just flat out wrong. And obviously there is wealth and class disparity going on here. Allen Green cares about OLH. Probably for many reasons. They know a lot. Freddie is going to take it in the neck, no matter what he gets in a deal from Green. Being fired, loss of income, sullied reputation, damage to his family, and health stress. Meanwhile, Blais and Giannini, et al, are walking away essentially unscathed. With more money coming to them now and in the future by way of Allen Green. No change in status for those boys. Freddie is working under instruction from someone else. We all know that.
I certainly hope at this point in this appalling mess that Councilmen Ford, Bastian, and Burnette start standing up screaming and demanding answers. Given up on Scott Stiltner. He votes with the mayor these days.
Please gentlemen. Someone needs to step up.
This is a new low. Even for Port Orange. We are in a hole. Let’s stop digging.