“Leave the Bones Buried”
Desloge Works For Developers, Not Us
2009 Tallahassee Democrat reporting shows the influence of County Commissioner Bryan Desloge working for developers against Leon County residents.
Since this article has ran, Desloge has taken more than $50,000 in developer contributions for his political campaigns, and has been a servant to developers at the expense of Northeast residents.
When Tony Biblo resigned abruptly last month from his post as a senior staffer for Leon County Growth and Environmental Management, residents cried foul, saying he was the latest in a line of workers to be forced out for standing up to powerful developers.
Some residents and former Growth Management workers say the county office, which oversees permitting, has a pro-development culture that can be toxic for employees who are only trying to do their job.
County officials, however, say the office shows no bias toward developers or environmentalists. And they say workers have been unfairly punished.
Biblo, who served as chairman of the county’s Development Review Committee, wrote a memo Oct. 13 outlingin environmental and other concerns about Chason Woods, a proposed 494-home development on sensitive land just a few miles north of Wakulla Springs. Ten days after writing the memo, he was asked to resign.
In January 2005, Clay Carithers, a county environmental-review specialist, also left his job after recommending several months earlier that the proposed Summerfield development plan be denied. And in 1996, Helge Swanson was fired as head of Growth Management two days after issuing a recommendation the the county not approve expansion of a sewage spray field because he thought it would harm Lake Iamonia. Ann Bidlingmaier, a retired English teacher and local environmentalist, said Growth Management has a history of getting rid of employees who step on developers’ toes.
“It’s been my experience that the good people are forced out,” she said. “Permitting is really difficult, and when competent people are forced out, we may end up with permitted projects that are an environmental hazard.”
Grady Underwood, who started working for Growth Management in 1973 shortly after the department was founded, also said “the good people” are forced out. Underwood, who retired in 2007, described Biblo, Carithers, and Swanson as dedicated workers.
“It’s very simple — they did not do as they were told regarding permitting activities,” Underwood said. “You listen to your supervisor and do what they tell you regarding approval or disapproval. If you don’t, you’re out.”
Developers pressure commissioners
Some residents and former county staffers said developers who aren’t getting their way put pressure on county commissioners, who in turn go to top-ranking administrators to get what the developers want.
An e-mail exchange obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat shows that Chason Woods project designer Eddie Bass reached out to Commissioner Bryan Desloge to voice concerns about Biblo’s memo on Chason Woods. Desloge then e-mailed Deputy County Administrator Vince Long, who in turn sent an e-mail to Biblo’s boss, Growth Management Director David McDevitt.
Biblo’s memo was e-mailed to Bass Oct. 13. The next day, Bass e-emailed Desloge, saying that if the county was opposed to the Chason Wood’s proposal, which includes extending sewer lines to the site, Bass could seek a 300-lot development with septic tanks. Having the homes on sewer — not septic — is seen as a better alternative for the land, which sits on limestone karst a few miles north of Wakulla Springs.
Bass was critical of Biblo’s analysis calling it a “blind side” memo.
“We didn’t make the rules, guys, the County Commission did,” Bass wrote in the e-mail. “We are simply applying for a development approval as outlined and allowed by the code set forth by the Commission. As of right now we have a lot-size deviation to economically support the extension of central sewer and water. That’s just as easy to be removed, and the number rerun for 300 lots all on septic.
“I have never seen a memo like this written for any other project,” Bass wrote, referring to Biblo’s analysis. “Not sure what the hidden agenda is here, but it’s obvious now that there is one.”
After Desloge received Bass’ e-mail, he forwarded it to Long, who oversees Growth Management. Desloge wrote to Long “FYI — your thoughts!”. Long then e-mailed McDevitt, saying “People send(Biblo’s) memo to me as soon as possible.” McDevitt sent an e-mail to Biblo, asking for Biblo’s analysis, which McDevitt said had created a “firestorm”.
“I also strongly suggest that you also provide accompanying analysis, clarification and or justification to support the issuance of the memorandum.” McDevitt wrote to Biblo. “I expect this information first thing tomorrow morning.”
Biblo wrote back to McDevitt, saying his memo was straightforward in pointing out concerns about sprawl and the environment. “Although I feel bad for the developer and his agent, I am committed to do my job and cannot shirk for the sake of their interests,” Biblo wrote. “I am dismayed that my adverse comments about the application have resulted in my work being called into question, but so be it.”
The following week, McDevitt asked Biblo to turn in his resignation.
Desloge said he wasn’t pressuring staff to take action against Biblo and that he routinely forwards constituents concerns to administrators to keep them in the loop. “Most of the time, it’s just an awareness issue,” he said.
County Administrator Parwez Alam and Long have said they had nothing to do with Biblo’s forced resignation. Alam said staff members don’t feel pressure from commissioners to make certain personnel decisions. Under the county charter, commissioners are not allowed to make personnel decisions except in a few cases for the highest-ranking staff members.
“I’ve been in this business 35 years,” Alam said, “and if I started listening to a county commissioner in terms of who should be hired and who should be let go, I would not be able to do my job.” Alam said Growth and Environmental Management is “a very balanced” department.
“I think all GEM does is enforce the rules and regulations adopted by the County Commission through the Comp Plan and land-development regulations,” Alam said. Desloge said the county’s job is “to find the balance in the middle between developers and environmentalists.”
Memos preceded other resignations
The county has a long standing practice of paying severance to employees who are forced to resign. The severance agreements typically include language in which employees agree never to sue the county and never to discuss circumstances surrounding their departure.
Biblo was given a severance package worth $55,000, and Carithers was given severance of about $10,000.
“Somebody put pressure on him to write it that way”
Several months before Carithers left — on Aug. 24, 2004 — he prepared a memo on the proposed Summerfield development on U.S. Highway 27 north recommending that its conceptual site and development plan be denied.
Carithers wrote that the plans contained erroneous, insufficient and conflicting information; that it didn’t meet requirements that it have an environmental analysis; and that it didn’t comply with code requirements regarding preservation of significant slope areas and protection of unaltered floodplains.
Carithers then wrote an addendum to the memo on the same day as the first version was issued saying Summerfield could, in fact, be approved if the County Commission granted a variance on the environmental analysis and if the developer met a number of other conditions.
The hastily changed memo raised red flags. George E. Lewis, a Tallahassee attorney at law and longtime county observer, said it appeared that “somebody put pressure on him to write it that way.”
Lewis and others say commissioners must get accurate information, which is not influenced by politics or other pressures, from staff members.
“When you’re hiring people who have some degree of professional expertise and ask them to use their acquired knowledge and training and skills to serve the public, it’s wrong to let decisions be made that are not based on that information,” Lewis said.
Tallahassee resident Rip Caleen agreed. “Great care must be taken not to send a message to county employees who knew Mr. Biblo well, that they too can be asked to leave immediately for doing no more than their job honestly and well,” he said.
Staff members know where ‘bones are’
Underwood, the Growth Management worker who retired after more than three decades, said he felt pressure to keep concerns about the department to himself.
The day he retired, county staff members had cake and a small party for him. Underwood, who had complained for a couple of years about his pay, had told a county staff member he didn’t want the fanfare. After the party, he voiced his displeasure to the county staff member.
Shortly after that, he got an e-mail from Desloge congratulating him on his years of service. Underwood said he felt the e-mail had an ominous undertone.
In the e-mail, Desloge wrote,
“Thirty four years — that is a LONG time to stay with an organization. You’ve seen a lot of changes, been a part of the change in your department and probably know where the bones are buried and we all hope you leave them buried :). When you work somewhere as long as you have, you share the good and the bad with your co-workers: the marriages, births, deaths, and all the other major life changes that occur in our lives, and we all become a part of a much bigger family. Don’t forget this family when you move on, but enjoy your retirement. You deserve it!”
Underwood said he took the portion in the e-mail about “buried bones” as a threat. But Desloge, who’s known for an offbeat sense of humor, said he meant nothing of the kind.
“It was certainly never meant to be threatening,” Desloge said, “and I would apologize if it was taken that way.”
Story Originally Published in the Tallahassee Democrat, Thursday, November 26th, 2009
