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Haines City Police Department Faces Future

Posted Nov 14, 2008 by Jennifer Leigh

Updated Nov 14, 2008 at 04:04 PM

The Haines City Police Department is trying to move forward just one day after news broke that Chief Morris West resigned to avoid prostitution charges and his second-in-command, Capt. Mervin Stewart, was taken into custody on felony perjury charges.

Acting police chief, Maj. Michael Pruitt from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, says his first focus is on improving officers’ morale as well as their confidence in the system. “They want to do the right job. They are willing to go out and serve the people of this community. They have not been able to do that in certain instances, and that has created a fear in them. When you have corruption at the top it creates fear at the bottom,” Pruitt said.

Here’s the background on the scandal currently rocking the Haines City Police Department. West initially faced three misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution. According to the state attorney’s office, he cut a deal with prosecutors agreeing to resign as chief and give up his law enforcement certification. In exchange, the charges against West were dropped. In a lengthy court document, Stewart is accused of lying to the grand jury about sexual harassment allegations against him as well as a sexual relationship he had with a subordinate. He now faces two felony counts of perjury.

So where does Haines City and its police department go from here? City Manager Ann Toney-Deal says she has three very specific things she wants to see accomplished. She wants to immediately review procedures at the agency to make sure they are not only appropriate but also being followed. She intends to re-attain the police department’s accreditation, which lapsed under West’s tenure. She also plans to launch a national search for a new chief of police.

Pruitt says there must also be some attention paid to the community, which has lost faith in the department because of the scandal. “The relationship has been damaged, and you have to go out and try to rebuild those relationships with the community,” he said.

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Putnam Talks Candidly About Leadership Resignation

Posted Nov 6, 2008 by Jennifer Leigh

Updated Nov 6, 2008 at 02:25 PM

Bartow’s native son Adam Putnam sat down in his Polk County headquarters today for a one-on-one interview to answer questions about his re-election, his resignation from House leadership and his future in politics.

Here’s a breakdown of part of my interview with the 34-year-old congressman, who solidly won re-election to a fifth term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

On the issue of getting re-elected in a year when other Republican incumbents were getting swept out of office:

JL: What do you think made the difference in your re-election?

AP: You can’t just depend on flooding the airwaves and flooding people’s mailboxes to get it done; and elections like this where you really see anger building with incumbents, this is where it’s not really so much the campaign that’s deciding your fate. It’s really how you’ve performed over the course of your service.

On the issue of resigning his post as the third-ranking congressman in Republican leadership:

JL: What motivated that decision?

AP: Well, it was a lot of things. I came to that decision in August, when we have an opportunity to be home for an extended period of time and spend more time with the family.  As the chief communicator, I was spending 90 percent of my day meeting with the press, meeting with the media, trying to get our message out there in a very difficult climate.  And I enjoyed it, and it was rewarding. But it’s not the reason I ran for Congress. It’s not the reason why we knocked on 20,000 doors. It’s not the reason why you knock on strangers’ doors. It’s not the reasons why you stand in the middle of a busy intersection waving signs.  I wanted to be able to refocus my time and attention, reprioritize my day around solving the problems that we have as Floridians and the problems we have as a nation.

JL: Was any part of this decision a sort of pre-emptive strike because you knew, given the climate right now, that you would certainly face internal challenges to that leadership post?

AP: You know, I actually feel real good about where we would have been in terms of being re-elected as conference chair had I run, and I made the decision in August, when we were actually having our best messaging period of the last two years.

On the issue of Putnam’s future in politics:

JL: So what about Adam Putnam, rumors that Agriculture commissioner may be in your future, possibly Florida governor, even some rumblings that maybe you’ll go for a U.S. Senate seat?

AP: Well, you know, there’s not an open U.S. Senate seat to run for. Mel Martinez is our party’s U.S. senator, and he’s doing a great job. Adam Putnam is focused on what the voters just elected Adam Putnam to do, which is to be their representative in Congress for the 12th Congressional District, and I will add to that the responsibility to be a fighter for Florida.

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Lakeland Veterans Day Parade & Ceremony Set For Saturday

Posted Nov 6, 2008 by Jennifer Leigh

Updated Nov 6, 2008 at 10:21 AM

The Polk County Veteran’s Council and the city of Lakeland will host the annual Veterans Day Ceremony, Parade and Patriotic Festival on Saturday, Nov. 8.  The memorial ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. at the Veterans Park on Lake Beulah Drive.

The event is part of a continued effort to educate the community about local veterans and their contributions to the community and the country.  This year’s ceremony will pay special tribute to POWs and Purple Heart recipients in the area.

After the ceremony, a parade will begin at the Lakeland Center.  It will continue through downtown Lakeland and end at Munn Park.  A Patriotic Festival in Munn Park will get under way after the parade.  The festival will include food, local veterans organizations, drill demonstrations as well as other family-friendly activities. 

All veterans, veterans organizations, families of veterans, employers of veterans and supporters of veterans are invited to attend and participate in the events.

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Look To Polk Students For Presidential Prediction

Posted Nov 3, 2008 by Jennifer Leigh

Updated Nov 3, 2008 at 02:28 PM

Polk County students will head to the polls tomorrow for a mock election with a pretty solid track record.  The Polk County School District has successfully predicted the winning presidential ticket for the past three elections—1996, 2000 and 2004.

The mock election begins at 9 a.m. and continues until 1 p.m.  It’ll even be broadcast on several cable stations in Polk County.  On Election Day, you can watch the mock results on Bright House Networks channel 614, Comcast Cable channel 26 and Verizon FiOS channel 45.  The school district’s cable television stations do not air any advertisements, so you can watch without enduring countless political ads.

Kids aren’t the only ones voting, though.  Staff, faculty, administration, food service, maintenance and other support personnel will also cast ballots in the mock election.  The results will be sent to the district’s “Election Headquarters” at the Jim Miles Professional Development Center in Lakeland.

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Polk’s Supervisor of Elections Offers Last Minute Voter Tips

Posted Oct 30, 2008 by Jennifer Leigh

Updated Oct 30, 2008 at 09:22 AM

Polk County’s supervisor of elections is giving voters a few last-minute words of wisdom to ensure a trip to the ballot box is problem free.

Lori Edwards expects record turnout on Nov. 4 so she’s offering these Election Day tips:

• Bring your photo and signature ID to the polls when you vote.

• Double-check your precinct number and location.

• Remember that the polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.

• Study the candidates and issues. You may take your sample ballot into the polling room on Election Day.

• If you have moved, please notify the Elections office before Election Day.

• Polling locations are least crowded between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

If you have any other election related questions, call (863) 534-5888.

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