Fox 4 investigation may change county policies

A Four in your Corner investigation prompts Lee County officials to consider changing several county policies. Fox 4 investigator Mike Mason attended today's county commission meeting and held the powerful accountable. Today commissioners sounding off after Fox 4 exposed numerous problems with county policies. Commissioner Brian Bigelow says, "I think it's an embarrassment for the county."

Last week, many county workers were shocked to see our reports showing top county officials receiving promotions and raises without having had any performance evaluations for years. According to the county's manual:"It is the policy of the county that the job performance of each employee should be evaluated periodically by the employee's supervisor. But Lee County manager Karen Hawes tells Fox 4 “supervisors "should" perform evaluations but it is not *required* under policy.”

Frank Mann

Commission Chairman Frank Mann says "What we ought to have is at least a consistent policy so that it applies to everybody and not some department or some levels and others don't."

Commissioner Tammy Hall also stated, "If we want evaluations on every single employee every single year then let's set that policy in place and take out the words 'may' and 'should' because I think those words are left for interpretation.” Hall went on to say that this is an issue she’s willing to address.

And Fox 4 also found there are no set rules for advertising county jobs. Last week Hawes sent us an email stating, "The county's current policies do not require a minimum or maximum time for advertising a job ." But county workers feel that's not fair and commissioner Brian Bigelow agrees, "It's very troubling for me, we have to give everybody a fair chance at working for their government."

Karen Hawes

And we also exposed there are no job requirements for the county manager, The county charter clearly states, “The minimum qualifications including educational and administrative requirements for the county manager shall be established by county ordinance."

But Deputy County Attorney Andrea Fraser tells us: "There is no such ordinance." That means for 16 years county officials never wrote the job requirements for their top leader. Bigelow says he plans to address that issue, "I meet routinely with the county attorney, I believe it best that he draft it because we are talking specifically about the county manager's job requirements."

Commissioner Mann says he encourages the media to expose loopholes like this and other deficiencies in county government, "From the courthouse to the Whitehouse we need reviews all the time. This country survives because we have a free press so keep up the good work."

Commissioners say the next step is to place items on the agenda to address the policies in question and then vote to adopt new policies. We will stay on top of this one and keep you updated.

To view the Fox 4 report click here: http://www.fox4now.com/news/126600483.html

Former Lee County worker calls for investigtation of top officials

Picture this: your bosses decide whether you keep your job based on performance reviews they make up as they go along and worse yet they get to skip out of their own reviews! 4 in your Corner investigator Mike Mason is live to show you why some say that's exactly what's happening at Lee County. J.C. Rodriguez doesn't understand why he was fired because of his performance evaluations, especially since some county officials don't do evaluations themselves and the county manager doesn't think they are even required.


Rodriguez worked at Lee County's Department of Transportation for 8 years. He's always had good performance evaluations and feels he was wrongfully terminated, “They won’t even talk to me about this I tried to explain this to them and they would not even listen to me, I had documentation proving it."
Rodriguez says officials documented everything and eventually used it against him. Ffor instance, he was given a warning when he left work to go to his grandmother's funeral. One document proves that Rodriguez called D.O.T. officials to say he was going to his grandmother's funeral for about 3 days. When he got back he filled out a leave request form which his supervisor even approved. D.O.T officials later changed their minds and decided Rodriguez didn't have permission to visit his grandmother and they noted it in his performance evaluation. in 2009 when Rodriguez was finally terminated he was handed this list of reasons which include his grandmother's funeral and previous performance evaluations. These are all things that he disagrees with, "They're just using that as ammunition to get all these people fired."
Rodriguez feels Lee County officials are making up their own rules as they go a long, "Sounds to me like they have a double standard."

Last week we exposed county officials getting promotions without having performance evaluations. County policy states: "It is the policy of the county that the job performance of each employee should be evaluated periodically by the employee's supervisor.

However, Lee County manager Karen Hawes told fox 4 that supervisors "should" perform evaluations and it is not *required* under policy." But former Lee County Tax Collector, Bill Fussell disagrees, "This is a mandatory guideline, it is not something that you can choose to do if you want or choose not to do.”
Rodriguez feels county officials should be investigated, "Let's start with the county manager and work our way down instead of working our way up."
If you have a problem with how the county is changing the rules, you can go to the county commissioners meeting tomorrow at 9am.If you can't make it I will be there and you can email me your questions directly at mmason@foxnow.com or call us at 239-206-FOX4.

Still No Job Requirements for Lee County Manager

If you've ever been late on your tax bill or had a code violation then you know you pay a price when you break Lee County's rules. But Fox 4 is finding the county's not playing but its own rules and it's costing you thousands of dollars!

When Wayne Daltry co-wrote Lee County's charter 16 years ago, he remembers this much clearly: it required the county to write separate job requirements for the county manager. Daltry says, “We wanted something to govern the billion dollar plus industry that the county government is so we thought they should have the qualifications stated that you would expect of a C.E.O. of a billion dollar organization."



Headhunter Colin Baenziger

 For two weeks we asked county officials to produce that ordinance and the county attorney finally admitted "there is no such ordinance." After the former county manager, Don Stillwell, resigned under a cloud of scandal, the county could've started fresh by finally writing out the job requirements. Instead, they paid 19 thousand of your tax dollars to a headhunter to find a candidate. Only then, did someone finally come up with job requirements; the headhunter himself Colin Baenziger. Baenziger advertised, "The ideal candidate will have a minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in public sector management."

Karen Hawes had just been promoted to interim county manager but records show her long career at the county wasn't always so progressive. in 1992 she was hired as deputy county administrator and was second in command to the county manager. However, she only held that job for a year and a half before being moved in to a lesser position as director of Human Services. Daltry says, "A year and a half isn't enough experience."

But apparently it was enough experience for commissioners, who gave Hawes the job in 2009 and agreed to pay her $192,000 a year. Nearly a year later, one commissioner finally pointed out to Hawes there are no job requirements on the books for the county manger or other top county jobs.

Karen Hawes

In a board meeting in August, 2010 commissioner Brian Bigelow told Hawes, "Be sure we understand and are very clear about what the charter says about how to replace you and the county attorney." The current commission chair, Tammy Hall, then promised it *would be* addressed. Hall said, "We'll ask the county attorney to brief us on the charter if there's anything of importance to that position and the county manager's already discussed with us that she will lay out exactly the procedure they will recommend and at that point we can add or delete or make comments on it when she presents it to us."

But now, a year later, that information still hasn't been presented to commissioners. There are still no job requirements for the county manager. If you think this is something the county should address you can contact the county commissioners by going to our website, it's 'Fox4now.com' and click on the Big Red 4 or click here: http://www.fox4now.com/bigred4/126290053.html
To view the Fox 4 report click here: http://www.fox4now.com/news/126435513.html

Is County Manager really Qualified for the Job?



Lee County Manager Karen Hawes

Is Lee County's manager really qualified to handle the job? It's hard to say because Fox 4 found Lee County's top dog has no job requirements. Four in your corner investigator Mike Mason exposes a huge loophole in county government. The Lee County charter dictates the rules and regulations of county government. It's also *supposed* to spell out the requirements of the county manager..
Wayne Daltry helped to write Lee County's charter 16 years ago and says, "We just wanted to make sure there was a bottom line set of qualifications for county manager."

The charter clearly states that the minimum qualifications including educational and administrative requirements for the county manager shall be established by county ordinance. But Four in your Corner couldn't find that ordinance. After searching through records and questioning county officials for two weeks we finally received an email from the county attorney's office stating "There is no such ordinance."

That was a big surprise to Daltry who says, "We thought they should have the qualifications stated that you would expect of a C.E.O. of a billion dollar organization.” But since there are no requirements he says, “That's a problem."

With no ordinance the county manager doesn't need to have any special qualifications. Daltry states, “Anyone can make a claim you are or you aren't qualified because there is no state of qualifications if there is no ordinance. It's a big oversight."

Attorney Beverly Grady was on Lee County's charter review committee three years ago. She says no one at the county brought this issue to her attention, "It would have been appropriate to come up at the charter review just to provide that to the county commission as something on a list that they may want to look at.”
When asked if the county attorney should be one to raise the issue Grady answered, "The county attorney could certainly." But no one did and Daltry now wonders how county officials could have missed something so important. He says, "The Board of County Commissioners should adopt an ordinance stating what the requirements should be.”

Lee County commissioners will have to decide if they want to adopt an ordinance and create those job requirements for the county manager. We'll follow up with them and let you know.

To view the Fox 4 report click here: http://www.fox4now.com/news/126367723.html

Lee County Officials Giving Promotions but not Employee Evaluations

LEE COUNTY - Getting promotions without reviews! Fox 4 exposing what some say are major problems with Lee County's hiring and promotions policy and this issue goes all the way to the top. Four in your Corner investigator Mike Mason has been working on this one for more than a month.

When it comes to Lee County's rules and regulations, Bill Fussell knows what he's talking about. He worked for the county for nearly two decades and last served as the county's tax collector. When we showed him what county officials have been doing since he left he was not very happy, especially when it comes to employee evaluations. Fussell says, “That was one of the problems when I was Tax Collector is they were promoting and before I got there they would just randomly pick people, you know there was never a performance evaluations or anything. They did it by, mainly by, how much they liked someone."

Not much has changed since then. Four in your Corner has been investigating Lee County's hiring policies for the past month. We found officials promoting workers without conducting the required performance evaluations and not advertising the jobs. Fussell says, "First of all you want the best person for the job. Second of all you want fairness among all the people to have a chance. Thirdly, it should be advertised anyway."



Lee County Manager Karen Hawes

 According to the county's policy manual, "It is the policy of the county that the job performance of each employee should be evaluated periodically by the employee's supervisor.” Today, Lee County manager Karen Hawes sent Fox 4 an email stating, “The policy reads supervisors "should" perform evaluations and it is not “required” under policy."

Fussell disagrees, "This is a mandatory guideline, It's not something that you can choose to do if you want or choose not to do.” When we told Fussell that Hawes believes evaluations are not required Fussell replied, ”Well, I don't agree with that."

Our investigation found many other employees who have not had recent evaluations, For instance,
Ann Arnall with Human Services was last evaluated in 2008.
Barbara Manzo was also last reviewed in 2008
Rosanna Music was evaluated only once in 20 months.
Stephanie Figueroa's last evaluation was in 2008 and her boss, Human Resources Director Christine Brady, hasn't had an evaluation since 2007.

We found some of these people got big promotions, nonetheless. In October, 2009 after Karen Hawes was hired as the County Manager she appointed three people to Director positions without advertising the job positions. Those three people are Ann Arnall, Barbara Manzo and Christine Brady.
Fusselll feels the county should have advertised for these important director positions and supervisors should have at least evaluated these employees before they received their promotions. If you disagree with county manager Karen Hawes and think officials should indeed be conducting employee evaluations every year, you can contact your county commissioner. Go to our website; it's ‘Fox4now.com’ and click on the Big Red 4.
To view the Fox 4 report click here: http://www.fox4now.com/news/126297748.html

Mike Mason Exposes Questionable Hiring Practices in Lee County



Lee County Manager Karen Hawes

 A Four in your Corner investigation uncovers more questionable hiring practices at Lee County. The county manager has already ordered an audit into the Department of Transportation's hiring procedures after what we exposed. Now investigator Mike Mason finds Lee County *doesn't even have a policy* when it comes to advertising for job positions. Since we began our investigation, Lee County D.O.T. employees have complained about the county's hiring policies. For instance, late last year, brothers Shane and Jason Hinman were promoted as crew supervisors at the D.O.T. and both of their positions were only advertised for 3 days.


Many workers feel the positions should have been advertised longer. It’s one reason some D.O.T. workers feel supervisors are hiring their favorites and not giving other employees an equal opportunity. We confronted Shane Hinman about this last month and he said, “You'll have to take that up with Downtown man, I don't know, I couldn't tell you."

So we did take our questions Downtown. Lee County manager Karen Hawes told us Hinman's position should have been advertised longer saying, “It's not the norm.”

Lee H.R. Director Christine Brady

We then went to Lee County's Human Resource Director, Christine Brady, to find out what 'the norm' is. She told us the county's un-written policy is to advertise a position for about 3 days. We wanted to see the county's written policy but couldn't find it in the employee manual, or anywhere else.

Then Hawes sent us an email on July 15th stating the county's “Current policies do not require a minimum or maximum time for advertising a job position." So essentially the county can do whatever it wants to. Things are different in Collier County. Collier's policy requires jobs to be advertised on the county website, posted in all county facilities and available to the public on the county’s job hotline. The position must also be posted for a minimum of seven calendar days. The City of Cape Coral also requires jobs to be posted no less than ten calendar days or two weeks.

Darryl Plym has a big problem with Lee County's hiring policies. He was fired from D.O.T. last year when the Director at the time sent him a letter stating "Your position as Senior Equipment Operator at D.O.T Operations is being eliminated due to a reduction in workforce”.
But a few months later Plym’s old position was re-instated and someone else was hired. Even though the county said the job was being eliminated, for some reason it suddenly reappeared. The job was only advertised for four days before another person was hired. Plym says he had no chance of getting his old job back, "That's the way the county works it, if they want to get rid of somebody they will come up with any reason possible to get rid of you."
The audit into D.O.T is set to look into issues including the county's hiring policies. No word on when that audit will be complete but we will let you know.
To view the Fox 4 report click here: http://www.fox4now.com/news/toprotator/126149338.html

DOT Whistleblower fears for job after coworker fired for talking to Fox 4

Steve Sherman - Fired DOT Whistleblower

I've spoken with dozens of disgruntled DOT workers, but Steve Sherman was the first one to go on-camera. He thinks the county is trying to send a strong message to whistleblowers.

Minutes seemed like hours as DOT worker Steve Sherman waited to find out if he still had a job.
Finally, Sherman and 2 of his supervisors were met by Stephanie Figueroa with Lee County's Human Resources, and that's when he got the news.  "They terminated me and wrongfully I may add." Steve Sherman says. Sherman was officially fired. Officials claim it's because they just realized Sherman violated several county policies. One of the policies included having his driver's license suspended back in 2004 for a DUI arrest, when his position required him to have a valid driver's license.

But documents show supervisors accepted this and re-assigned Sherman to a position that didn't require him to drive. Fox 4 asked Sherman if he thought HR even gave him a chance? "No this is a total railroad whitewash in my opinion, personally. They didn't even want to discuss item by item the material that I supplied them with last week." Sherman says. County officials claim Sherman was fired now because they decided to change his job title, and while looking through his records they found some baggage that was overlooked in his past.

Sherman says he was really fired because he spoke with FOX 4 about problems at DOT. Our reports prompted the county manager to order an audit of DOT. Sherman then filed for whistleblower protection.

"I think they're trying to instill a fear that if you speak out and you're not a team player in line with HR or the county managers, you're going to be out of a job.” Sherman says.

That has another DOT worker very nervous. I’m sure I'm next on the hit list." Bob Maxey says.
Bob Maxey also spoke out about problems at DOT and feels Sherman's termination will have a chilling effect on all county workers. "It's gonna scare the hell out of them it scares people and it's a sure way to shut people up." Bob Maxey says.

Maxey now plans to file for whistleblower protection himself. Maxey hopes county workers will stand together and speak up despite what happened to Sherman.

I asked Maxey why’s he decided to talk to FOX 4.
"Because someone needed to light the fire, buddy. Someone needed to let people know what was going on." Maxey says.
Sherman plans to sue the county if his job is not reinstated.
An attorney tells us that Sherman has a good case because he filed for whistleblower protection and the county terminated him for issues that seem very suspicious.
To view the Fox 4 report click here: http://www.fox4now.com/news/toprotator/125860983.html

County worker blows whistle on unfair hiring practices

Tonight, more fallout from a Four in your Corner investigation into Lee County's troubled transportation department. For weeks, former Lee County Department of Transportation workers have told Fox 4 they were fired because they wouldn't do special favors for supervisors or they were fired because a supervisor wanted to hire one of their friends instead.  Now one former employee is finally blowing the whistle. Daryll Plym worked for Lee County's D.O.T. for more than 9 years. Driving dump trucks and using heavy equipment.  But Plym says supervisors also used heavy handed tactics such as firing employees they simply don’t like.

Plym says supervisors would often threaten, “And if you want to stay here you do it that way, if you throw a monkey wrench in any of our plans we will write you up we will find a way to get rid of you."
And D.O.T. did get rid of Plym. Today he's unemployed and mows lawns to make ends meet. His county job gave him a decent salary and good benefits but now they're all gone. Plym says, "It makes me very angry,”

One day last August Plym received a letter from D.O.T's former Deputy Director Paul Wingard stating: “Your position as Equipment Operator Senior within D.O.T. Operations is being eliminated due to a reduction in workforce." The county has been cutting jobs to make up for a budget deficit but many workers say D.O.T supervisors have been using this as a tactic to get rid of people they don't like so they can hire the ones they do. According to Plym this represents, "Too many favors going on behind closed doors."
This past January, less than 5 months after Plym's old position was eliminated by D.O.T that same position suddenly re-appeared again. The county placed an ad for Senior Equipment Operator and hired someone else just 4 days later. The position was posted on January 11th and closed on January 14th .
The position was not posted long enough according to county policy. Plym feels he wasn't fired because the county wanted to save money but because supervisors simply didn't like him, especially when he refused to do them special favors.
Plym recalls, "A supervisor wanted me to fix his lawn mower all up for him for free on my own time. If I needed to get the parts on county time I was to get the parts.” Plym says he refused to do that and that created animosity between him and his supervisors.
When Plym noticed his old job was posted again he says he re-applied but never heard back from county officials. Unfair hiring practices is one of the issues Lee County Manager Karen Hawes says she will address in her audit of D.O.T.

If you have any problems with the county and would like to speak with Four in your Corner’s Mike Mason you can call him on his personal cell phone. The number is 239-222-8274 and you will remain anonymous.

To view the Fox 4 report click here: http://www.fox4now.com/news/toprotator/125249164.html

Workers question if County audit is an investigation into Whistle blowers

Lee county's manager finally releases details about the audit into the Department of Transportation but some workers feel they're the ones being investigated for blowing the whistle.

Karen Hawes

Four in your Corner investigator Mike Mason sparked the audit after uncovering numerous problems with the troubled department. But the audit has a big problem; all of the issues Fox 4 exposed are related to D-O-T's Operation's Center and the audit states it will only focus on D.O.T.'s Traffic Department. Some workers now accuse county manager Karen Hawes of using shady tactics to avoid the truth. D.O.T worker Steve Sherman tells Fox 4, "Anybody who's been watching the news that you've been airing, I mean a blind man would know the problem is at Operations."

Four in your Corner contacted County Manager Karen Hawes to find out why she didn't include the Operations Center in the audit and only then did she issue an email stating the scope will *now also* include an investigation into the D.O.T. Operations Center. Sherman says that makes him very suspicious of Karen Hawes, "She just doesn't want to get to the problem for some reason, there's something there that she's protecting."

Hawes says the objective of the D.O.T. audit is to address employee harassment, intimidation and retaliation and also look into D.O.T management and employee non-compliance with county policies. The actual scope of the audit will include Interviewing D.O.T employees, reviewing the performance of Human Resources for compliance with county policies, verifying time-keeping and payroll data and determining if there is any misuse of county resources.

Our investigation previously exposed workers who say they were fired for coming to work late even though records show they reported to work on time. Fox 4 also showed how supervisors are accused of delivering tons of free dirt to family members while other residents have been told they will be put on a long waiting list if they want some dirt. Tom Mere is a Lee County resident and a North Fort Myers Firefighters Commissioner but he didn't receive any special favors when he requested dirt. He's been waiting for more than a year to have dirt delivered to a mobile home park he owns in North Fort Myers.

Steve Sherman

Fox 4 has also exposed supervisors who are accused of harassing employees. Sherman claims he is *still* being harassed because he blew the whistle on D.O.T. and spoke with us about the problems within the department. Supervisors have notified him that county officials have been rifling through his personnel records. Sherman says it doesn't surprise him, "I have nothing to hide, bring 'em on. Let them do what they've got to do. They're going to find nothing and they're going to look foolish at the end of it all."

And the buck stops with Karen Hawes, she's the top dog at Lee County and is paid 192-thousand dollars a year as county manager. Sherman doesn't feel Hawes is working to make Lee County a better place for employees, "I don't believe she's doing justice by the workers or the taxpayers."
To view the Fox 4 report click here: http://www.fox4now.com/story/15037662/county-audit-or-investigation-into-whistleblowers

Lee County Manager shuts down media after Fox 4 investigation

****************   UPDATE  **************************

Lee County Manager Karen Hawes

Four In Your Corner gets shut down by Lee County Manager, Karen Hawes. All supervisors are now being told they can't talk to us about the county's department of transportation.

This comes after a Four In Your Corner investigation led to an audit of the department.
Since we began our investigation we've been flooded with calls from DOT workers. So far, FOX 4 has uncovered questionable hiring practices and DOT supervisors accused of harassing and intimidating employees. Workers accuse supervisors of hiring their friends instead of publicly posting the job position as is required by county policy.

D.O.T relative received tons of dirt

We even found supervisors delivering tons of free dirt to family members even though other county residents have to wait a year and a half if they want some. In one case, at least 130 truck loads of dirt was delivered to a supervisor's sister-in-law's private residence so she could build a slope around her pond, all on the taxpayers' dime. We found her home is in a federally restricted flood zone and since Fox 4 exposed this incident the county's code enforcement department is now investigating and will require the owner to pay to remove the dirt or hire an engineer to conform to the zoning requirements. Either way it will cost thousands of dollars.

There is much more to this story -- that's why we've been trying to speak with county officials but that apparently won't happen now. County Manager Karen Hawes says county staff will no longer comment on DOT issues until they complete their audit. Hawes says she may expand the scope of her audit to include other issues we exposed in our reports.
Here is a link to the Fox 4 report: http://www.fox4now.com/story/14986504/lee-co-manager-no-more-comments-from-dot?redirected=true

County Supervisors accused of doing Dirty Deals

Clay Simmons

Four in your Corner exposed D-O-T supervisors delivering free dirt to family members and the officials said they'd do the same thing for other Lee County taxpayers but we found that may not be the case. D-O-T Operations Director Clay Simmons claims he doesn't do favors when it comes to delivering free dirt saying, "Because if you happened to own a piece of property there I'd be happy to give you the material."

North Fort Myers Firefighter Commission

But Tom Mere requested dirt about a year ago and last month D-O-T workers finally dropped off four loads of dirt at Mere's mobile home park in North Fort Myers. Four loads is not enough and Mere says he still needs more. Mere is considered a prominent figure in Lee County since he's a Commissioner of the North Fort Myers Fire Department but despite that he still didn't get any special favors.

Berner home

The Berner family did, however, according to D-O-T workers who say Simmons had more than 130 loads of dirt and fill delivered to the Berner's Buckingham home last November. Mrs. Berner happens to be the sister-in-law of a D-O-T supervisor.

D-O-T workers, such as Bob Maxey, say that's downright dirty, "We've never done that, I've never seen it in 9 years. I can't say it has never happened but I've never seen it or witnessed it and no one else has."
One family who lives at a home in Buckingham only 5 miles from the Berners say they called D.O.T yesterday to request some dirt. They say they were told they would be put on a waiting list and it could take up to one and a half years before they got any dirt.

Four in your Corner spoke to D-O-T truck drivers today who tell us they also made another huge delivery to the Berners this past April. According to them, they dumped more than 100 loads of fill material free at the Berner home free of charge and that job was done by county workers on the taxpayer's dime.

Four in your Corner began digging even further, finding the Berners have been receiving free dirt for their 10 acre property since 2008. Tom Mere feels the county should spread the wealth and the dirt to other people who need it and says, "as long as the county if being fair to everybody. The people are paying the taxes so if they're paying the taxes and people would like to have some dirt and the county has some dirt that they'd like to get rid of then it's a win-win for both situations."

If you live in Lee County and would like some free dirt you can call the D-O-T and ask for a ‘Dirt Request Form'. The number to call is 239-533-9400. If you have any problems getting the dirt please let us know.

To view the Fox 4 report click on this link: http://www.fox4now.com/story/14974420/county-supervisors-accused-of-doing-dirty-deals?redirected=true

Fox 4's Mike Mason sparks another investigation into Lee County's troubled DOT




Clay Simmons

  Lee County officials opening a new investigation tonight and this comes after Four in your Corner's Mike Mason already found county employees doing work on family members' property.

The dirt keeps piling up around Lee County's Director of D-O-T operations, Clay Simmons who is already under fire for delivering dirt to the Berner family's home in Buckingham. Now it appears he also broke federal guidelines by doing it. D-O-T workers accuse Simmons of delivering the dirt as a personal favor for the Berners after we exposed that Mrs. Berner is the sister-in-law of a D-O-T supervisor.
After digging deeper, and reviewing the county's zoning rules Fox 4's investigation found that dirt was dumped in a federally restricted flood way. We went straight to Simmons for answers telling him, "it's in a flood way, you weren't supposed to have anything delivered there that's a pretty big deal." Simmons responded, "No, I don't agree that it is."

Simmons says he's not talking about the issue any further and Fox 4 will have to speak with someone in media relations department. We went to Joan LaGuardia, the manager at Lee County's Department of Community Development. She says she has serious concerns with what we showed her. Since the Berner's home is located in a restricted flood zone, the Berners would have needed to get a special certification approved by an engineer before getting the dirt delivered.

Berner Home

This is something workers say Simmons should have known since he's a professional engineer himself. The Berner family confirmed to Fox 4 that D.O.T. dropped off the dirt so they could build up the slope of their pond and it is clearly located in a restricted area.
LaGuardia says they Berners will either have to hire an engineer and obtain the proper certification or have all of that dirt removed.
Investigator Mike Mason asked LaGuardia, "So now Code Enforcement is going to have to do an investigation? LaGuardia responded, "Yes they will. Now that I'm aware of it I'll let them know tonight. I hadn't been aware that fill was put there."
We then confronted Simmons, telling him, "Joan LaGuardia just said she's opening an investigation and having code officers go out there". Simmons would only say, "You need to go through the process." Simmons told us we would have to take our questions to Patty DiPeiro who works with media relations.
DiPiero told us Simmons has been notified that he will have to cooperate with code enforcement's investigation. She promised to give us an update tomorrow
To view the Fox 4 report click on this link: http://www.fox4now.com/story/14967964/fox-4-sparks-yet-another-investigation-into-countys-troubled-department-of-transportation?redirected=true

Lee County supervisors accused of doing expensive favors for friends

Using your tax dollars to do favors for relatives! Four in your corner has now confirmed claims that supervisors at Lee County's troubled transportation department are making some controversial decisions on your dime. Four in your Corner investigator Mike Mason has already prompted the county to order an audit of D-O-T. and now he's tracking down exactly who is getting dirt delivered to their homes thanks to Lee County taxpayers.

D.O.T worker Bob Maxey is fired up about his supervisor, Clay Simmons. He exclaims, "Mr. Simmons, I promise you and I promise the people of this county that man is lying." After two weeks Fox 4 finally caught up with Simmons at his office on Wednesday. Simmons stated that he's "not going to talk about personnel issues."

Karen Hawes

County Manager Karen Hawes ordered an audit into hiring practices at D.O.T. because of a Four in your Corner investigation this week. That doesn't prevent Simmons from speaking about other issues such as why he allegedly ordered his workers to deliver more than 130 truckloads of dirt to the Berner family last November. Workers say for three days they drove the dirt from Billy's Creek in Fort Myers to the Berner's private residence in Buckingham, seven and a half miles away.



Berner Residence

 The Berners used the dirt to build a slope around the pond on their 10 acre property. That project would have racked up nearly 2,000 miles on county trucks, required hundreds of man hours and it was paid for by Lee County taxpayers.

Maxey is now outraged with Simmons saying, "You cost us money, you cost the tax payers money when you do that."


Clay Simmons

 Simmons claims he actually saved taxpayer money because the dirt delivered to the Berners was taken from ditches and canals nearby. When we asked him for documentation to prove where the dirt came from he said his office didn't keep track of it.
Maxey says Simmons is not telling the truth and the dirt was hauled out of Billy's Creek in Fort Myers and driven all the way to Buckingham, which is much further and more costly. Maxey claims, "The drivers, they won't come forward but they told me they were hauling it out of Billy's Creek Commerce Center."
Fox 4 also found the Berner family is actually related to D-O-T supervisor Shane Hinman. That huge amount of dirt was delivered to Shane Hinman's sister -in -law. Fox Four Investigator Mike Mason asked Clay Simmons if he did a favor for a supervisor's family member. Simmons responded, "No it is not because if you happened to own a piece of property there I'd be happy to give you the material."
Still, some workers say Simmons went out of his way to help the Berner family. On the day the Berners wanted to have dirt delivered to their home the county's heavy equipment that is used to screen the dirt was conveniently placed across the street from their house. Maxey says Simmons is using county equipment to turn favors, "He is cheating the employees, he's cheating the citizens of this county if that's good for the Berner family or whoever got this material then by God let's give it to everybody!."
Clay Simmons claims Lee County residents can always ask for free ditch material and dirt. All they have to do is call the D-O-T's operation's center at 239-533-9400 and fill out a dirt request form.
We've put that information on our website ‘fox4now.com'.. And while you're there you can click on the ‘Viewers' Voice' tab to let us know if you have problems getting dirt from the county.
To view the Fox 4 report click on this link: http://www.fox4now.com/story/14960563/county-supervisors-accused-of-doing-expensive-favors-for-friends?redirected=true

Lee Commissioners sound off after Fox 4 investigation sparks audit

A Fox 4 investigation sparks an audit into Lee County's Department of Transportation and today county officials are reacting. For the past two weeks we've told you about the controversy surrounding the D-O-T with workers complaining about being harassed and intimidated by supervisors. They claim supervisors are doing favors for friends and wasting lots of taxpayer money.

Karen Hawes - Lee County Manager

Because of Fox 4's investigation, the County Manager, Karen Hawes, announced yesterday that she's requesting an independent audit into the allegations. At the County's commission meeting today she offered more details about that audit, "This will be a review of hiring practices in D.O.T which could expand into other areas, so the Clerk of Courts will do an independent objective audit."
You could say Lee County's Department of Transportation is currently under construction now that an official audit is set to investigate the way that department is doing business. D-O-T worker Bob Maxey reacted to the news, "It's time, it's time to look into the dealings at D.O.T, what's going on there with the management..I think it's time."

Frank Mann

At least two commissioners agree and they too support the audit. Lee County Commissioner Brian Bigelow says, "That's great, she's trying to seek facts and she's trying to advocate for transparency of government." Commissioner Frank Mann says he also supports the move, "I just think it's a good idea for her to bring somebody in from outside to take a look so it doesn't degenerate into a bunch of finger pointing and ‘he said' and ‘she said' and that sort of thing."
But some D-O-T workers remain skeptical. They claim supervisors are still harassing and intimidating employees and doing favors for friends on the taxpayers' dime.

Steve Sherman

Fox 4 Investigator Mike Mason asked D.O.T. worker Steve Sherman if he felt the audit would really create any positive changes. Sherman replied, "Possibly, with the help of the media. That's how it's been so far, without it we wouldn't have had a chance. I don't know we'll see."
Meanwhile, dozens of Lee County D-O-T workers attended the commission meeting to support, and say farewell to, their interim director, Paul Wingard. Wingard's last day is June 29th. He has worked for D-O-T for 18 years and said County officials led him to believe he would be hired as the full time Director. when he didn't get the job he decided to resign because he's says he was not happy with the current situation at work. At today's commission meeting, D.O.T. employee Steve Sherman approached the podium and accused Public Works Director, Doug Meurer, of lying to a large group of D-O-T workers.
Sherman says Meurer told them that Wingard would indeed be named the new Director of D-O-T and reported to commissioners, "In my presence and some 50 to 60 other supervisors and employers Mr. Meurer stated to us all that Mr. Paul Wingard was the panel's second choice."

Paul Wingard

The panel of people in charge of hiring a new Director did offer to job to someone but that person later turned it down. County officials now claim that Wingard was never the runner up and they are currently advertising for the vacant position.
To view the Fox 4 investigation click here: http://www.fox4now.com/story/14951733/lee-commissioners-sound-off-after-fox-4-investigation-sparks-audit?redirected=true

Fox 4 Investigation sparks audit into Lee County D.O.T

Karen Hawes - Lee County Manager

A Four in your Corner investigation sparks an audit into the controversy surrounding the Department of Transportation. Lee County manager Karen Hawes has officially called for an independent audit of D-O-T's hiring practices. Hawes says, "We're going to be looking into the D.O.T. hiring practices and the independent audit division will also be interviewing employees and this way it can be kept confidential"

That's good news for some D.O.T employees who have already aired their concerns. Steven Sherman works in D.O.T's traffic sign division and supports the audit, "It's a good thing, from my experience over there it's long overdue."

Clay Simmons - D.OT. Supervisor

A Four in your Corner investigation recently exposed what employees are calling horrible working conditions at D-O-T such as harassment and intimidation by supervisors and Division Director Clay Simmons is now in the hot seat.

Simmons has been accused of wasting taxpayers' money. Workers say Simmons ordered them to deliver 130 truckloads of dirt from Buckingham to a private home on Orange River Boulevard in Fort Myers. The Berner family says they used the dirt to build a slope along the pond on their 10 acre property. We are told the entire job took 10 hours and 7 workers to complete. If that's true that means dump trucks made 130 trips, driving about 7 and a half miles each way racking up nearly two thousand miles on county time and funded by taxpayer dollars.

Steve Sherman - Lee County D.O.T.

Fox 4 investigator Mike Mason asked Sherman, "they guys who were driving the trucks delivering the dirt on that day, what did they have to say about it? Sherman replied, "They say there was some sort of shenanigans, that's an exceptional delivery."
Sherman is one of the workers who blew the whistle on his supervisors and after Four in your Corner began digging up the dirt, the County Manager took notice. Hawes admits she initiated the audit because, "I've had other employees mention some things to me, your reports and other information that's coming forward, this is the time to do it?"
Four in your Corner visited D.O.T's Operations Center for the third time to speak with Clay Simmons but were told he's off on Mondays. One question we wanted to ask him was about his hiring procedures. Many employees say he's giving out promotions to people who may not be best qualified for the job. One of those employees is Shane Hinman who is a crew supervisor. Today our cameras caught up with him. Fox 4 Investigator Mike Mason confronted Hinman saying, "Some other employees say you got a job after only being here for 2 years and they were here for 10 or 20 years and they haven't gotten that job". Hinman replied, "You'll have to take that up with Downtown, man, ‘cause I don't know and I couldn't tell you."
After digging deeper Fox 4 Investigates also discovered Hinman may have been a ‘shoo-in' for the crew supervisor job. County records show Clay Simmons only advertised Hinman's position for 2 days last year, from December 22nd until December 249th; Christmas Eve. Fox 4's Mike Mason asked the County Manager if 2 days was really enough time to allow other people to apply for the job. Hawes simply replied, "It's not the norm. It's not the norm."

County Manager Karen Hawes says the audit will begin by investigating D.O.T's hiring practices but may expand to cover other issues such as claims that supervisors are harassing employees and potentially wasting taxpayer dollars. Fox Four Investigates will stay on top of this story and bring you the latest.
To view Fox 4 report click on link: http://www.fox4now.com/story/14945187/fox-4-investigation-sparks-audit-into-lee-county-dot?redirected=true

Lee County workers say officials are also wasting taxpayer dollars

Four days and there are still no answers from the Lee County Manager about major complaints within the Department of Transportation. But tonight, we're learning D-O-T officials could be abusing your tax dollars.

J.C. Rodriguez has worked for the Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) for eight years. He drove heavy equipment but claims Lee County's Operations Director, Clay Simmons drove him out of his job in 2009 . Rodriguez wasn't surprised to hear that Simmons hasn't wanted to speak to Four in your Corner about the issue, " he's running away from the truth, it's finally caught up with him he's done this to many people."
Lee County fired Rodriguez from his job citing, ‘poor attendance' and ‘excessive tardiness'. However, County records tell a different story. For example, on March 12th, 2009 Simmons cited Rodriguez for being tardy but when we reviewed the county timecards it indicated that Rodriguez did report to work right on time at 7am. He says his supervisors just made up the ‘tardy' excuse in order to get him fired, "I clocked in, I swiped in at 7 o'clock inside the building," says Rodriguez. He also states, "They lied, this is what they presented to Human Resources. HR goes by what they tell them and they did not investigate any of this stuff."

13800 Orange River Blvd. Fort Myers, FL

Many D.O.T. workers we spoke with today claim county officials should be investigating how supervisors there are wasting taxpayers' money. Late last year D.O.T workers say Simmons ordered them to deliver 130 truckloads of dirt from Buckingham to a private residence on Orange River Boulevard in Fort Myers. The single family home is situated on a 10 acre lot and belongs to Warren, Emily, Russell and Darlene Berner.
The Berner family who lives there tells Four in your Corner that they used the dirt to build a slope along their pond. D.O.T workers say the job took 10 hours and 7 workers to complete. That would mean dump trucks made 130 trips, driving about 7 and a half miles each way racking up nearly 200-thousand miles on county time, in county vehicles and funded by taxpayer dollars. Rodriguez says, "You're looking at $300 to $400 dollars easy a load, a truckload."

Four in your Corner went to D.O.T's operations center in an attempt to speak with Clay Simmons at his office yesterday. Instead, supervisor Chuck Speake told us, "I didn't get a hold of Clay but if you guys want to make an appointment and come back he should be here tomorrow and I'm sure, he's not going to 'not' to talk to you."

Once again, Four in your Corner visited the operations center the next day and found the front gates locked shut. One D.O.T. worker angrily confronted our cameras, "I don't care if this is public property Clay Simmons is sick today and that's it. He's not at work."


Clay Simmons, Lee D.O.T Division Director


Even though Simmons was out sick he managed to write a two page letter to County Commissioners in response to Fox Four's reports. In part, Simmons writes , 'We have always had an open door policy. Employees are welcomed to approach any of the supervisors, including myself."
But workers say that's not true. Rodriguez reported the poor work environment in his grievance letter to the county and says, "I've been complaining about that and not just myself, a lot of other people and Human Resources knows about it but they ain't doing anything about it."
In Clay Simmons' letter he also claims that D-O-T has conducted numerous surveys, encouraging workers to voice their concerns anonymously. He says he hasn't heard of any negative complaints. Of course, Four in your Corner will continue this investigation and call the county manager, Karen Hawes, to get to the bottom of this.

To view the video for this Fox 4 Investigation click on this link:
http://www.fox4now.com/story/14932811/disgruntled-lee-county-workers-claim-officials-are-also-wasting-taxpayer-dollars?redirected=true

Lee County worker blows the whistle on county managers

A Lee County worker blows the whistle on county managers, accusing them of forcing employees out of their jobs. This comes after a Fox 4 investigation into the controversial resignation of the County's interim D-O-T Director.

Steve Sherman works for Lee County's Department of Transportation's Traffic Sign Division and after watching our report last night he decided to speak out. He wants to expose the way county officials are treating their employees and he feels it's so important he's willing to put his own job on the line for this. Sherman admits he's nervous about going public but says, "I feel the obligation to do right by my fellow employees and Mr. Wingard".

Paul Wingard is currently the county's interim Director of the Department of Transportation and has recently decided to resign. Wingard says he's leaving because he's not happy with the current administration, "when you're working with a group of people and you really feel like you're not part of that group, that's just not a good place to be in."

County Manager, Karen Hawes, claims Wingard and other key employees have been leaving to pursue more lucrative jobs in the private sector. But Wingard says that's not at all true, "I'm not leaving because of additional pay that absolutely has nothing to do with the reason I'm leaving."

And that has Lee County Commissioner Brian Bigelow questioning the integrity of Karen Hawes. Bigelow wonders, "are we getting other information in the course of doing county business that might also be inaccurate or misleading? This is a grave concern for myself."

Sherman says he knows the truth about why good employees are leaving and it's because county managers are forcing them out. He claims they rule with a "heavy handed mentality, it's my way or the highway,jobs are tough so if you don't like it here then go like it somewhere else."
Sherman now works for the County's Traffic Division of the Lee County Department of Transportation, he says he's happy there and he likes his supervisors but that wasn't the case a few years ago. When he worked at D.O.T's Operations Center he wasn't happy at all, he said supervisors there ruled with an iron fist and he's talked with other employees throughout Lee County who also say they have a problem with the upper management style.
Sherman says, "It's counterproductive to be chastised and be heavy handed in certain areas of departments with the employees". Sherman goes on to say that employees will eventually leave if things don't improve at the workplace, "Absolutely, if the employment business gets better in the private sector I'm sure there will be a great exodus out of here."
Lee County Commissioner Tammy Hall told Four in your Corner's Mike Mason more employees may lose their jobs because the county has a 46-million dollar deficit. County employees, however, don't feel that should have anything to do with how they are treated at work. Lee County records indicate 26 employees have left their jobs since May first of this year but the circumstances of *why* they left are unclear. Fox 4 would like to hear from public employees if they have problems at work. They can call or text Fox 4 at 239-206 Fox Four or send an email at ‘Foxfournow.com' and click on the ‘Viewers' Voice' tab.

Here's a link to the Fox 4 TV report: http://www.fox4now.com/story/14918744/lee-county-worker-blows-whistle-on-county-managers?redirected=true

Lee County manager comes under fire - accused of possibly forcing employees out of their jobs

Karen Hawes - County Manager

FORT MYERS - The Lee County Manager is coming under fire, accused of possibly lying to Commissioners and pushing County employees out of their jobs. District 2 Commissioner Brian Bigelow says, "This is information that's coming to the Board if it's inaccurate or found to be intentionally misleading we need to know that."


The County's Interim Director of the County's Department of Transportation (D.O.T.), Paul Wingard is the latest employee who has decided to resign. He simply states he's not happy with his job, "No and that's why I'm leaving exactly."

Paul Wingard- Lee D.O.T

Wingard has worked with the County's transportation department for 18 years, has never had a negative evaluation and expected to be promoted. When Four in your Corner's Mike Mason asked Wingard if he thought he was the number two candidate to fill the Director position he answered, "That's kind of what was indicated to me but I don't know that because I wasn't in any of the meetings when they talked about it and ranked people."
County manager, Karen Hawes, claims Wingard is leaving for a more lucrative position in the private sector. In a memo to commissioners she wrote:

"As with Paul, another engineer in the Utilities Division is leaving to earn more compensation and receive greater benefits than the county is currently offering."

But Wingard insists that's not at all true, "my weekly paycheck compared to what I'm making right now today to what I will be making is actually less, but there are some other things that go along with that. It has nothing to do with money."

Brian Bigelow - Lee Commissioner

That's one reason Bigelow has asked the County Attorney at Tuesday's commission meeting to launch an inquiry into what really happened. Bigelow told commissioners, "There appears to be a factual conflict between Mr. Wingard's resignation letter of June 1st and the County Manager Hawes' email of the same day explaining his resignation for us."
Board members shot down Bigelow's request for the inquiry but Bigelow still wonders if Karen Hawes is really competent to be the County Manager. He says, "I just have to say I have a question, I have a question about it."
Wingard's resignation is not the only one Commissioner Bigelow is suspicious about, in the past year alone two other transportation employees have left the County and Bigelow wonders if they were forced out. That's why he asked Karen Hawes about it directly but he says she didn't really give him a clear answer. That's the reason Bigelow is the only one out of 5 commissioners who has refused to sign Hawes' annual evaluation. Bigelow states, "I wanted to know more about why in fact they (employees) left. I still to this day am not clear as to why they were forced out."
Wingard didn't want to talk specifics on camera but in his resignation letter he wrote:

"It has become obvious over the past several months that my knowledge, expertise and abilities are no longer of value to the county and I have become less and less satisfied with the work situation."

We wanted to speak with County Manager Karen Hawes but she left today's commission meeting early. She says she's flying out to Washington D.C. to meet with legislative staff there. No word on when she'll be back but Fox4 Investigates will stay on top of this story.

To watch the Fox4 report click on:

Chicken fight is heating up......

LEE COUNTY - A chicken fight in Lee County is heating up tonight as some residents speak out against having chickens in their backyard. Some people claim they need them to put food on the table but Bob Marino says, "they're dirty and disgusting". Marino is the President of Country Club Estates, a deed restricted community. He says the chickens need to go away, "why do we have to have this sort of a problem it's a ridiculous problem so why should we have it. They're dirty animals".

Dianne Muth is a chicken farmer and lives in Country Club Estates, she wants to protect her way of life, "when you finally get a place of your own and you get told what you can't do in your own yard it's pretty sad really."
But Country Club Estates is a *deed restricted community* and it clearly states in the by-laws that Muth, or any other resident there, can't have chickens. Marino wants Muth to "be reasonable, get rid of the chickens there are other people in here not just one. We can't bend the rules for just one person. It's not fair."
But plenty of other folks throughout Lee County say they need chickens to make ends meet. They rely on them for eggs, meat and fertilizer for their gardens.

Dawn Kopp also supports chicken farming, "We want to be able to provide for our family." Kopp can't work right now because taking care of her elderly father has become a full time job. Kopp's father is currently at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers because he apparently had a stroke. Kopp says she found out one of the nurses at the hospital also raises chickens in her backyard and that nurse shares those eggs with other nurses on staff. Medical professionals believe those eggs are healthier, they're organic and at least they know exactly where they're coming from." Kopp believes, "A lot of people are getting Government food stamps but there is going to be a day when that piggy bank is going to fall over and there's not going to be any more pennies falling out for them, we need to be able to be self sufficient, that's what America's all about."
Dianna Caminos is the one who launched a campaign and petition supporting chicken farmers in Lee County and it her efforts have become an overnight success., "Oh yes, absolutely, thank you very much Fox 4." Caminos tells Four in your Corner's Mike Mason, "We're getting people emailing us saying, ' I'm so glad that I met you because we wanted to have chickens but we didn't know how to go about doing it' so we're getting people all the time."

Lee County Commissioner Brian Bigelow promises to push to have the chicken issue on the agenda for next Tuesday's commission meeting. We really wanted to hear from Commissioner Frank Mann because he represents Lehigh Acres but for two days Mann has not responded to our calls. We'll stay on top of the story and bring you any updates.

Here's a link to the WFTX Fox4 TV Report by Mike Mason: http://www.fox4now.com/story/14900768/chicken-fight-heats-up-in-lee-county?redirected=true