Time for a change

[Unregistered]

It is common practice especially in Florida that if a police chief wants to get rid of a employee and there is a collective bargaining agreement in place, he can avoid any progressive discipline clauses and have the employee submit to a fit for duty exam. There are no restrictions on a chief being able to use the Fit for duty for his crusade. He can order you to take one without any reason. The doctor is hired by the chief and paid from the chiefs budget. The previous dr the city has since had terminated was deep in the Chiefs pocket. In a certain case a male he recommended admin leave so he could distress, in a certain females case (nearly three yrs on the job) he recommended retraining ( which was not in his authority to do so), stress counseling and return to work, Vespia fired her, by the way the male officer verbally threatened and physically pushed the former asst police chief and yes let us not forget the present asst police chief and his psychological problems while at the sheriffs dept. Boyz club rules !!!!!!!!!!!!! Shortly after being fired this same female was tested by two separate Tampa doctors, one the psychologist for Tampa/Hillsborough county PDs and the other a police/.military psychologist and was deemed fit for duty by both doctors and passed all her testing. Both recommended she be returned to duty, Vespia refused.

Thank you that is a very detailed version of the truth. I think these two ladies in the lawsuit are going to make a difference for inequality. We will see if Vespia and the powers of city hall can sweep this under their desks.

[Unregistered]

Thank you that is a very detailed version of the truth. I think these two ladies in the lawsuit are going to make a difference for inequality. We will see if Vespia and the powers of city hall can sweep this under their desks.

Cant wait until the depositions, sure would like to be there, I don't think this is going to be swept anywhere !!!!!! There lawyer is good and loves trials, so we will see

[Unregistered]

Cant wait until the depositions, sure would like to be there, I don't think this is going to be swept anywhere !!!!!! There lawyer is good and loves trials, so we will see

well i hope they have a good lawyer. What I see is lies and more lies. Huge salaries for knowing someone and doing a great job at jiffy lube. The lawyer is sure gonna have to sift through alot of doo doo to get to the truth. Do you think all these white male wild west commandos are just gonna sit by and watch their male white jobs disappear to a woman oh no.

I hope these ladies kick ass in court

[Unregistered]

well i hope they have a good lawyer. What I see is lies and more lies. Huge salaries for knowing someone and doing a great job at jiffy lube. The lawyer is sure gonna have to sift through alot of doo doo to get to the truth. Do you think all these white male wild west commandos are just gonna sit by and watch their male white jobs disappear to a woman oh no.

I hope these ladies kick ass in court

everything is fair game, sex scandals, explorer kissing, sexual harassment by a sgt and then he retires and the victim is fired, Lack of female leadership or promotions, K9 suits are already in the Tampa court and oh yes the chiefs credentials, GED, lies etc. The expert psychologist used who was fired for being gender biased,all fair game and the best thing lying in a federal deposition is a federal offense and is prosecuted, No one is scared of them or there bullying tactics anymore, They brought this on themselves, they had the chance to do the right thing without admitting they were wrong and they did not, they have no reach in Tampa. ABCD&M its time for a change!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Unregistered]

everything is fair game, sex scandals, explorer kissing, sexual harassment by a sgt and then he retires and the victim is fired, Lack of female leadership or promotions, K9 suits are already in the Tampa court and oh yes the chiefs credentials, GED, lies etc. The expert psychologist used who was fired for being gender biased,all fair game and the best thing lying in a federal deposition is a federal offense and is prosecuted, No one is scared of them or there bullying tactics anymore, They brought this on themselves, they had the chance to do the right thing without admitting they were wrong and they did not, they have no reach in Tampa. ABCD&M its time for a change!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another disgruntled employee??? It is a proven fact that men are smarter then woman !!!!

[Unregistered]

Melanie Turner law suit she changed her name

[Unregistered]

everything is fair game, sex scandals, explorer kissing, sexual harassment by a sgt and then he retires and the victim is fired, Lack of female leadership or promotions, K9 suits are already in the Tampa court and oh yes the chiefs credentials, GED, lies etc. The expert psychologist used who was fired for being gender biased,all fair game and the best thing lying in a federal deposition is a federal offense and is prosecuted, No one is scared of them or there bullying tactics anymore, They brought this on themselves, they had the chance to do the right thing without admitting they were wrong and they did not, they have no reach in Tampa. ABCD&M its time for a change!!!!!!!!!!!!

well good luck with this. If it makes a better atmosphere for the citizens of NP so be it. Maybe this will change the wild west arrogant mentality of some of the officers. I applaud you for being brave enough to do it. If this does make the change that is needed the city will be a safe one again. Its hard when your fighting against jiffy lube testosterone spewed all over the dept

[Unregistered]

Another disgruntled employee??? It is a proven fact that men are smarter then woman !!!!

disgruntled really, what planet are you from and where did you find the proven fact you state, oh yea mens magazine it was on a t shirt. what an ass. maybe equal rights offends you or you are scared of a woman boss either way I doubt that you have any facts to support you ridiculous statement

[Stephanie Gibson]

Conni Brunni is a property owner in North Port. She is the individual that brought the Ethics complaint against our old City Attorney, Robinson. The below is long but is the fact outline of her reasons for voting for Anyone but Cook and DiFranco... She handed out the below at the Chamber candidate forum... Interesting read.


ABCD
Anybody BUT Cook and DiFranco

Dear North Port Voters:
As voters, you hold ultimate power to right a serious wrong in our community by voting Cook and DiFranco OFF the City Commission. My purpose is to educate voters about the record of these 2 elected officials who are seeking re-election. I present you with FACTS. You don’t have to take my word it; PLEASE watch the videos and read the documents for yourself. You’ll see the shenanigans first-hand, and I believe you will come to the same conclusion as me: ABCD—Anybody But Cook and DiFranco is best for our city. Here’s why:
1. Ignoring our City Charter; which is like the Constitution for the City.
Commissioners’ Oath of Office includes, “…I will uphold the Charter and
Ordinances of the City of North Port.” 11/14/12, 38:40 and 42:46 on the video.
(a) 4/14/14 #8B, Despite being warned that silencing public input from our boards and committees violates the Charter at 51:48 and 53:58 in the video, COOK said, “This is what I want to get control of…We [Commissioners] tell THEM what to do instead of them [the public] giving us direction.” (45:00) At 52:58 COOK, “Motion to instruct Charter Review Board NOT to meet until they are directed to do so by City Commission;” seconded by DIFRANCO.
(b) 9/8/14 #6A replaced the volunteer Code Enforcement Board with a Special Magistrate paid $275 per hour. From 1:27:45 to 1:32:25 the Commissioners debated wording in the ordinance that directly violates the charter, yet COOK, seconded by Jones, made motion to adopt the ordinance at 1:39:42.
(c) 9/10/15 #C was discussion of ordinance to create a Human Resources Dept. Although Charter Section 9.07 states, “City Commission may abolish or create municipal departments….Such actions shall be enacted by ordinance and sustained by unanimous vote of the Commission,” at 1:07:07 COOK can be seen passing paper to City Attorney who later passes it back to her, then COOK reads, “Move to utilize a majority vote;” seconded by Jones at 1:07:50.
2. Restricting or limiting public access and input into City business.
(a) 11/9/15 #7G, all commission meetings were changed to 10 am in our working-class community. DIFRANCO said, “I want to see daytime hours; it takes the burden off staff and off us.” COOK chimes in, “I am completely supportive of having ALL 10 am meetings.” Motion by DIFRANCO, seconded by COOK to assign time for Commission Regular meetings to 10 am. 4:47:30 to 4:53:50 of the video.
(b) Public Records Request Policy was passed with a goal to DETER requests,
(Moriarty 10/14/15 #2015-R27 at 3:54:00). 9/14/15 #2015-R21. COOK states,
“I want the time limit to be 15 minutes [instead of 30] before the clock starts and I want it to be limited to 1 request per day per news agency.” DIFRANCO agreed, “30 minutes is way too long and it should be combined.” Watch at 3:59:05 to 4:00:50. The result: a citizen’s request for a search of websites visited by City employees for 30 day period will cost citizen $23,952.19, plus redaction time, to obtain! (7/8/16 email to citizen from Patsy Adkins, acting City Clerk).
(c) Volunteer Code Enforcement Board replaced with paid Special Magistrate
BEFORE the job even existed! 4/15/14 workshop #E staff praised the Code Enforcement Board volunteers, “This Board has performed outstanding. It’s strictly a policy decision by the commission [to replace them]…Special Magistrate takes the human element out of it.” Listen at 3:50:52 to 3:53:35. When the ordinance came to Commission on 7/28/14 #6C DIFRANCO,
“Motion to continue to second reading AND appoint Rob Robinson as Special Magistrate for a term of 2 years;” seconded by COOK at 1:15:36 to 1:17:00 without notice, bid process, or any other options. The ordinance wasn’t formally enacted until 9/8/14.
(d) 9/28/15 #4D all volunteer alternate positions on all City Boards and Committees were eliminated on motion by COOK, seconded by Jones at 1:47:50 on the video.
(e) Access to City Hall restricted by Resolution 2015-R28 on 10/13/15., which states, “City Hall complex is hereby declared a nonpublic forum….The public is excluded from access to these facilities.” In workshops formulating this policy on 7/31/15 DIFRANCO stated, “We have to separate government from the public….” at 2:50:28 in the audio. During that meeting City Attorney referred to demonstrators as “that element….” at 2:33:29 of audio. These quotes reveal a deep disdain for US, the public, by the elected body. On 10/13/15 at 3:35:30 COOK made motion, seconded by Jones to approve resolution changing 14 days for signs/displays to ONE DAY. The result: Neighborhood Watch volunteer board, which had been meeting at City Hall, was told they could no longer meet at City Hall.
3. Liberty and Justice is only for COOK and DIFRANCO’s cronies.
(a) BAYFLITE was nearly driven from North Port by COOK and company.
12/9/13 #7D at 3:49:07 COOK,”Motion to terminate lease agreement with Bayflite using 60 day clause;” seconded by DIFRANCO. After much public anger, the item was placed on agenda for 4/28/14. BUT, with a room full of citizens DIFRANCO moved, “Approve agenda EXCEPT item 8C.” Mayor
Blucher explained to those present, “We pulled the item on Bayflite;”(5:24). Thanks to the efforts of Linda Yates, the item was placed on agenda 5/27/14, item #7A. Yates made a motion at 1:27:27, seconded by Jones, “Renew and amend terms for 2 years with Bayflite.” At 1:29:25 DIFRANCO stated, “Where it is now is inappropriate. I’d like to see it move to another location.” COOK attempted to amend the motion to approve ONLY if Bayflite would relocate.
Things got so heated, that at 1:45:07 DIFRANCO can be seen shaking her fist at Yates while yelling wildly. Fortunately for the citizens of North Port, the vote to retain Bayflite was YES: Blucher, Jones, Yates. NO: Cook; DiFranco.
(b) Human Rights Ordinance was heard at a SPECIAL meeting, rather than regular processing because staff made an advertising timing error, and
“Mayor DIFRANCO wants to sign it while she is mayor.” (Emails between City Clerk and City Attorney dated 10/15/15.), which revealed this City Code violation. Abuse of public money and position of trust held by Commissioners should NOT be tolerated! 10/13/15 #4F at 3:00:20 COOK said, “It is time to move this ordinance forward.” At the SPECIAL meeting of 10/27/15, where the Human Rights Ordinance was the only agenda item, Yates attempted to amend motion to approve ordinance to “Include ALL protected classes under State and Federal laws;” (31:35), seconded by Moore. At 33:00 Moore asked, “So veterans and pregnant women, citizenship, and genetic info, are they omitted?” City Attorney answered, “They are NOT in your ordinance.” (33:36)
(c) Over-zealous code enforcement is occurring. Result: boat owners are being cited regularly for having boats on trailers in driveways or side yards. 2/27/15 Commissioner Yates attempted to point out inconsistencies in code which was used to cite property owners. COOK objected to her efforts, “consensus to hire a consultant to work with staff to clean up the ULDC conflicts/contradictions in the Parking& Loading Regulations section, and Schedule a Level2 workshop for Commission for further discussion…” (Minutes of meeting) In the meantime, hundreds of North Port citizens have been cited by Code Enforcement. No level 2 workshop was ever scheduled, and the Commission hired University of Florida at $300,000 to review our City’s code (9/28/15 #3J) After 16 months of inaction, Yates penned a resolution to temporarily suspend code sections being used for citations so long as boats didn’t block sidewalks or city’s right of way on 6/28/16 #7A. COOK and DIFRANCO hijacked the meeting, berating the mayor, COOK hissed, “I’m about to make a motion to appeal your rulings because I’d like to get a motion on the floor so we can…begin the timing. We’ve already been talking about this for 12 minutes.” (1:18:51) DIFRANCO chimed in, “I was gonna say the same thing….We want the timed portion.” Next COOK and DIFRANCO attacked Yates’ motives, “It’s kind of a way to slide in some conditions where boats will be able to park across the sidewalk; boats will be able to be parked across the right of way. This is confusing, maybe on purpose.” (1:27:09). DIFRANCO referred to it as a “slick maneuver.” (1:11:01) Then COOK attacked each person who spoke publicly in favor of the resolution, “I want to point out that there are people here supporting this who won’t be affected by it.” (1:27:46). COOK’s tirade continued, “Someone asked about our intrusion on their property rights, and the answer is: we all moved into this city knowing what the rules were.”(1:28:35) COOK ranted for over 4 minutes. Motion failed. Revised resolution finally passed 7/12/16.
ABCD—Anybody BUT Cook and DiFranco is an independent expenditure of Conni Brunni, P.O. Box _____, North Port, FL 34287. The cost of printing the attached information is an independent expenditure pursuant to Florida Statutes Section 106.071, and it was not approved or coordinated with any candidate or committee.

[Unregistered]

ABCCD AND M . Time for a real change not 1/2 of the change . New blood is needed from the top down.