TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

McLean misses driver school deadline

ADVERTISEMENT

By TONY MARRERO, Hernando Today

Published: November 27, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - Brooksville Housing Authority director Ronnie McLean, whose suspended driver's license and ensuing explanation prompted some housing board members to question whether he was right for the job, endured a scare Monday when he thought his license had once again been suspended.

A Hernando Today reporter called McLean Monday to ask about Pinellas County Clerk of Court records that showed his license had been suspended as of Nov. 13 for failure to complete driver education school.

It turns out, however, that the clerk must notify the state Department of Motor Vehicles that McLean didn't complete the school, according to an employee at the clerk's office. The DMV, in turn, must send a letter to McLean.

That process takes a couple of weeks. Once McLean receives the letter from DMV, he has a week to pay the balance of the original fine before his license is actually suspended.

The employee confirmed that McLean's license was still valid as of Monday afternoon, though the warning letter from the DMV could already be in the mail.

"So there is no problem," McLean said, adding that he planned to pay the fine today.

But before he made a call to the clerk's office and found out that his license wasn't yet officially suspended, McLean was convinced he would lose the position he's held since March.

"I might as well just quit," he said. "There's no excuse for my license being suspended."

McLean said he thought he had until the end of the month to finish the traffic school. He said he was completing the school online and that he was within an hour or so of finishing.

"I've just been so godawful busy," he said.

McLean's license was suspended June 7 after he failed to pay a traffic citation.

That came to light in September after a Brooksville insurance agent asked about McLean's license in an attempt to add him to the authority's automobile policy.

The agent, Mark Browning, contends McLean told him he did not have a Florida license. Browning found that McLean did have one and that it had been suspended.

McLean contends it was a miscommunication between him and Browning and that he simply meant that he did not have a Florida license on him because his wallet had been stolen.

McLean also said then that he didn't realize his license had been suspended.

The day after learning of the suspension, he paid part of the $117.50 fine and elected to take the driver school in order to get his license reinstated.

At least one housing board member, Paul Douglas, has said the matter puts McLean's veracity in question, that he put the authority in legal jeopardy by driving on company business without a valid license and that he should be removed. Two other board members thought the issue should have been investigated further.

The housing authority's personnel committee, comprised of five housing board members, voted to recommend to the full board that the matter be dropped. However, all board members agreed that McLean needed to stay out of trouble.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be contacted at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT