The main event pits copy of Doug Erwin file vs. news article penned by Melanie Ave.
The match up provides interesting similarities in court preparation.
Lee Drury De Cesare's Casting-Room Couch: Oh, Don't Believe a Thing He Says. Everybody Knows He's Crazy
Diane Woodall -"I came upon a statement from Wayne Dashinger's report that stated that Gietzen indicated he was hired to make Doug Erwin look crazy."
Hillsborough: Whistle-blower says he was ignored
"Whistle-blower says he was ignored
An investigation came only after years of complaints, says the Hillsborough schools official.
By MELANIE AVE
© St. Petersburg Times,
published December 7, 2001
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TAMPA -- As authorities investigate complaints of wrongdoing in the Hillsborough schools grounds department, investigative files released Wednesday indicate that one whistle-blower had complained of irregularities as long as four years ago.
Director of operations Doug Erwin, a 33-year school veteran, told his bosses about missing inventory, stolen tractors and contractors working outside of their approved parameters.
"I had shared a whole bunch of information with all my superiors, got totally frustrated, got to the point that essentially . . . I was told if you can't prove it, don't say it," Erwin told district investigators as part of a 15-month school system inquiry into the 70-employee grounds department.
Erwin's comments were among boxes of investigative material made public Wednesday, and now en route to state and federal authorities.
The documents raise questions about how much administrators knew and whether they responded appropriately. They also paint a picture of employees afraid to come forward with suspicions of misconduct.
"You report wrongdoing and you are ostracized," Sickles High School assistant principal Elsa Tuggle said in the investigation.
Although Erwin said he lodged complaints for years, the district didn't begin its investigation until last year. The results of its probe were made public after increasing media reports and pressure from Erwin to take his concerns to the School Board.
At least $560,000 was possibly misused over the last two years because of fraudulent billing, improper spending and stolen equipment.
Retired grounds supervisor James McClelland is at the heart of the investigation. The Pasco County man has denied any wrongdoing.
Erwin's bosses, including superintendent Earl Lennard, deputy superintendent Jim Hamilton and assistant superintendent Jack Davis, all acknowledge that they were aware of many of Erwin's complaints.
Lennard said he met with Erwin twice and told him to forward his concerns to the human resources department. He encouraged him to research them "because he was making some serious allegations."
Administrators said many of Erwin's concerns were unprovable rumors.
"He never did come forward with specific names, dates and places, nor did he ever come forward with a real specific plan as to follow up and track those issues," Hamilton said in the investigation.
Erwin and other district employees, however, speculate that certain employees, including McClelland, were protected by district higher-ups.
Board members Joe Newsome and former board member Sam Rampello, now the district's federal finance director, acknowledge they are longtime friends of McClelland.
"McClelland couldn't be touched because he knew things on board members that would incriminate them, too," said trades worker John Brungard, who began tipping officials to problems in the grounds department last year.
Newsome and Rampello deny the allegations.
Newsome said he feels sympathy for Erwin. "I tried to the very best of my ability to be a friend to him," he told investigators. "I really think that he is mentally ill."
Erwin has scheduled a press conference this morning to tell his side of the story. A board workshop on the investigation has been set for Dec. 14."
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I was there the night the lights went off on the cameras. There is an old saying that one should keep their friends close and their enemies closer. There are some familiar names in the Erwin trial and the first federal court Whitehead trial. Some are still around. What I always think about are the names that are never mentioned, but are still around.
I submit the same thing goes on with our Federal Government.
Who really runs the show?
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