Abuse of Power? - Fred Hawkins Arrested

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George Schiro

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Jul 22, 2020, 7:47:53 PM7/22/20
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Fred Hawkins has been a member of this group since 2010. He has also been
responsive in the past.

Here's an article from yesterday's Orlando Sentinel (see attached PDF as
well):

Osceola commissioner impersonated
deputy at HOA meeting, FDLE says
https://tinyurl.com/yykljkr4

What's described in the article seems very serious to me, but also
out-of-character for Fred.

It would appear that Fred used his influence as a County Commissioner of
District #5 (which includes Harmony) to have an innocent person arrested -
someone simply doing her job. She was arrested for no apparent reason other
than refusing to accede to Fred's whim.

Such behavior (if true) is what we fear most from our elected officials.
What's described smacks of petty abuse of power.

Fred, can you please explain this sad occurrence? Is what's in the news
actually what happened?
Osceola commissioner impersonated deputy at HOA meeting, FDLE says - Orlando Sentinel.pdf

Ernest Mullins

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Jul 23, 2020, 12:27:17 PM7/23/20
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I don't know anything other than what I just read, but it seems to me that he's got a credible defense to this and people should not jump to the conclusion that he did anything illegal. Intemperate? Maybe. Ill advised? OK. Illegal?  Not so much. And don't ask him to explain what the news media reports. It's not like the media has a reputation for honesty and fair dealing in what they accept as "journalism." If he were a democrat, it wouldn't have even been reported. 

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Ryan Schiro

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Jul 23, 2020, 1:13:51 PM7/23/20
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> If he were a democrat

Not sure how this contributes to a rational argument.

Fred Hawkins is a public figure. He was arrested for impersonating a law enforcement officer and the interaction in question is on tape. I watched the video. It's enough to - at a minimum - raise questions about the ethics of his actions that day. 

Are you suggesting we don't scrutinize the behavior of elected officials? 

jaywh...@embarqmail.com

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Jul 23, 2020, 3:48:14 PM7/23/20
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Despite making a dumb mistake Fred has been a good county commissioner and has my full support. Anyone can be an armchair quarterback, it takes real guts to run for office. No one is perfect, the biggest difference is for those with the guts to run and serve their mistakes get magnified. But then I served 16 years and won four elections in a row before I retired from the Osceola School Board-so what do I know?   

George Schiro

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Jul 25, 2020, 5:17:07 PM7/25/20
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Ernie has been generally reasonable over the years Ryan. I'm sure he didn't mean this occurrence (which is a fact, however any of would like to interpret it) should be suppressed. As an attorney he understands the critical importance of press freedoms as well as any of us. I am also sure his "If he were a democrat, it wouldn't have even been reported." crack was purely tongue-in-cheek since he knows Russ Gibson (Osceola County Sheriff) is also all over the same news in Osceola (being sued for Fred's goofy stunt), and Gibson is a democrat.
 
Nice hearing from you Ernie.
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: 'Ryan Schiro' via HarmonyFL [mailto:harm...@googlegroups.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2020 12:47 PM
To: harm...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Abuse of Power? - Fred Hawkins Arrested

George Schiro

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Jul 25, 2020, 5:20:11 PM7/25/20
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Nice hearing from you too Jay! I hope you and your family are ignoring the idiots and taking this pandemic as seriously as possible.
 
Can't help but wonder who is the "armchair quarterback" you refer to.
 
How is the school board doing since you left?
 
Please tell us you won't vote for that dangerous joke in the white house again!
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/harmonyfl/02a301d66128%2409463330%241bd29990%24%40embarqmail.com.

George Schiro

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Jul 27, 2020, 6:09:26 PM7/27/20
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This is a response to a post on Nextdoor (see https://nextdoor.com/news_feed/?post=156073494 - requires special access).
 
To Gerry's "Arrested Fred" OP:
 
    Did anyone else find it interesting how quickly his
    campaign was to blast out a statement of "what really
    happened" when news broke of his arrest? ... Fred, how
    much did you pocket on the coal ash deal? Think about
    what "Arrested Fred" will try to do if he is god forbid
    elected and can hide out in Tallahassee unchecked by
    the wonderful citizens of St. Cloud. Be aware voters,
    be vary aware!!!
 
Samantha responded:
 
    If you've lived out here for some time you'll know fred
    has really helped bay lake ranch, helped keep the 417
    southern extension out of here. & much more.
 
I agree Samantha, Fred has done some good for Harmony too (see "Saving Harmony's Fire Station", https://tinyurl.com/86vufjp ). But at what cost?
 
Even petty abuse of power is corruption. Corruption always starts out small. Yet it never stops there.
 
Years ago, with a direct personal appeal for help from Fred Hawkins, I fought behind the scenes (while Jay Wheeler fought in public) to stop corruption in the Osceola County School District, to no avail (see "What Kind of People?", http://tinyurl.com/kkvtrb6 ). As a result, Cindy Hartig was allowed to drag down the school board even further. With Fred helping to protect Hartig, 53,000+ Osceola County school children were worse off as a result.
 
Just look at what unfettered corruption has done to our nation as a whole - in just a few years.
 
At some point, we must insist - all of us - enough is enough. No amount of corruption is worth it. "Little People" one way or another always end up paying the price. If not you, perhaps me, or perhaps someone you care about.
 
Can we not at least strive to elect people with even a hint of honor and integrity to represent us?
 

George Schiro

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Aug 5, 2020, 6:06:04 PM8/5/20
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From the Orlando Sentinel (see PDF attached):
 
    Osceola Commissioner Fred Hawkins Jr.
    suspended by DeSantis, says he will stay in House race
 
    Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Osceola County Commissioner
    Fred Hawkins Jr. from office last week, but Hawkins
    said Tuesday morning he remains a candidate in a
    closely watched race for the Florida House.
 
    DeSantis' decision to remove Hawkins of St. Cloud from
    his county post came after Hawkins was charged July 20
    with impersonating a police officer, a felony, after an
    investigation by the Florida Department of Law
    Enforcement.
 
    ...
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: harm...@googlegroups.com [mailto:harm...@googlegroups.com]On Behalf Of George Schiro
Sent: Monday, July 27, 2020 6:05 PM
To: harm...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: Abuse of Power? - Fred Hawkins Arrested

Osceola Commissioner Fred Hawkins Jr. suspended by Gov.pdf
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