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IS THERE A LACK OF FAIRNESS WITHIN THE VOLUSIA COUNTY PERSONNEL BOARD? Should The County Be Providing Board Members Evidentiary Documents Prior To The Board Hearing? |
Updated September 20, 2017 |
Tacitus
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Volusia County Personnel Board
We encourage our readers to review our article on the Kerns board hearing - in order to gain a better appreciation of the unfairness associated with these board hearings. Our Personnel Board coverage has focused on hearings involving two county departments - the Department of Public Protection (corrections, beach safety, EVAC, fire Services, animal Services) & the Department of Public Safety - AKA, - the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. Recently - it has come to our attention - that EVAC employee Ryan Centofanti has a board hearing scheduled for September 29, 2017. (see attached board hearing notification --->) In a recent email to Assistant County Attorney, Michael Moore - we (VolusiaExposed.Com) expressed our concern / opinion that Volusia County has failed to honor it's own "fair rules of evidence" - thus denying Mr. Centofanti a "fair and impartial hearing". As of the posting of this article - Mr. Moore has NOT offered a reply to our email inquiry. In short - it is our (VolusiaExposed) position that the county should NOT be providing the Personnel Board members with copies of the Centofanti disciplinary letters - as are noted as "attachments" to the board hearing notification letter sent to ALL the board members --->. These attached letters usually articulate the county's rationale and arguments for their disciplinary actions. VolusiaExposed forwards the argument that these disciplinary letters are evidentiary - and should be provided to the board members as evidentiary exhibits during the board hearing.
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Thereby allowing Mr. Centofanti / or his representative the ability to IMMEDIATELY address the charges and allegations addressed in these supportive and attached documents. We imagine that some of our readers have participated in jury duty. When you receive the jury service notice to report to the courthouse - you are NOT given the defendant's arrest report as an attachment to your jury notice. The criminal defendant has the right to a fair and impartial jury. But if you knew in advance - the alleged facts of the defendant's arrest - such would bias your ability to deliver a fair and impartial decision. You may even decide before the day of the trial - the innocence or guilt of the defendant. We submit - that the same goes for the County Personnel Board - they should NOT have an advance review of the County's allegations against the subject employee. In our opinion - Volusia County is failing to follow the governing rules of the County's Personnel Board. And in doing so - are denying their employees fair and impartial hearings. The County's failure to follow the rules is sadly nothing new...... In February 2015 - Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano ruled that the Volusia County Personnel Board was in non-compliance with the County Charter during their 2012 hearing - regarding former sheriff deputy - Scott Flesch. Some things just never change ..... do they? |
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And there you have it - now, you can come to your own conclusions on whether Volusia County employees are being treated fairly. We have concluded (our opinion) that they are not being treated fairly - and others should be prepared to suffer this very same fate - even as they are promised - a fair and impartial hearing in front of the County's Personnel Board.
Here is our standard advisement for those that have a pending Personnel Board hearing... - you are about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Volusia County Personnel Board! (paraphrasing - Rod Sterling - from the Twilight Zone) Good luck - you will be needing it ! If scheduling permits - we will be covering Mr. Centofanti's September 29, 2017 Personnel Board hearing.... stand by to stand by - there is surely more to come of this..... |