Weaponized Bureaucrats Part 9
Unprofessional, Unprepared, Underhanded
Thirteen months ago, I made a decision to go public about my experience with the DeSantis administration. I didn’t arrive at this decision lightly. The DeSantis administration is a viper’s den of nepo-babies who have been embolden to do whatever to whomever in pursuit of the ends; even if that means destroying lives for revenge, domination, or just for sport. The more destruction, the more pay.
Many of my concerns have been realized and, my life will never be the same. You can catch up on Weaponized Bureaucrats Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 as well as Anonymous Cries for Help.
DeSantis Allies Earn Big Paychecks
Last week, Billy Townsend exposed another potential scandal and this one involves Henry Mack, who also features prominently in my saga. Townsend walked readers through a maze of influence-peddling, showboating, and secret deals. It’s gross. It’s unethical and, if it isn’t illegal, it should be. Mack’s current salary as the Vice President of Academic Affairs at NW Florida State College (NWFSC) has not been made public.
Public Enemy #1, written by Townsend, sourced eighty-eight emails in his article. And, yes, like Townsend, I do read Mack’s maneuvering loud and clear. However, leaving aside Mack’s potential manipulation of the procurement process, the emails are also emblematic of the current state of our State government. Team DeSantis is unprofessional, underqualified, and underhanded.
Unprofessional ;-)
Seriously, Henry, stop with the winking emoji.
It’s not cute.
It’s not endearing.
It’s creepy.
Women have chewed through the glass ceiling, worked too hard, achieved too much to be the recipient of winking emojis from a colleague. And Henry has already been warned.
If we are honest, we have all sent unprofessional and/or immature business emails and we could all do a better job of self-monitoring. No doubt, many people are very grateful their emails aren’t subject to public records but Mack’s emails are public and they have been since he joined the Broward College team a decade ago. Mack knew or should have known that his words could be requested at any moment by any member of the public and, yet, he did not govern himself accordingly and it didn’t end with the emoji fetish.
Underqualified :-0
In several emails, Mack engages the consultant with “Huh?” and “WTF?” and “Whenevs.” It’s just all so Frat Boy. But, in this particular email, Mack frets over the name of a psychology course. His hem-hawing over it leads him to burn up some taxpayer dollars as he seeks out input from the consultant. I believe this is partly Mack’s style but it is also a direct result of the modus operandi of Team DeSantis; strongarming and scapegoating.
In this odd mash-up of imposter syndrome and egg-shell walking, Mack exposes a festering wound. Qualified or not, there are highly paid professionals in state government who either can’t or won’t make decisions commensurate with their salary. In my experience, when everyone is afraid for their job, no one is actually doing their job.
Underhanded :-$
In one email, Mack directs the consultant to start a new email thread when communicating with his superior who has subsequently been selected as NWFSC interim President, Cristie Kedroski. His reasoning behind that directive is not clear given all of NWFSC leadership team were subsequently kept in the loop.
In fact, on April 3, 2024, Mack clearly communicated that he was not willing to facilitate a competitive bid process to his chain of command. Spoiler Alert: Florida has very clear laws governing procurement of goods and services using taxpayer dollars.
This email thread goes on to discuss backing a $40.0 million dollar construction loan for a charter school. The sentence following “Triumph” refers to the troubling consulting contract bid. Triumph refers to the organization that administers the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement funds for Bay, Escambia, Franklin, Gulf, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton, and Wakulla counties.
Whether or not DeSantis approves the $9.5 million currently in the budget for NWFSC remains to be seen. They could very well be punished for allowing this backroom deal to come to light.
All told, these emails point to the source of the problem. Unlike other Governor’s who eyed big changes, DeSantis hired ideology over expertise. If any grown-up’s slipped through, Team DeSantis is quick to send a clear message; question me and I will end you. The result is a state government that is one-third vacant, one-third frozen in fear, and one-third power-tripping.