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The Jax Files is an interactive, quick-hitting blog devoted to any and all things Pasco, whether whole-heartedly, tangentially or merely psychologically.

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Tom Jackson is in a 12-step program for recovering sports writers; as part of his rehabilitation, he writes a column centered on the people, politics, passions and peculiarities of Pasco County. Email

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The Jax Files: With Tom Jackson in Pasco

Pasco County News | Breaking News

On sheriff, straightening the record

Posted Oct 28, 2009 by Tom Jackson

Updated Oct 28, 2009 at 04:09 PM

Here at The Jax Files, we hate to leave loose ends dangling, even if those straggling ends result from, or are engendered by, our endeavors on behalf of the column that appears in the Pasco Tribune.

To wit: Our piece on the resignation of Pasco sheriff’s deputy Jeffrey Bousquet (“An abrupt but appropriate departure for sergeant,” Sept. 18) raised a strenuous and pointed objection from an anonymous commenter, BrooksvilleBob.

The column noted a variety of justifications for Sheriff Bob White’s decision to accept Sgt. Bousquet’s resignation immediately, declining his offer of two week’s notice. Whereupon BrooksvilleBob filed his objection.

Now, despite the nature of their cross-pollination, it is the custom of The Jax Files not to get into arguments with readers of the Pasco Tribune column – thank heaven for readers, after all – especially readers who decline to own their opinions, except behind virtual masks.

That said, BrooksvilleBob’s complaint (did we mention it was anonymous?) fulfilled a requirement – important if true – that affixed us with an obligation of investigation. Here is the essence of that charge:

Sgt. Bousquet had submitted, in addition to a retirement letter, paperwork necessary for him to “buy back” his military time. You see … in addition to being a stellar law enforcement officer Sgt. Bousquet provided service to his country in the military. Sgt. Bousquet, like other military veterans, is entitled to purchase his time in the military to be included in his Florida State Retirement. By his acceptance of Sgt. Bousquet’s two week notice quicker than the actual two weeks, White stopped that process from occurring. To make this even more simple so even Jackson can grasp it’s [sic] importance – White screwed Bousquet out of his full retirement.

Again, important if true.

Bousquet had worked 22 1/4 years for the Pasco Sheriff’s Office; the ability to claim the 2 years, 10 months he served in the military would have pushed him to 25 years—the threshold for full retirement benefits from FRS. If BrooksvilleBob’s indictment is accurate, well, the constituents of any public official should consider with extreme prejudice decisions that injure an employee’s attempt to access his full array of legal benefits. The question becomes whether White acted as BrooksvilleBob claims.

The short answer is: No. The longer answer is: Absolutely, unequivocally no. It’s not even close.

It’s all in the guidebook detailing provisions of the Florida Retirement Services, of which the Pasco Sheriff’s Office is a member. BrooksvilleBob is partly right: FRS allows military veterans to “buy back” their time in the nation’s uniform to apply toward retirement in some cases. The details can be found here.

FRS is extremely precise about this. Qualifying veterans are those who served at the time of World War II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam (ending in 1975) and, from 1990-1992, America’s adventure in the Persian Gulf.

Specifically omitted from the mix are those military veterans whose service fell into the relatively peaceful gap spanning 1976 and 1989. Specifically, Bousquet served his country in the U.S. Army from Aug. 11, 1983 until June 9, 1986.

On this point alone, BrooksvilleBob’s assertion fails to muster up.

But there’s more. To qualify for the military time buy-back option, an employee covered by FRS must have been hired by Jan. 1, 1987. Alas, Bousquet’s hiring date was June 1, 1987 – six months past the deadline.

If you’re keeping score at home, that’s strike two.

Finally comes this from Gail Page, head of human resources for the sheriff’s office: “It wouldn’t have mattered how the sheriff treated Sgt. Bousquet’s resignation,” Page says. “If he had been eligible for the buy-back, whether [White] accepted [Bousquet’s] resignation immediately or not would not have stopped the process.”

The disposition of the matter – a simple episode of pushing paper, Page says—would have been entirely between the former employee and Florida Retirement Services. The sheriff’s office would have had no influence, one way or the other.

And that, sports fans, is strike three.

To recap: There exists not even a whiff of evidence to support BrooksvilleBob’s charge, which turns out to have been equal parts shrill, empty and – applying the rubric described above – utterly unimportant.

The Jax Files is pleased to set the record straight.