Important headlines for April 30th – To remove Israel or not to remove – that is the question
Bottom Line: These are stories you shouldn't miss and my takes on them...
BSO union misfires with self-serving vote against Sheriff - Sun Sentinel
Excerpt: This week, the tug-of-war culminated in a “vote of no confidence” in the sheriff, affirmed by 534 of 628 deputies participating. The vote was an unsettling, unprecedented moment in Broward’s history. It means that about 40 percent of the union’s 1,300 members don’t trust their leader and want Gov. Rick Scott to get rid of him.
But it’s not that simple. Neither is it appropriate.
For despite his flaws, in this fight with the union, Sheriff Israel is on the side of right.
By contrast, Deputy Jeff Bell, president of the International Union of Police Associations Local 6020, miscalculated by scheduling a no-confidence vote before awaiting the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s investigation of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Before aiming for someone’s head, shouldn’t deputies first know exactly what happened?
Hot Take: It's no secret that I'm an ardent supporter of our police. It's no secret that Sheriff Israel is embattled and has a lot to account for regarding multiple apparent lapses in judgement that potentially have even had deadly consequences. With that backdrop amid multiple ongoing investigations into those lapses we had the Broward Deputy Association no-confidence vote led by outspoken president Jeff Bell. After about 85% of the Deputy's in the union voted no-confidence on Thursday Bell called for the ouster by Govenor Scott. But here's the thing. Based on what exactly? The no-confidence vote of a minority of folks in the department? At best that seems rash and premature.
To his credit Sheriff Israel came on with me Friday and addressed the tough questions head on while calling Bell an extortionist (as his union demanded an enormous pay raise that was declined) and cited an example of a prior endorsement by Bell. At this point there are two things that I'm certain of and many more I'm not. What I'm certain of...
We need the results of the FDLE (and potentially other) investigations to conclude
Someone currently in leadership in Broward should no longer be in a leadership position
Based on all we've learned at this point I do believe it'd be inappropriate for Governor Scott to remove the Sheriff prior to the investigative findings. Once they are in I believe that either Sheriff Israel or Deputy Bell should no longer man their current post. More to come...
Excerpt: About a dozen school principals are accusing the Broward Teachers Union leaders of bullying, breaching security and even threatening castration.
The administrators are suing the school district, saying it has allowed BTU President Anna Fusco and other representatives to have free rein of school campuses and has dragged out an investigation into administrators’ concerns.
Among the allegations are:
-- BTU members bypassed security and showed up unannounced at schools, often coming in back doors.
-- They interrupt classes to talk to teachers about union matters,
Hot Take: I'd like to be surprised but based on my experience with many teachers unions over the years, the only surprise is the level of specificity with which these alleged abuses are playing out. To be clear I don't be there should ever be public sector teachers unions. Further, I'd assert that the provable 38-year decline in public education in this country (which has led the US to decline from 2nd in student outcomes to 17th and falling word wide) can be traced to the creation of the Department of Education and the proliferation of teachers unions priorities that are often placed on factors that have little to do with outcomes and actual education.
Until tomorrow...