Democrats Heavily Promote Fred Hawkins for Florida HD42...but WHY?

This past week I noticed some individuals are filling the Facebook "airwaves" (so to speak) with Pro-Fred Hawkins postings.  I found this odd since they also are endlessly spamming timelines with Pro-Russ Gibson propaganda.  Hawkins is on the Republican Primary Ballots for a House seat and Gibson is on the Democrat Primary Ballots, running for Sheriff.


Hawkins, you might have heard was recently suspended from his Osceola Commission seat by the Governor of the great State of Florida.  Reason?  He is under indictment on felony charges for impersonating a law enforcement officer using an honorary "special deputy" badge issued by, who else? Sheriff Russ Gibson. He flashed it and threatened a citizen with arrest.

source: EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 20-182
(Executive Order of Suspension)

One Facebook participant, in a Polk County Political Group, made a snarky remark with reference to the FL_HD42 race about their "candidate of choice" being the most sainted person to walk planet Earth (ok, ok, I'm paraphrasing).  It dawned on me that I clearly remember all the Gibson promotions and comment banter coming from that profile in an Osceola group. That's when the light bulb went off in my head...

I looked it up and they are registered as a DEMOCRAT.  They don't have a horse in the Florida House District 42 PRIMARY race!  Ok, ok, I admit....sometimes I'm a tad slow....hey, I'm getting old.  😉

So why the heavy promotion of Fred Hawkins by DEMS?

My theory is that the Democrats know they have a good chance at winning that seat if Fred Hawkins is the Republican candidate in the November race. They know that many people would be willing to put up with two years of a Democrat just to ensure that Fred doesn't get to Tallahassee to vote according to the agenda of his special-interest handlers, while ignoring the best interests of his constituents.  The people of Osceola are quite familiar with this M.O. having experienced it first hand with Fred as a Commissioner.  The Democrat hopeful would certainly be the lesser of the two evils, although I have heard her referred to as "Fred in a dress". 

Fred wants Fred, the developer lobby wants Fred, the waste industry wants Fred and now the Democrats want Fred too!  Be smart and just say #HellNoHawkins2020 in the August 18th primary.

Fred Hawkins: Superman? or Con Man?

When Fred Hawkins defended his $40,000 salary increase by stating at a recent Osceola County School Board Meeting that he left his private sector job to devote full time to the Education Foundation of Osceola County (the "Foundation"), that raised a couple of red flags for me. 

As a resident of Osceola County District 5 that Fred represented prior to his recent suspension by the Governor, I follow what goes on, relative to his position as my representative.  I was pretty sure that Fred left his job with Waste Corporation of America (WCA) in 2018 shortly after the Florida Ethics Commission found there would be a conflict of interest if a commissioner stayed with a subsidiary of a corporation but "…if the commissioner terminates his duties for the subsidiary, there would be no conflict." [video link].(1)

Needless to say I was surprised by this epiphany that he was attempting to sell to the School Board.  Maybe I'm just naturally skeptical but it sounded like a load of bunk. As an aside, he is endorsing one School Board member as his replacement for County Commissioner given that Fred has chosen to move on to seek loftier goals at the state level.  When he was endorsing this same candidate for School Board a few years back, Fred's speech sounded almost as if he had handpicked him for the position.(2)

Back to Fred’s work hour numbers.  There is the Form 990 filed by the Foundation for 2017 which indicates that Fred Hawkins worked an average of 40.00 a week.  Perhaps that is something that needs to be looked into since Fred obviously wasn't performing as stated given his statement to the School Board.

That led me to go back and look at Fred's various Form6 filings over the past few years. 

While he claims to have left his private sector job to work full time at the Education Foundation, when his waste industry job at WCA went away in 2018, another waste industry-related job at a company called Brightmark magically appeared for 2019's Form6 submission.  So, it appears he didn't really "end that job", he merely traded it in for one that would arouse less curiosity from the Florida Commission on Ethics.

What may be more interesting is that his LinkedIn resume shows that he has worked at Brightmark since February 2015. Yet, there is no mention of it on any of his official Form6 filings prior to 2019. 

All right, we all fudge our resumes here and there and maybe he is a terrible consultant and just didn't make any money during 2015-18, but when you are running for public office, I believe transparency is paramount. What you put out there for public view shouldn't leave people questioning the integrity of your Form6 filings.

Adding up the Numbers

 So, using 2013 as an example, he listed employment income from Progressive Waste Solutions ($68,500); Osceola County BOCC ($74,000); Great St. Cloud Chamber ($50,000).

source:  census.gov

According to the Census, the median household income for Osceola County is $50,063.  So I will assume all three jobs are full time.  That's 120 hours based on a 40 hour work week….and I sure hope he was working at least 40 hours as my commissioner, given the pay grade.  That leaves less than 7 hours a day for sleep, eating, commuting, family time, personal hygiene, shopping, etc. 

For 2017 he listed employment income from WCA ($101,000); Osceola County BOCC ($78,000); Osceola Foundation for Education (no amount listed but their form 990s show 40 hours a week average); Preferred Government Trust (no amount listed).  I'll assume that at least three are full time...so, give or take 120 hours total...PLUS how ever many hours in that newly added part-time Insurance Job AND interest in a new business called H3Property Ventures which he apparently co-owns.  Again, less than 7 hours a day for all other activities INCLUDING the nightmare that is commuting in Osceola County traffic.

Form 6 for 2017

I know he frequently he has held positions on various Boards of Directors in seemingly unpaid capacities.  My question is, is he performing his altruism on the taxpayer's dime?  After all there are only 168 hours in a week.

Form6's for all other years have similar numbers of job and incomes listed. Perhaps there is a reasonable explanation of how he does it all.   To me the number of working hours simply don't add up.  Another reason I say #HellNoHawkins2020

You can search for any elected official's Form6 documents by their name.  Once you bring up their most recent submission page, click on "View Filing History" to see several years of documents available.  I highly recommend you vet the people you intend to vote for to get a clearer overall picture of their finances. 

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(1) Florida Commission on Ethics Meeting, July 27, 2018

(2) ”…We asked Ricky to go there and be a leader…” Fred Hawkins Jr. - Ricky Booth Testimonial, October 17, 2017

Was Fred Hawkins Less Than Truthful with the School Board?

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

Fred Hawkins: Silent on Landfill Expansion; Broken Promises

The J.E.D. landfill mountain of garbage, Holopaw, FL

Since 2008, Osceola County Commissioner Fred Hawkins sat silently as his district (District 5) turned into a huge dumping ground known as J.E.D. Landfill under the control of a private corporation (1) where he has employment ties.(*)

His nonchalant attitude about the dangers of waste has everything to do with the fact that he works in the industry. He views garbage, including coal ash, as a revenue source(2) rather than a toxic soup that has potential to foul our drinking water and poison our environment.  He systematically turned a blind eye and remained silent to the changes that turned JED from the promised, small regional landfill meant to serve county needs into "a million dollar” industry(*).  Revenue over health...when it comes to Fred Hawkins, it's always about money.

It wasn't suppose to be that way.  In 1998 (prior to Fred's tenure on the Commission), the county elected to settle when threatened with a lawsuit(3) by the landfill owners because they were denied Conditional Use Permits to locate a landfill on certain Agricultural/Conservation lands. 

It should be noted that the proposed 1999 agreement was for a small regional landfill that had some beneficial cost savings components for the citizens.  But the promises that placated the citizens and satisfied the County Commission into allowing it to move forward slowly fell by the wayside.

This was what was initially pitched

 In 2004 Fred Hawkins, while employed by the company that owned the landfill, received an appointment to the Planning Commission which makes zoning and conditional use permit recommendations. Shortly thereafter, the first condition of the initial landfill agreement which called for accepting waste only from counties adjacent to Osceola was changed.  Suddenly all Florida counties could dump at the JED Landfill (CU04-00019).  Coincidence?  You decide.

In 2005 Conditional Use is changed from a maximum height of 178 ft. to 330 ft. (CU05-00054), negating the promise that it would never be seen from the highway.

In 2011, while Fred Hawkins was a commissioner and while employed at the landfill, CU11-00008 was issued which expanded the landfill footprint from 264 acres to 360 acres and deleted certain conditions to coincide with a new agreement being negotiated with the county.

While Fred can truly claim that he didn't vote for the 2008 and 2011 CU changes (since his family receives royalties and he has to recuse himself), Fred's silence in fighting or relaying information on the impact those changes would have on his constituency speaks volumes about his character.  He literally allowed District 5 to become a million dollar garbage dump and his family gets to laugh all the way to the bank with their royalty checks.  More room for waste means more potential for royalty fees. 

Our landscape is forever changed since he didn't speak up when they requested a change in the conditional use permits from the 1999 pitched idea of 200 acres, 98ft height with a 30 year capacity to currently approved massive 330 ft. height that in his own words “…my daughter's grandchildren would not see the end of this landfill...”(*)

It is as visible as the NY World Trade Center is from New Jersey.  Our rural beauty has been scarred and it all took place during Fred Hawkins tenure as Osceola County Commissioner for District 5.

While he couldn't vote on the amended agreement that allowed Coal Ash from outside the state, specifically Puerto Rico, based on documents obtained from public records requests, he actively participated in the negotiations via lunch meetings and conference calls. All to benefit the bottom line of his former private sector employer.

Is this the person you want legislating your future?  I don't.  Can you just imagine Fred Hawkins having a say in the fate of biosolids in Florida?  Another reason I say #HellNoHawkins2020

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(1) The landfill has had many names and owners due to mergers including Oak Hammock Disposal Company, LLC; Omni Waste of Osceola County, LLC; Waste Solutions Inc.; Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd; and currently Waste Connections, Inc.

(2) Regarding the Coal Ash deal: “This is a way for the county to generate some revenue while making a smart agreement with a strong local business partner,” Hawkins said. Osceola News-Gazette, May 3, 2019

(3) Lawsuit filed 2000 CA 001123 OC - OMNI WASTE, LC vs. OSECOLA COUNTY

(*) Fred Hawkins statements during May 6, 2019 BOCC meeting:"I am landfill certified"; "I worked for the company out there"; "...this landfill would do nothing to violate a permit that is probably worth...I say millions, but probably billions of dollars to them. ...Long life...I would think my daughter's grandchildren would not see the end of this landfill..."