Florida Sheriffs Association Sides with DeSantis for firing liberal Prosecutor

Dozens of Florida Sheriffs Back DeSantis’ Decision to Fire Rogue Prosecutor

"Florida Governor Ron DeSantis fired state Attorney Andrew Warren in early August because he refused to enforce laws in Florida.

Warren publicly said he would not enforce Florida’s 15-week abortion ban and was known for being soft on crime against repeat offenders.

“Our government is a government of laws, not a government of men,” “When you make yourself above the law, you have violated your duty,” DeSantis said of Warren’s firing.

After DeSantis fired Warren, he sued to try to get his job back as a State Attorney.

While Warren has become a symbol of resistance for liberals who oppose DeSantis, The Florida Sheriffs Association has firmly sided with the Florida Governor."

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DeSantis endorsed by Broward Deputies Union

Broward deputies union endorses Ron DeSantis for governor

Read more... Sheriff Scott Israel of Parkland is helping Andrew Gillum raise money in governor's campaign. Sounds about right...one loser helping another.

Wishful Thinking - that we are safer

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Sheriff Rick Bradshaw wants a 4.3% increase for doing such a "smashing" job. This increase will go towards salaries and benefits. He is out there presenting his case and doing what it takes to convince the Palm Beach County Commissioners to give him what he wants...$531.3 million. Usually the sheriff gets what he wants because all of us are paranoid about the increase in crime in our county. And NOTHING gets better. Hell, crime is sneaking west of the tracks--someone recently drove by and shot into a house in the 2400 block of Lake Osborne Drive.

Even in Lake Worth the sheriff says that crime is down other than in two categories. We who live here are not experiencing any vote of confidence that crime is diminishing to any acceptable level. In fact, we are experiencing more of it. See crime stats  It is the elephant in the room that no commissioner EVER talks about along with the sheriff's budget unless, of course, they give us some erroneous bit of information like they saved us $600,000. The truth of the matter is, the sheriff's budget has gone up every year unlike the rest of Lake Worthians who work for a living and pay their salary increases.

• The Lake Worth crime index is 68% higher than the Florida average and and the Florida crime index is 15% higher than the National average.
• The Lake Worth violent crime rate is 130% higher than the Florida average and and the Florida violent crime rate is 25% higher than the National average.
• The Lake Worth property crime rate is 59% higher than the Florida average and and the Florida property crime rate is 14% higher than the National average. 

Lake Worth, FL Demographics

When we first contracted with the Sheriff, there were 134 now we have a total of 94 Lake Worth police officers. This results in 2.7 police officers per 1,000 residents which is 31.8% less than the Florida average and 5% less than the National average. The criminals are winning the 'game" in our city.

When contracts come up, raises should be based on results. Boynton Beach's city manager is in contract negotiations with the police union and they are calling for her head...reminds me of a few years ago when Stanton went through the same thing. The unions run the city, or so they believe, but rather it is what city managers have allowed them to get away with.  And of course, their officers in Boynton are pulling the same trick as they did in Lake Worth--all want to go to PBSO--higher salaries.

As a city, we are definitely poorer with little results to show for the $15,057,593 (projected to go up next year to $15,651,934) which is nearly 60% of our operating budget for SAFETY. 

There is power in numbers and Rick Bradshaw has more power than any human being in Palm Beach County. The rest of us? We sit here and pretend that we are feigning off criminals by putting on night lights so that criminals might think someone is at home, contract with ADT, install security lights, look over our shoulder when we are walking to our car and make the necessary precautions to feel less exposed to danger. And then we call for the sheriff AFTER the crime has been committed.  Do we feel safer? In the end, it is the voter who has the power to affect change.

Sheriff's budget on the Agenda

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County commissioners will hold their first meeting June 11 to consider the budget proposal for the year that begins Oct. 1. They are expected to discuss Bradshaw’s request for $38.8 million more than this year.

Bradshaw’s $510.1 million spending plan represents an 8.2 percent increase over this year’s budget of $471.3 million. That budget also included an additional $6.8 million carried over from the previous year, bringing Bradshaw’s total allocation to $478.1 million.

Bradshaw opposes changing House Bill 601, and not one of the county’s 18 state legislators has been willing to introduce proposed amendments to the law, Marcus said. “None of our legislators wanted to take on the police union,” she said

Mayor of Palm Beach, Gail Coniglio, who chairs the budget task force, said the town would not support any increase in the county’s property tax rate for next fiscal year. Ideally, she said, the tax rate should be lowered. 

Our budget meetings begin this month. Let's see what our elected officials do. Right now public safety is projected at 70% of our operating budget with the sheriff taking the bigger portion of that percentage.

Read more... at the Shiny Sheet.

A Slippery Slope

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Without a doubt Syracuse, New York is headed for bankruptcy. Not only is there an "official denial" but the mayor of Syracuse is seeking legal guidance on municipal bankruptcy. Once again, public union wages and benefits, especially police and firefighters' pensions are smack in the midst of it.

Here in Lake Worth, our unfunded liability for Union pensions is around $60 million and growing. We have an outstanding debt of $67 million.

Overwhelmingly, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw was re-elected even though his budget soars and cities scramble to adjust their operating budgets to survive. He carries the big political stick as we all are concerned about escalating crime -- his PR department does a smash up job convincing all of us that we are actually safer. Every month, deputies are out in the community and attending neighborhood associations telling us that very same thing using your tax dollars to do it. The County, because of its expected $10 to 20 million budget shortfall asked him to reduce costs but Bradshaw says "you are getting a bargain" and the majority of the people believe it too.

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"While population stayed relatively flat (we now have only 6% more people in the county than we did in 2003, and it’s been declining since 2007), PBSO staffing went up about 29% and spending went up 67%. To put that another way, in 2003 there was one PBSO employee for every 389 residents and PBSO charged an average of $195 per person for their service, while in 2011 there is one for every 320 residents, and the bill was $307 per resident (a 57% increase). Does that make us safer?"

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More cities at risk of bankruptcy.