I read with amusement the Highlands today article on electronic messages dated Feb. 1 about Mr. David Flowers getting only a letter of reprimand from assistant county administrator Mr. Helms for sending instant messages. I don't know about anyone else but that article really smells when you read between the lines. After the firing of three employees for doing the same thing, save the baloney. Using county equipment for personal use, no matter what the circumstances are, is still against policy. Mr. Helms messed up with the termination of first three persons. Policy again dictates the proper type of disciplinary action that should have been issued. It appears what's good for the goose isn't good for the gander. I guess it just goes to show you, if you're one of the big dogs or good old boys, which ever you prefer, who gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar, it's still business as usual. I wait with great anticipation the next chapter of Highlands Gate! ...more

February 5, 2008

SEBRING — Highlands County commissioners are not pleased with plans to hire three new top administrators at an extra cost of about $300,000 per year. At their meeting today, the five commissioners, three of whom must run for re-election this year, will consider hiring the first division director in the county's history. On Monday, at the county's annual "visioning session," Commissioners Don Bates, Guy Maxcy and Barbara Stewart said they were less than happy with the prospect of what Bates called "adding another layer of administration" to county government. The price tag to do that — adding three employees with the title of "division director" — will be between $190,000 at the low end, to $360,000 per year at the top end of the salary schedules. The county commission had created the new positions last year to increase efficiency. Three new people will be hired, while the fourth position has already gone to Rick Helms, who went from "assistant county administrator" to the new position of "assistant county administrator/director of the division of administrative services." ...more

February 5, 2008

Only 45 days after a tornado ripped apart a temporary Pasco jail annex, Sheriff Bob White and county officials marveled today at how quickly a replacement was erected at the county's main detention center in Land O' Lakes. ...more

February 1, 2008

SEBRING — David Flowers, director of Highlands County's facilities management, was given a written reprimand late Thursday afternoon for his improper use of county instant messaging. ...more

January 31, 2008

SEBRING — David Flowers, director of county facilities management, is under investigation for sexually explicit, instant messages he exchanged on county computers with fired budget department employee Treasa Handley. Rick Helms, the assistant county administrator, is in charge of the investigation of Flowers, a former county commissioner who failed in his bid this week to become director of the county's new division of administrative services. ...more

January 31, 2008

Pasco County residents soon may turn in their older, water-consuming toilets for newer, more efficient models under a rebate program adopted recently. ...more

January 28, 2008

SEBRING — Highlands County commissioners expect to have people filling all four of the new, top-level administrative positions that they created by March 15. Within two months, the county's top echelon of administrators will go from two to six. In addition to the current top two – the administrator and assistant administrator – Highlands County also will have four division directors, each reporting directly either to the administrator or assistant administrator. ...more

January 24, 2008

Mayor Hutch Brock started the discussion about the city manager search with a familiar refrain. ...more

January 23, 2008

Nine haulers may find themselves competing to keep doing business in Pasco County as commissioners consider converting to a franchise system for trash and recycling collections. ...more

January 17, 2008

Can recycling turn trash into gold? No, county officials said at a public workshop today. But the county should boost its recycling efforts as one step in the right direction since the county often has too much trash to burn at the Pasco County Resource Recovery Facility and must export the excess garbage. ...more

January 16, 2008