I submitted a 2 minute public video comment in response to a recent agenda item listed for the July 14, 2020 Osceola County School Board meeting(1). Item 13.01 called for Approval of the Agreement (C-21-0063-EP) between The Foundation for Osceola Education, Inc. (the "Foundation") and the School Board of Osceola County, Florida (the "School Board") to Disburse WCI Funding. That funding comes from Waste Connections Inc. ("WCI") the owner of the JED Landfill that was at the heart of the Coal Ash controversy.
I questioned turning over money allocated to our schools to an organization that upped Fred Hawkins' salary as President, $40,000 or so in three short years to over $100K.
Fred made some comments(2), that I found interesting, during his pitch to continue the funding agreement.
With regard to a different private sector job, he stated
"I chose to end that job to do full time with the foundation." (time: 1:14:14)
The 990s filed by the Foundation for the year 2017 don't support that statement.
While Fred might try to pass off that his role at the Foundation changed and that was a reason he resigned his other private sector job, ironically, he left the private sector job shortly after the Florida Commission on Ethics heard his requested case on July 27, 2018. At that time "the Commission adopted a formal opinion noting a conflict of interest would be created were a county commission member employed by a subsidiary of a waste management company to act on behalf of a subsidiary of the company doing business with the county. However, if the commissioner terminates his duties for the subsidiary, there would be no conflict." [video link] The County was in talks with several companies on the solid waste removal contracts for Osceola County. Coincidence? You decide!
Personally, I always thought there were ethical concerns with Fred's private sector jobs, given he previously worked at the company that owned JED landfill while the conditional use permits restrictions slowly disappeared and the fact that he sat in on negotiations for the Coal Ash with Ben Gray of WCI, a member of the Foundation's Board of Directors that decides his current salary as President.
Since the Form 990s filed by the Foundation for 2017 list Fred Hawkins as working an average of 40 hours per week did they lie on the form? Was Fred shortchanging the Foundation on the number of hours worked? Or isn't 40 hours "full time" in Fred's mind?
It should be noted that prior to Fred becoming the President of the Foundation, there was never a formal agreement for the school to fork over their share of the host fees (the Foundation also receives separate funds directly from Waste Connections). The School Board still provided funds, but without a set obligation. Yes, Fred is doing his job for the Foundation, locking down funding sources, but I still question the School Board in going along with this "lock down" of funds to an outside entity, especially given the current climate with school funding. Heck, the problems with the video taping, audio and live streaming of the School Board meetings alone is proof enough that they should be leaving themselves open to having the funds on hand to correct in-house issues that may arise.
At the School Board meeting Fred went on justifying the huge salary increase, making statements including, but not limited to:
"She's [Kerry Avery] their hands on I'm out meeting with corporate sponsors trying to get new sponsors...
I had a brainchild that came up to do fundraising...
...involved in events we have making sure I'm present there...".
Fred Hawkins stated that "Ken [Smith] was a fundraiser". Sounds to me like Fred's role is the same as his predecessor, possibly with the exception of him stumping at foundation events? Mind you, he's campaigning for Florida State House District 42. Coincidence? You decide!
Given that his regular weekly hours were suppose to be 40 PRIOR to the so-called change in the role as President of the Education Foundation, I still think that a $40K+ increase in salary in three short years is excessive even if the functional duties changed from his predecessor.
So, since I find Fred's justifications a little misleading, it's another reason I say #HellNoHawkins2020
(1) School board videos can be found at https://sdoc.eduvision.tv/Default
(2) Fred Hawkins comments at the July 14, 2020 meeting begins at 1:10:40
