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.

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?"