Revenge of the Deer

Escambia County primary election voters yesterday tossed out of office two of our world famous deer slaughterers, county commissioner Mike Whitehead and incumbent sheriff Ron McNesby. You might say Whitehead was slaughtered, himself, at the ballot box by Wilson Robertson 4,744 to 1,126.

But the deer can't take all the credit, no matter how much they may have contributed to his opponent's campaign chest. Whitehead also is a known enemy of the Perdido Key mouse... Pensacola Beach's governing Island Authority ... a failed real estate mogul... a serial liar ... and BFF with the despised Buck Lee.

It remains to be seen if Robertson, who will be sitting on the commission for the second time around, is any better on beach issues than Whitehead was. But it's for sure he can't be worse.

Fellow deer killer Sheriff McNesby was defeated in the Republican primary by David Morgan. This November, Morgan will face Larry Scapecchi, a former lieutenant of the Escambia sheriff's office who is running as Democrat.

Couldn't Be More Deserved

One seldom sees mordacious editorials in the respectable dead-tree press overflowing with what can only be called extreme vitriol and personal loathing. Today, the Pensacola News Journal makes an exception for Escambia County Commissioner Mike Whitehead.

Commissioners Vote for Deeds

"Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer— except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs."

-- George Orwell, Animal Farm

At the special two-county commissioners meeting we mentioned the other day, Escambia and Santa Rosa county commissioners approved a formal resolution asking U.S. Representative Jeff Miller to sponsor legislation authorizing the issuance of fee simple deeds to Santa Rosa Island beach property. Presently, owing to restrictions in the original federal deed of Santa Rosa Island to Escambia County, all property on Pensacola Beach is held under leases, most of them for a renewable term of 99 years.

Jamie Page had the early afternoon story yesterday ("Commissioners Push Beach Ownership") on the PNJ web site. This morning's PNJ repeats much, but not all, of that earlier dispatch ("Lease Fight Heads to D.C.").

Among all ten combined commissioners, the lone dissenters were two from Escambia County. One of them was Kevin White from the northern section of the county. White has been outspoken in wanting to preserve public access on the beach.

The other dissenter was Grover C. Robinson IV. Robinson represents District 4, which includes Pensacola Beach. He, too, has expressed concern about maintaining open public spaces on the beach. Robinson also has been popular with, and trusted by, a large majority of beach residents.

Commissioner Robinson voiced objections that not enough was known about the details of any deed-for-taxes proposition. Until the specifics are known, he said, it would be imprudent to support such a move; it could turn out to the disadvantage of both beach residents and mainlanders.

Also speaking against the resolution was long-time SRIA board member Dr. Thomas Campanella. Campanella has been a reliable voice for Pensacola Beach residents since first being elected by them in 2002. In brief remarks to the commissioners during the open forum, he expressed concern that opening the beach to unrestricted deeds of beach lots could lead directly to over-development on the beach.

After the meeting, Campanella told us that he fears "greed is behind" the resolution. He explained that the SRIA has been under pressure from the county for years to allow more intense development, greater densities, and higher revenues from residents and businesses. If the county persists, he said, "they're going to ruin the very resource that we need."

Voting in favor of the deeds resolution, among others, were Escambia County Commissioners Mike Whitehead and Gene Valentino. Whitehead has a long history of opposing beach resident intiatives and advocating for abolition of the Santa Rosa Island Authority. Valentino pretty much votes as if he were Whitehead's sock puppet.

So, what's going on here? Beach residents who want the guarantee of a deed if they're ordered to pay real estate taxes have to be nervous when natural predators like Whitehead and Valentino claim to be "helping" them and proven allies like Robinson and Campanella are on the other side.

The short answer is that we'll just have to wait and see. Much depends on the exact wording of any legislation congressman Miller is able to shepherd through Congress. It seems unlikely that any legislation Miller sponsors can be approved by Congress before it recesses for the year. So, equally important will be the composition of the Board of Commissioners if and when the time finally arrives to implement any deed-exchange.

As always, the future of the beach is in the grip of those we elect to run county government. Among a list of horribles one can foresee is the distinct possibility -- one which was advocated by former SRIA board member Bill Griffith about a dozen years ago, although he later renounced the idea as having been inspired by Mr. Whitehead -- that any residents seeking a deed in lieu of a long-term lease should be required to make a one time payment equal to 65 percent or more of the assessed value of the land and improvements.

Another IED that could be hidden along the roadway is Whitehead's long-held ambition to abolish the Santa Rosa Island Authority altogether. The SRIA has directly governed the beach for nearly sixty years. While its efforts to preserve the beach from unsustainable development have not been an unalloyed success, on the whole the island's governing authority has been far more eco-friendly and attuned to island residents' and business needs than Escambia County commissioners.

Congressman Miller, himself, could allay many of these fears if he makes a sincere effort to enlist knowledgeable beach residents and their representatives, like Campanella and Robinson, in the process of drafting the legislation. There are at hand on the beach a number of knowledgeable people -- lawyers, judges, real property finance experts, former legislators, urban growth experts, public administration specialists, environmentalists, and others -- who could be of service to the congressman as he drafts the legislation.

We will soon see if Congressman Miller calls on them, or instead takes his marching orders from our new-found beach "friends" like commissioners Whitehead and Valentino.

Dept. of Amplification

Must-Have Pensacola Beach Book: William L. Post's "Deceit Beach"

Whitehead: 'Trapped' Again

Mike ("Bambi Killer") Whitehead has been busted again. In his long war against the truth, this time Whitehead seems to have broken Emily Post's law: when you decline a formal invitation to be the featured speaker at an event that's important to the host, be sure to give an excuse that can't be exposed as a blatant lie.

Jamie Page has the story for the Pensacola News Journal. She makes the most of it with appropriately cheap golfing puns:

Some Myrtle Grove volunteer firefighters are teed off.

The object of their wrath: Escambia County Commission Chairman Mike Whitehead, who was teeing off at the Marcus Pointe Golf Club last Saturday morning instead of attending the Myrtle Grove Fire Department's 55th anniversary celebration.

And consider it a double bogey since Whitehead had told the firefighters he couldn't be there to be the main speaker because he'd be out of town.

This isn't the first time Whitehead has been caught in a lie. It seems to be a habit with him.

It was Wilson Robertson, who's running against Whitehead's bid for reelection, who blew the siren this time.

Robertson, a fellow member of Marcus Pointe Golf Club... let the firefighters know about Whitehead's stroke of subterfuge after seeing him golfing during a regular Saturday morning members' tournament.

Now, it's obvious that Robertson had a motive for penalizing Whitehead. But was it politics? Or concern for the integrity of the game?

Robertson normally would have played in the Saturday morning tournament, but he canceled to attend the Myrtle Grove event.

Maybe both.

Clarence Gulsby of Molino, who serves on the county's citizen fire advisory committee, said Whitehead should have been at the Fire Department, considering it's in his district.

"Nobody should tell you one thing and then do something else," Gulsby said. "That's not good ethics, let alone, politics."

It also makes you wonder about the scorecards Whitehead turns in, doesn't it?

A Whitehead Christmas

Looks like Pensacola's county commissioner, Mike ("The Deer Hunter") Whitehead won't be killing for trophies in Wisconsin any time soon.

Friends and loved ones, if he has any, may want to do their Christmas shopping for him here.

Bait and Snitch

There's a sued sheriff in town.

Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby has pleaded no contest to noncriminal charges that stem from a 2004 hunting trip in Wisconsin.

A Richland County judge adjudicated McNesby guilty of two counts of illegal hunting/possession of game/birds and placing bait with nondegradable material.

McNesby, who entered his plea last month, had to pay a fine of about $2,500, and his hunting license in the state of Wisconsin was revoked for three years.

McNesby's mug now goes in the book along with more than fifteen other Pensacola bigwig-wannabees (including a prominent minister who organized 'Christian hunting' parties) who've been nabbed for cheating while slaughtering Bambi and her relatives just so they could bring home a trophy.

It's pretty clear some among them wound up snitching on their hunting buddies. However, the biggest game has yet to be bagged. Similar illegal hunting charges are still pending against George Touart and Mike Whitehead. Those two have raised the defense that they're too stupid to know hunting ethics or laws.

We're with Touart on that one. He's so dumb he could screw up a retirement party -- and has.

As for county commissioner Mike Whitehead, no punishment could be too severe. In Wisconsin, Macho Man Mike was out to massacre helpless deer. Here in Pensacola he's known for making war against endangered species like the Perdido Key beach mouse, using excessive condo building permits as his weapon of choice. The man is a wildlife terrorist.

We think an appropriate punishment would be extraordinary rendition. Let the Wisconsin police blindfold Whitehead, pack him on a plane, and send him to the Milwaukee Zoo. There, interrogators like the ones seen below will know how to deal with him:

Mike Whitehead - Still Stupid?

It seems Escambia County Commissioner Mike Whitehead finds himself on the south side of law and ethics once again. This time, he tried to buy for $65,000 a county-owned house and one acre lot in nearby Beulah with an assessed value of $83,490 -- and a market value, you can be sure, well above that.

County commissioners (including Whitehead) voted on December 7 to auction the property off through sealed bids. The agenda item [# 12] can be seen here. That same month, Whitehead submitted his winning bid.

The almost-done deal "came to light when Whitehead's signature was noted on a check" by an assistant in the office of County Clerk and Comptroller Ernie Magaha.

[I]n a letter to County Commission Chairman Kevin White, the clerk's office cited Florida law governing standards of conduct for public officials and state Ethics Commission opinions that call such property transactions a conflict of interest.

"Upon advice of our legal counsel, we must advise you that the Clerk of Court and Comptroller will not process any remaining transactions to conclude the purchase of this real property by Commissioner Whitehead," wrote Patricia L. Sheldon, Magaha's administrator for financial services.

Whitehead has abandoned his scheme for now. He told Derek Pivnick of the Pensacola News Journal he didn't realize that what he was doing was wrong.

Whitehead said he didn't seek the advice of County Attorney Janet Lander before submitting his bid, because he didn't think there would be a problem. He said he has bid on property foreclosed on by banks before.

No "problem" when a county commissioner votes to sell public property one week and tries to profit off that sale the next?

Of course, this isn't the first time Mike Whitehead has pleaded his own stupidity as an excuse for violating the law. Last year we learned it was his principle defense to Wisconsin charges of illegal deer hunting.

Maybe he really is dumb. Maybe not. Whitehead's latest gaffe seems to us to pose an irreducible puzzle: Have the voters of Escambia County District 1 elected a self-confessed idiot who doesn't know the law and ethics of county government, or have they elected a self-aggrandizing liar who only claims to be that stupid?

'Very Nervous' Hunters

Once again, the Pensacola News Journal is giving front-page treatment to the story we are sorely tempted to call Antlers-gate, or maybe Bambi-gate. Today, crack reporter Brett Norman is mining affidavits "filed in the U.S. District Court of Western Wisconsin."

The affidavits, in support of warrants to search two hunting properties used by [hutning guide] Lawinger and one of his e-mail accounts, report multiple instances of unlicensed hunting, baited deer fields and hunting during closed seasons.

Several of those charged locally are named in the statements.

Norman seems to be looking for anything that would explain why some Pensacola bigwigs are alleged to have violated Wisconsin hunting laws and others aren't -- notably, Escambia County administrator George Touart. Norman explains:

Since the charges were filed last week, questions have surfaced about why Touart is the only member of his party who was not charged in the February hunt, even though he was the only one to kill a deer and return it to Pensacola.

His fate remained unknown Wednesday as officials with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Madison, Wis., continued refusing to say whether more charges are pending.

Given the facts reported so far, there would seem to be only three possible explanations. One is that Touart is about to be charged with a federal crime. The second is that he isn't. And the third is he has turned state's evidence and agreed to testify against his fellow hunters from Pensacola.

"I'm sure George is very nervous," the reporter quotes county commissioner Mike Whitehead as saying. "I would be."

He might be, indeed.

Politicians Claim They're Stupid

"If you're a deer...you have to be enjoying all the delicious ironies."

The story has already faded in Wisconsin, but here in Pensacola the Wisconsin illegal hunters' sting operation is still front-page stuff. The News Journal now has assigned two reporters to the case.

Today they filed three articles. Can we now honor the story with a "-gate" suffix? "Deergate," maybe, or "Badgergate"?

Kris Thoma and Brett Norman are reporting --

"Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby and County Commissioner Mike Whitehead, charged with violating Wisconsin hunting laws, are pleading ignorance of that state's regulations and accusing their hunting guide of deceiving them."

It's the 'I'm Really Just A Dumb Hick' defense combined with 'Blame the Guide.' Locals know that rank stupidity fits these politicians like a beanie fits a dunce. But Wisconsin law enforcement officers aren't buying it.

Chief Warden Randy Stark of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said undercover state and federal agents posed as hunters during the two-year investigation of Blue River Outfitters. The probe was instigated by citizens' complaints.

Stark said Tuesday that ignorance of the law is no excuse for Lawinger's clients.

"The vast majority of law-abiding hunters would agree with this: It's ultimately the responsibility of the hunters to know and follow the law, wherever they hunt," Stark said.

"Many of these charges are very basic, regardless of what state you go to. I think there's evidence in this case that will demonstrate that there was knowledge or that there should have been."

No, no, says Escambia County Commissioner Mike Whitehead. "I'm a victim."

McNesby and Whitehead said Tuesday that Lawinger told them hunters on private property did not need licenses and were permitted in some counties to hunt during the off-season.

* * *
McNesby said Tuesday he has expensive hunting licenses from several states and would have gladly purchased one in Wisconsin if Lawinger had not told him it was unnecessary.

Would you believe it? Those pesky badgers in Wisconsin just don't believe our county politicians.

Wisconsin wildlife officials who came to Pensacola to interview McNesby in May offered a different account.

"McNesby apologized ... for not getting a license to hunt," according to an affidavit by conservation warden Michael Nice of the Department of Natural Resources. "He said he should have known better."

If you're a deer -- or if you know these guys, as a lot of people in Pensacola do all too well -- you have to be enjoying all the delicious ironies. As CNN commentator Paul Begala asked three years ago when four other Escambia county commissioners were convicted of violating laws they claimed they didn't understand, "Is there something in the water in Florida that leads Republicans to break the law?"

Pensacola Big-Wigs Busted in Wisconsin

"A righteous man respects the life of his animal: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."

-- Proverbs 12:10

An undercover sting of illegal deer and turkey hunting in southwest Wisconsin "culminated Wednesday when state and federal prosecutors filed 186 charges against 46 people from 11 states." Out of the 46 people charged, 18 are from Pensacola, including prominent Pensacola politicians and a Baptist minister.

In a top-of-the-front-page headline story, the Pensacola News Journal's Kris Thoma reports, "Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby, Escambia County Commissioner Mike Whitehead, the Rev. Gordon Godfrey of Marcus Pointe Baptist Church and 15 other local residents" were among those being charged in Wisconsin.

Also involved in some unspecified way, the local reporter writes, is Escambia County administrator George Tuart. Touart purportedly "has not been charged and refused to discuss the matter Monday night."

Thoma says the charges against McNesby and Whitehead include hunting deer during the closed season and hunting deer "over bait." McNesby also faces an additional charge of hunting deer without a license, the paper reports.

At the center of the case is Adam Lee Lawinger, who owns and operates Blue River Outfitters. Lawinger has been charged in federal court "with conspiring to sell deer and turkeys that were illegally hunted and transported across state lines." Wisconsin news reports say it is alleged --

"that he sold guided deer and turkey hunts on land he and an unindicted co- conspirator owned or leased. In the process, the charges allege, Lawinger allowed hunters to kill deer and turkeys without licenses, used female deer carcasses more than once to register multiple bucks, baited deer within chronic wasting disease control zones, and shined and shot deer at night.

Baptist minister Godfrey told local reporters that over the past few years he "organized Christian hunting trips... for numerous church members" led by Lawinger.

What's a "Christian hunting trip" involve? Among the accusations Godfrey faces are:

· Hunting deer with an improper license.
· Hunting wild turkey during the closed season.
· Hunting wild turkey without a valid permit.
· Hunting wild turkey without a license.
· Transporting/possessing untagged turkey.
· Failure to make an effort to retrieve downed game.

According to Randy Stark, Wisconsin's chief game warden, during the multi-year undercover sting operation, "We observed an almost obsessive overemphasis on trophy hunting. By making shooting a trophy the only goal of hunting, cutting corners on fair chase became acceptable to these poachers, and complying with conservation law became optional."