The sheriff, county administrator and a task force are under scrutiny after allegations of intimidation and Sunshine Law violations.
By Associated Press
Published March 27, 2004
PENSACOLA - Two grand jury investigations will focus on Escambia County's sheriff, its county administrator and a firefighter task force set up by a county commissioner who replaced one of four board members arrested and suspended two years ago.
State prosecutors announced plans for both investigations Thursday.
One will cover allegations that Sheriff Ron McNesby tried to bully a strip club owner into forgiving nearly $6,000 in charges by the son of County Administrator George Touart and that McNesby sold county-owned trailers to a friend at a bargain price.
The other investigation will center on allegations that Commissioner Janice Gilley's task force violated Florida's open-government Sunshine Law by failing to publicly advertise meetings.
Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Gilley to replace suspended Commissioner Terry Smith, who was convicted of violating the Sunshine Law by privately discussing public business with another now-suspended commissioner, W.D. Childers. All three are Republicans.
Smith was fined but received no jail time. Childers, a former Florida Senate president, was convicted of bribery and violating the Sunshine Law. He is free on bail pending appeal of both convictions but served most of a 60-day jail term on the Sunshine conviction.
He is facing a 31/2-year prison sentence if the bribery conviction stands.
Gilley declined comment Friday on the investigation, but she praised the task force and said it would be a shame if citizens were unable to benefit from its work.
State Attorney Curtis Golden said the Sunshine case should go to a grand jury in two to three weeks. His prosecutors said they will present their findings on McNesby to a grand jury within five weeks.
McNesby and Touart said they weren't worried about the investigation. "I've got nothing to hide and nothing to cover up," McNesby said, blaming the accusations on politics. Also a Republican, he is seeking re-election this year.
McNesby and Touart have been under fire since January from Arety's Angels owner Arety Sievers, who publicly accused them of pressuring her into writing off Matthew Touart's charges at the club on credit cards he had stolen from his father.
"It was just an act of bullying and intimidation, plain and simple," Sievers said.
