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Union Members Spurn Sheriff

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By GEOFF FOX

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 1, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - In a symbolic vote, unionized Pasco County Sheriff's patrol deputies and detectives have expressed no confidence in Sheriff Bob White.

The vote, coordinated by the local Fraternal Order of Police, doesn't have any direct consequences for White, but James Preston, the police union's state president, hopes voters remember the tally. The party primaries are in August, and the sheriff will be chosen during November's general election.

Of the 271 deputies and detectives eligible to vote between June 17 and Friday, 183 cast no-confidence votes.

"Obviously, the FOP will not endorse Sheriff White," Preston said Monday during a sparsely attended news conference at the FOP lodge on Bell Lake Road.

However, sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said not every deputy and detective at the sheriff's office is a union member.

"There are at least 425 employees eligible for the bargaining unit," Doll said.

Gary Kling, the local union's president for law enforcement supervisors, acknowledged the vote was limited to dues-paying members.

White dismissed the vote as political.

"The voters of Pasco County elected me to keep this community safe and secure," he said in a statement. "This is my primary duty, and I will do whatever it takes to fulfill this duty.

"This is not about protecting deputies and their families. This is about union heads looking out for union heads and playing election-year politics. That is why our detention deputies voted to no longer allow the union to represent them."

Since the local chapter's inception two years ago, White has repeatedly butted heads with the union.

Atop the list of reasons union leaders called for the vote is that they think White has been disingenuous in negotiating a contract with unionized deputies. The sides have yet to agree on a contract.

During Monday's news conference, John Connolly, president of the union's bargaining unit, said a contract agreement might not be reached "for quite some time."

The union also has charged that the sheriff's disciplinary process isn't fair, and it doesn't want him to have the final say about one-rank demotions. It wants an outside arbitrator to decide such matters.

Union leaders also have complained about the sheriff's recent canceling of tuition reimbursement for employees.

In a news release, the union accuses White of creating unneeded positions while patrol and detective units are understaffed and attending to gang- and drug-related issues only in an election year. The union also claims the sheriff's office has lost experienced deputies to other agencies because of White's "ineffective leadership."

Preston also skewered White for voting in support of Amendment 1, the property tax-reduction initiative approved by voters in January.

"That caused a dramatic budget shortfall throughout the state," Preston said. "It decreased the funds available for deputies, and we don't believe that was a good move."

Reporter Lisa A. Davis contributed to this report. Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or gfox@tampatrib.com.

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