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Organizing cruise was a small, but real, lapse© St. Petersburg Times published January 24, 2002 It certainly doesn't measure up to the scandalous blunders and coverups that have emerged from the Hernando County Courthouse complex in recent months. But it does bear some scrutiny and a promise from county officials that it won't happen again. Circuit Judge Jack Springstead's assistant, Karen Beasley, didn't do anything illegal or even unethical, at least not intentionally, when she organized a cruise ship vacation for 213 county employees' families. According to Clerk of the Circuit Court Karen Nicolai, Beasley gained nothing for her trouble, other than a complaint from a local travel agent who believes Beasley should have a state license to sell travel packages. But what Beasley did do is use the public's resources and time, however little, to coordinate the trip, and that should not be allowed. Beasley sent out notices about the trip via the county's electronic mail system. (Incidently, had that correspondence been copied to the public records file, as board policy dictates, this problem might have been nipped in the bud.) Beasley also accepted calls of confirmation and inquiry from county employees who signed up for the cruise to Key West and Cozumel. Nicolai and Springstead assure that Beasley's job performance did not suffer, and that she was only doing the thankless job of a volunteer for the county employees' Activities Committee. There is no reason to believe otherwise, and the state agency that regulates travel agents will determine whether she may have sidestepped any licensing requirements. But Nicolai, along with all other constitutional officers and the county administrator, should use this circumstance to remind all employees that it is wrong to conduct private business on public equipment and time. It's not what residents have in mind when they pay their taxes. It is not the first time public employees have misused public resources, or even the most egregious example of that reality, and it probably won't be the last. But that doesn't mean supervisors and bosses should look the other way when they see it happening. As the county's chief financial officer, Nicolai signs employees' paychecks. This might be a good time to include a memo in each envelope that reiterates the county's expectations on such matters, and bid bon voyage to the confusion.
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From today's Hernando Times |
