Tom Hennessy - a Man of Honor, but How Will Anyone Know Now?

On January 11th, retired Southern Manatee Fire Chief om Hennessy was cleared of any wrong doing by the recent investigation of his pension pay out by Pension Board. After a thorough and lengthy investigation, Chief Mike Johnson could not find any wrong doing according to the policies set forth, the procedures or actions at the time of Chief Hennessy’s retirement. Yet, most all anyone will remember from this sordid media mess is that Hennessy was charged by the media and investigated by his own department for doing something wrong to get his million dollar plus pension payout.

Tom Hennessy’s reward after 25 years of stellar service to this county in the Southern Manatee Fire District is a name dragged through the mud because of false accusations brought against him by the UNION he promoted to his own department and a disgruntled, bitter Battalion Chief. Now that’s some way to honor great service isn’t it? That’s something to look forward to in this district if you do a good job: expect the piranha’s to chew you up, spit you out and then never apologize for lying about your good name. Tom Hennessy has been angry about this entire ordeal and with very good reason.

Leigh Hollins, formerly of Cedar Hammock, said it better than I ever could in a comment to one of my blogs, about Tom Hennessy’s pension:
“The pension board did nothing wrong, Hennessy did nothing wrong.


Union official (Merv) Kennell is quoted as saying, “if it was done right, we’d drop our objections” and “we don’t believe it’s ever occurred before”. Well Merv, it all checked out and you owe Hennessy an apology and you are right, it’s never occurred before…because Chief Hennessy is the first (my emphasis) employee to retire from Southern Manatee with a full 25 year plus pension.


What’s the problem here? The problem is there is a disgruntled Battalion Chief with a personal agenda (my emphasis). You want a story, check out his record at, and away from, the department…..and away from the fire department….it’s all public record.
In his eight years as chief, he and the board of fire commissioners, brought the department’s facilities up to standard, replacing outdated stations and building an administration center; he enhanced the pay and benefits of his firefighters and he obtained badly needed fire apparatus. From what he was told by the firefighters, the reason the firefighters joined the union (just as he was retiring) was because they wanted to “lock in” and secure the pay and benefits that he worked to obtain for them.


Chief Hennessy was also the “brainchild” of, and spearheaded, the Manatee County Emergency Services Memorial Fund, which was responsible for funding and building the beautiful Emergency Services Memorial in Rossi Park and whose perpetual fund provides financial relief to the families of Manatee County emergency personnel who are hurt or killed in the line of duty.


Make no mistake, those who chose to drag Chief Hennessy into a management/union struggle for their personal gain (my emphasis), including the Bradenton Herald and his accusers, should be thanking him for his service and you should all be ashamed. He deserves a public apology.”

Do you see a trend here? PERSONAL agends, PERSONAL gain. Will the Bradenton Herald print an apology for swallowing the bait from the Union hook line and sinker and then dragging Tom’s good name through the mud? Anytime a million dollars plus payout is talked about it can “look” dirty. No one wanted to discuss the 25 years of service. TWENTY FIVE YEARS as a firefighter in this county, working through mergers, interlocal agreements and chaos while managing to become a fire chief over one of the most controversial yet to become one of the best fire districts in the state. The Union strategy to sensationalize the amount of the pension to the general public and then indicate that it was “dirty” politics to tarnish a good man’s name AND everyone associated with him was successful, via the press. Hooray for the first amendment! This is where an editor should be a little more responsible and perhaps do investigative reporting instead of conviction reporting. There is a way to write objectively so that the public can make up their own minds about who’s saying what. I seriously doubt there’ll be any apologies forthcoming from the Bradenton Herald. it always falls under the guise of journalism.

Anonymous Strikes Again! No Guts, No Integrity, So What's New? NOTHING of course... It's all coming true!

It's so sad when what's predicted comes true and it's just not good for the department or district because it's so extremely obvious it all personal agenda's. While I've  watched this entire mess unfold in the Southern Manatee Fire District, I have  been dismayed at the audacity of Commissioner Mark Ruben and Battalion Chief Pete Donchenko, Jerry Bennett and Union President Merv Kennel. At the December Fire District Meeting, Fire Chief Foster Gover resigned with dignity.He has sat through these meetings listening to the charges being rattled off that mostly occured several years ago when he was in another position.He proffered up the solution to a bad situation full of some poor judgments that had cost him his position.   I would have sought relief from staying there too were I the chief.  Gover Foster left with dignity, and SMFD has mud on it's face as there are just as many lower ranking people guilty of the same things the chief was found guilty of.

Yet they're too busy going back over my old posts and correcting me and then continuing to pick at me with ANONYMOUS posts about facts they think I misconveyed about my own physical condition during an event in which I depended on the services of the SMFD. (Trust me, THAT won't ever happen again! EVER.)  Once again, Anonymous just doesn't have any backbone to sign their name! Seems to me there aren't any backbones, integrity and guts in all the anonymous posters who have to HIDE behind ANONYMOUS! Lots to say but nothing to own. Just cowardly.  In this case, it may be an EMT, in which case, what was the point except to pick on medical technicalities.

Just a little fyi... your heart rate cannot be 70/38. Your blood pressure can be though. Oh and we dont give epinephrine for symptomatic bradycardia (which is what your attempting to describe) we give atropine. And I love my brothers at SMFR, however they dont tell "EMTs" what is needed on a call. SMFR are first responders and trained EMTs. The people who gave you medicine and made the decision to transport you were an ALS (advanced life support) team. This means one charge paramedic and either one EMT or a second paramedic. I dont know enough about the politics of all of this to make any comment on that. However if your posting facts, then light needed to be shed on your mistakes when it came to EMS and your treatment. Anonymous.

First off to Anonymous, thank you, you are correct about the heart rate as I miswrote in my haste and have since corrected it. But, were you there at my house when the ambulance showed up with the personnel at my door? (I'm sorry but I'm not going to attempt to try to keep straight everyone's individual potential titles! To me an EMT is in an ambulance and I happen to know SMFD train their firefighters to be EMT's and first responders too.) Were you there when the firefighters greeted them at my door? They doublechecked the same things the firefighters had done and got all the same readings on my blood pressure and then mutually helped each other get the stretcher and me together as my front entrance isn't very conducive to it. Were YOU the one who was administering the ECG to me in the ambulance and couldn't get a good reading so that after the third attempt, I finally asked why the confused look and you explained "too much noise" on the reading, so then I explained the internal tremors (ANOTHER MS factor!) that no one see but I can feel. And that's when the injection came out for my IV site and my blood pressure suddenly jumped to "normal" so we could proceed on to the hospital. I ASKED what that was and was told, epinephrine. I always ask as an informed patient is better off than one who isn't.

But now you tell me you would never do that so I'm intrigued. I researched it and found this: "...so bradycardia and salivation are unwanted side-effects. It is much more appropriate to give atropine (or glycopyrrolate), which deals with all the parasympathetic side-effects, than it is to give epinephrine, which deals only with the bradycardia. Epinephrine is very short-acting, and needs to be given by infusion for a sustained effect, whereas a single injection of atropine often has sufficient duration. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090510012718AANHm7q " 

Since I wasn't having a full blown heart failure and only experiencing the bradycardia, then, I believe the personnel did the right thing! Epenephrine- short term stabilization for the trip to the hospital. It was shot into my IV too (which if I remember correctly is by infusion so that appears accurate also).  Had I not had tremors he probably could have seen my heart was fine and not shot me with anything. You're arguing MY HEALTH with me which anyone who knows me, isn't wise. Even my doctors know they've got to explain themselves cos I don't blindly follow unless I understand. So please, for brevity, I was simply making a complimentary point to the good service I got. But, that won't happen again.

Have a Great Weekend!

To ALL the firefighters of Southern Manatee, I am truly sorry there is such a deep riff of misunderstandings, bitterness, and twisted notions. In time what I've said will ring true.  Nothing stays hidden forever.  We will all learn what we need to know in due time. The sad part is that the taxpayers, YOUR real bosses in the big picture of all this, are the ones who will suffer unless someone is fiscally responsible and sensible about the demands. I never dreamt that I would see a counter blog full of so much disrespect, snide comments and personal attacks for a taxpayer in your district. I've addressed issues and the character of a couple of very embarassing people to the district. Even another union member has said these few people have made the union look bad. I have always spoken my mind and researched what I know, apologized for any misinformation, but always OWNED WHAT I SAY and only ONE post I recieved was able to put his name on his thoughts. Such cowardice I never expected. There are very intelligent ways to express yourself without getting into trouble with anyone for your thoughts. Obviously none of you could figure that out. In that case it would have been better to follow the old saying (paraphrased) that if you can't say something respectfully or shouldn't be saying anything, then don't say it at all.

And if you're frustrated by all this, then now you know how the old commissioners feel by the attack you launched on them, and how the taxpayers who voted for you blindly not understanding what they were voting for because they trusted the FIREFIGHTER! When the union is so politically driven as to be involved in all aspects of our local government, then the local citizens need to pay attention to what's going on or be prepared to pay through the nose. Not all of us are civil workers and it's not fair that those who are can unionize and penalize those of us who aren't.

Taking "phrases" of what I've said as a whole is taking me out of context.  For example, I'll respond to the base salary comment because the public isn't fully aware of just how good we're making it for the fire department. Sure, it's not the whole package these days but even us regular people out in the secular world are reminded that our pay INCLUDES all our benefits WHICH WE HAVE TO SHARE IN THE COST OF!  So when you take your base salary of starting pay ($30-38K) and add in that healthcare package that the rest of us are paying upwards of $600+/mo (($7K/yr) that our employers share with us; that starts you out in the ($37-45K range).  Next figure in the pension plan that you do contribute 3.5% to but the employer contributes fully to the remainder (such as a 401K), that if you do your job well and get your raises acccordingly, you'll get that healthy mega monthly salary for the rest of your life!  Not to mention the rest of your package that doesn't need to be exposed but all carries a particular value that puts you well over the STARTING pay of ($50K)!  (bold underline is my correction, as I was corrected in a post). So, be grateful and stop whining!

The public is more than dying on their feet trying to survive this economy and you're making it sound like you're suffering on your benefits and salary while working your eight days a month! And now you can argue that those eight days are equal to 24, and I know you have many more responsibilities than just fighting fires, etc. I know the fantastic things you do in our community and all the work you do on the equipment, so it's not a lax job but the point is, that it's a good paying job and you are appreciated. But all this has made you sound like you don't think you are and want more.  

All the people responsible for what they ARE responsible for will do what they are supposed to do and those of you who are supposed to submit to their authority should do so. Hopefully everyone involved will remember who you serve on all fronts. I am not into pissing matches, nor do I have the time nor the energy to continue to confront or deal with the stupid remarks and personal attacks I have viewed on your blog and seen posted to mine. I had expected much better of FIREFIGHTERS and only had ONE post to my site. I had expected a FIREFIGHTER to own his words and thoughts with courage, stand behind his principles and the postings such as I recieved and sign them.  Even an anonymous post can sign the post.  I have to admit I have been highly amused that my blog has made such an impact though. As I said before, perhaps the dirty laundry should have stayed at home and been handled more discreetly, not dragged into the board meetings! Then I wouldn't have had anything to query about.

So with that gentleman, and please, those of you who are not guilty of all this behavior, please, know you hold  a very special place in my heart and are in my prayers always.  My husband considers me a little strange for caring so much about our fire department but hey, it's what I do. You serve us in times of emergencies (and I'm particularly grateful for that!), and though our district isn't a high emergency district, when it happens I pray for your safety and that no one is hurt. Once committed to something,  I generally stay committed but I won't play in the same mudpit, such as the blog wars, forever.



SMFD 10/31/10 SR70
first responders!

Besides, the infighting and bickering amongst you has me more concerned than anything considering how you need to depend on each other. I cannot imagine how Merv Kennell considers that healthy for any department. I pray when push comes to shove and a dangerous moment actually strikes, you'll remember you really are brothers fighting the fire, or handling a crisis and not whether or not you're in the union. I've wondered how bad the lines are drawn. 

So, please get on with the job you have to do, debate whatever you wish, and let things fall where they may. I know one thing: you do not know my source and would not guess it ever. So quit laying the blame on "my neighbor". He lost and he's out of it. You got your way and wish.It's a shame that he worked 18 years to build up what you now enjoy only to have you work 18 months to take over it all. The new commissioners will ride the coat tails of a lot of hard work and look like heroes for their accomplishments but the general public should know it was the PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION that accomplished it. Now you have to live with your will. May God have mercy on us if you stick to personal agendas. I hope all my fears are false and high roads are taken from here on out. There's a strong possibility our new commissioners realilzed what happened and will now rule smartly and not like puppets. They really represent the taxpayers and no one else. Now, the public knows what they needed to hear. Anyone who wants to talk to me, just email me @ stonecreek3408@gmail.com. If you're polite and reasonable, I'll be the same. If not, we don't have anything more to talk about. Hopefully, I as a taxpayer of this district will continue to be as proud of Southern Manatee Fire District as I always have been: the best fire district in the county.

John 8:32 THE TRUTH WILL set you free! He always has!

Taking scripture out of context for personal use is such a favorite past-time of our society that it reminds me of the warnings Jesus gave us when talking about the end times and saying that this is exactly what would happen: that false prophets would speak, that the word would be used against us and that we would see many, many things that sounded like God and tickled our ears but weren't. Personally, I'd be very wary using scripture for my personal use like that because I think there's a very strong accountability issue. I recognize the fact that at any given moment, I may be in the presence of my Lord and Savior, and I do not want to be the one to look into His eyes and admit I misused His words for my personal gain.

So, let's explore that passage that is so fondly being thrown around at the moment and chastising me for posting what my very credible source has given me. The passage comes on the heels of the adulterous woman in which the Lord stated he who is without sin may cast the first stone. And no one could.(This is the first step of teaching that we are all sinners.) 

The next section just before this is Jesus' revelation that He is the Light of the World and believing in Him, no one will walk in darkness. (This is Jesus offering the solution to our sins: believing in Him.) Now mind you, please, remember that this portion of the chapter is addressing the Scribes and Pharissees up to this point in front of the Jews at the temple on the Mount of Olives.

And then it shifts, to those who believed in Him, He said: “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (Everyone focuses on just the second half of that sentence.)

All of my studies have taught me to read the verses before and the verses after for context. I'm sure this is actually sunday school 101 for everyone. So the verses after this one, go on to explain, that Jesus was talking about Himself. The truth here is HIM. Always has been and every believer knows that. So to use this verse like you have for YOUR TRUTH is misinterpretation of this verse.

The truth that needs to come out in our district will come out in the investigation Chief Johnson is thoroughly conducting. The truth you are espousing is your viewpoint from the labor side which doesn't have to balance all the management issues. The truth I have been posting is the "rest of the story" so to speak from the management side from deeper within so that you might possibly understand there are things labor doesn't know nor do they need to know. Management does what they have to do.

Mistakes will happen. There really are better ways to handle things than what's been going on. Rash accusations, tempers, disrespect, manipulation, games and rumors don't serve anyone. Timing is everything and our economy certainly hasn't helped everybody's original gameplan. A little grace goes a long way on all sides though.  

Short Lesson and Food for Thought on Pensions... one of the primary benefits of a firefighter

I was working on this post before I got tangled up in the attacking comments I had to address in the blogwars, so it's kind of out of order but still worthy of thinking about.

Retirement means relaxation and all the great things you worked for right? Well it didn't for Chief Hennessy when he came under attack for taking a lump sum payout for his pension. So let's explore the differences to their pension benefit AND the difference between his and Lester Godwin III's payment plan.

What's the difference between a Pension and a 401K? I wondered that myself as I've read all these arguments over the general public's outcry over a man who worked nearly 29 years to be the first firefighter to retire from Southern Manatee Fire & Rescue, Tom Hennessy. Then I wondered if Lester Godwin III had really thought it out before he let his outcry go the Bradenton Herald because the general public isn't stupid. There's been a lot of talk about Chief Tom Hennessy's pension payout of $1.6 million.  The amount sounds so exhorbitant until you figure out what that equates to per year for the time he worked: approximately $57,000/year income, which is basically a percentage of his salary.

The union managed to help blow out of proportion the payout that Chief Hennessy recieved for his pension because he got it in one lump sum of $1.6million after nearly 29 years of service to the department. This was properly done (as fully explained in the post by Leigh Hollis) and paid in one lump. This occured because the Union President, Merv Kennell took this to the ABC-TV Ch 7 news and made a news story about the issue.

The amount sounds exhorbitant but let's consider the next retiree who drew attention to himself with his extremely sad story in the Bradenton Herald, Lester Godwin III.  He retired also after 25 years and was told he could not have his lump sum of over $687,000 but would have to "settle for" monthly payouts of about $4800 per month for the rest of his life. Now think this through (as a Bradenton Herald reader has already), Lester Godwin is only 47 years old. There's a fair chance he'll live to be 67 years old, which is another 20 years. At that rate, Lester Godwin will have made $1,141,394.40 off the pension he's being paid montly. That's OVER $1 MILLION!  If he lives another 10 years, he'll earn $1.6 MILLION+ or nearly TRIPLE his lump sum pension! This is short term "sacrifice" for long term gain folks! Just do the math: $4755.81/mo x 12 =  $57,069.72/year income for his pension.

So, might we think the pension board actually did Lester Godwin a favor by securing him an income that he doesn't even have to work, but if he wanted to, COULD and RETIRE from an entirely different field if he wished with another pension or retirement plan?! Can we say shortsighted here? Goodness! In an economy where folks are and have been jobless for years, and pensions have been dissolved, this man ought to be downright grateful to get anything for the rest of his life! And it's guarnateed because TAXPAYERS can't just decide not to pay it out, and TAXPAYERS don't just go away (though they sure can become fewer which just shifts the burden to those of us left behind) so it's a sure thing! So, quit "crying"!

Blog Wars! Tit for Tat, Now Let's See Who Gets Muddiest!

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS AN EXTRA LONG POST IN ORDER TO GIVE ALL MY ANONYMOUS FANS THEIR DUE.  READ ON TO UNDERSTAND AND READ MY ANSWERS TO THEIR QUERIES. IT'S VERY ENLIGHTENING AND HERE YOU WILL GET BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY BECAUSE BOTH SIDES DO HAVE THE TRUTH. IT'S ALL A MATTER OF HOW MUCH WHO WANTED TO DISCLOSE AND HOW THE OTHER SIDE WANTED TO SPIN IT. WELL, I'VE HEARD A LOT ABOUT TRANSPARENCY, SO HERE WE ARE, WE'RE GOING TRANSPARENT... HOPE Y'ALL LIKE WHAT YOU SEE.

Obviously I've hit a lot of nerves but the ones with those nerves don't have the nerve to speak up with the courage to post their names.  I am amazed that I seem to be such a threat to them all too. Here the election is over with and they've WON! You would think my blog would be meaningless now, wouldn't it? What's the big deal? Me thinks they doth protest too much and where there's smoke, there's usually always fire. 

So with that, I am going to address every ANONYMOUS post in the blog. Some of the posts are not very respectful of me or the former commissoners, but I'm considering the source, after all, it is anonymous. How do I even know it's a firefighter? Those comments that have valid requests and questions, I am more than happy to debate and comment on. I've never shied from a good debate and those firefighters who do know me, know I am not one to back down nor am I one to hide behind anything or anyone. However, I do my research to be sure I don't need to come out with an apology (which I will be more than happy to issue). I have already stated that I have nothing against any union member -that is not hostile or is in this thinking they're securing their future. I've stated all along I understand why the firefighters backed all this. Personally, I beleive they've been deluded by the union, as we're all going to get hurt in the long run when all the dust settles- because they're also taxpayers in this district and ultimately they'll be paying their raises into their property taxes too. ONLY the union benefits from this kind of turmoil and power. 

I also understand the anonymity as I'm sure Chief Johnson will be wondering how these statements are getting out in public. But still if you have something to say, why not own it. Is it anything less than you've already said to Chief Johnson? Or are you breaking the requested "gag order" by making these statements in public? If so then why couldn't you be patient and wait for the dust to settle and let me and the commissioners sufffer the fate some of you seem hell-bent on seeing? Yes, I've read the inane posting at your site. How incredibly ungrateful of folks who've benefitted so much from the previous commissioner's proper management. As in most management vs. labor, though, labor never understands the big picture and always wants more regardless of the costs.

 My personal opinion of the union firefighters who are acting like this hasn't changed. I think they have behaved very badly and I find it interesting now, that they are threatened by my opinion. If I know so little, what do I matter?  The ones who have organized and rallied everyone to this "show of power" have made a mockery of their "brotherhood". They had brotherhood and power before, they didn't need union to prove it.  Donchenko, Berry and Bennett aren't union so I'm not including their behavior in my opinion of the union. But Merv Kennell made it clear he was very supportive of them and he fueled their accusations AND fed private information to the media, breaking a "story" that wasn't a story for the public! They're simply issues for the fire department to deal with at this point and an embarassment to the department for ALL who are involved! 

My personal opinion of the union firefighters like Leigh Hollins, who had the courage to SIGN HIS NAME to his post, EXPLAIN properly, showing he ACCEPTED the situation at hand AND showed loyalty where due as is the way I always thought the brotherhood of the fire department ran, hasn't changed one iota. I still admire them. But then Leigh is probably an old-school firefighter with guts and courage that I as a citizen who is dependent upon him, can count on. IF that's how a union works, then I'd support it 100%,  but I haven't seen that yet in this case. As Leigh noted, this union is making everyone look pretty bad and started out on the wrong foot.

And think about this: Do you really, really want to get down to brass tacks on these issues? Because the public doesn't really know how good firefighters have it. It's not that firefighters don't deserve it. I've always supported that. But the general public will not completely understand. But as Leigh Hollins pointed out, Donchenko opened up one can of worms, you can count on the fact that you're all opening up another now! So here it goes.

What Voters Can Expect Now? the ugliest picture ...

What can the voters expect now? What are the repercussions of trusting all those fine-looking, muscled, red shirts that swarmed the polls tuesday and intimidated many voters or just provided a card with the for the unprepared? What happens when voters don't pay any attention to the smallest part (but most directly affective) of the voting race and the least discussed publicly issues in our vicinity (as they usually try to keep things cool, calm and clean in the district)?  What do we have to look forward to? Well,  let me paint a very ugly picture for us, and yes, I mean us cos it's going to hurt now.  No doubt on many fronts it's not pretty and the repercussions may resonate for years to come.

The Ugliest Picture could look like this but I'm praying it won't. I am truly hoping that the likes of Donchenko and the whole personal agenda deal fails miserably now that it's been exposed. Certainly, Ruben has to realize to fulfill these promises would make him look like the buffoon he's already been! But if it goes through it'll be something akin to sheer stupidity, though at first it may work just fine, it'll be simply a sad mistake that such assininity occurred.

What this means now is that most likely:

1)They will vote themselves a 3% raise which will be immediately translated into a 3% or more fire tax hike in our property taxes. 

• 3% doesn't seem like much but figure the average firefighter's wages start around $50k- $60K nowadays (that's why it's so attractive to be one again), that's an easy $1500-1800/year raise or broken down another $120-150/month in a family budget
• The Union Contract demands this now and it's on the table currently to be ratified. During times like we're in right now, and a time when firefighters are making a more excellent wage than they've ever made before, it's unheard of to demand an increase that will trickle down to hurt homeowners across the board. I know I don't need to pay 3% more on my taxes just to support a firefighters raise. Start living within your means, your salaries are twice mine and as much or more than my husband who works construction management 6 days a week (your average work week is 3 days)! 
• 3% sounds small until it's calculated on the $1000 in taxes... then it's $300 more. I like my taxes low. SMFD has been famous for keeping our taxes low while other fire districts are renowned for how high theirs are. Welcome to their world.

• The worst part is once done, it can't be undone and we all just have to live with it. While the firefighters will get the wages they need to support THEIR tax increases and higher expenses, OUR local businesses, employers etc will suffer those same increases we're suffering and we won't gain any increase in our wages NOR will we be able to support our increases in those taxes then. So do you see the damages here? Think beyond your personal gain, please? That's why I despise union promises, and fear-based thinking. You serve the public now start thinking about them!