Educating Recor

The commission approved city manager Recor's travel request for $6,000 to attend a two week seminar in Charlottesville, VA on the consent agenda February 6, 2012. The Commission should have aired his request, as well as Perona's, but did nothing but silently approve it.

Our view

No justifying Recor trip

■ Commissioners should not have OK’d city manager’s management course

An argument could be made to justify the expenditure of $2,500 in taxpayer money to send Fort Pierce Commissioner Tom Perona to the four-day American Public Power Association conference in Seattle in June.

Perona is the Fort Pierce Commission’s liaison with Florida Municipal Power Agency, the city’s electric utility provider. He previously attended association conferences as a board member of the Fort Pierce Utilities Authority.

Perona said sharing ideas with policy makers and utility professionals from across the nation at the conference will give the city “a perspective outside ourown littlefishbowl andkeepsus in linewith the latest utility trends, systems and solutions.”

Information obtained by the city commissioner could be of assistance to his fellow commissioners as they deal with utility system issues.

The $2,500 authorized for the trip by his fellow commissioners includes registration, airfare, hotel, mileage, parking and meals. Perona said he plans to pay 25 percent of the total cost.

Still, Seattle is a pretty long distance to travel to get whatever information is obtained.

Meanwhile, the approval by the Fort Pierce Commission to spend $6,000 to send City Manager David Recor to a two-week management course at the University of Virginia in July can in no way be justified.

And, that may not be the only cost to the taxpayers. The $6,000 to attend the Senior Executive Institute at the Darden School of Business includes registration, lodging, weekday meals and instruction material. It does not cover travel or weekend meals. Recor said he plans to pay for those items through his departmental travel and education budget, which does not require approval from commissioners. His total travel and education budget is $8,000.

Recor justified his attendance at the conference saying, “As the (city) continues to provide quality services with fewer and fewer resources, I hope to return with new tools and ideas to help craft a healthy, flexible, continuously improving, learning government organization and to be prepared to interact effectively and collaborate with our citizenry.”

It’s not just the cost of the course that’s galling, it’s the timing.

Recor has made no secret of his desire to leave the city manager’s position. Even now he’s being considered for a similar job inBoyntonBeach. And it was just a few months ago that Recor survived on a 3-2 vote a proposal to terminate his employment with the city of Fort Pierce.

Attending the management course in Virginia may look good on Recor’s resume, but would seem to do very little for the taxpayers footing the bill, especially if he leaves the city.

The public and city commissioners should demand that Recor reimburse the city for his trip to Virginia if he leaves city employment within two years. Otherwise, the money has been wasted.

And the fact that commissioners approved Recor’s application and expenses for the course indicates a lack of sensitivity to public opinion about the frugal use of taxpayer money, especially at a time the city (and its manager) is pleading poverty over declining property tax revenues.

Honoring Black Pioneers

Thanks to Larry Lee, Jr. and others, black pioneers will be honored at the Fifth Annual history makers and awards banquet, Friday, February 24, 2012. at the Pelican Yacht Club in Fort Pierce.

St. Lucie's first black firefighter, once reviled by many, now honored

By Nicole Rodriguez

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

FORT PIERCE — Robert Lewis Sr., 69, remembers a tumultuous time in St. Lucie County in the 1960s when it was too dangerous for African Americans to walk downtown streets at night or fish alone on a pier.

Lewis also recalled how racial tension on the Treasure Coast was amplified in 1972 when he became the first black man hired by the county's fire department after a six-year battle for the job, a battle that garnered media attention.

"It was pretty rough in the beginning. Some of the men in the department who didn't want me there made it known by pulling pranks and telling little lies to get me fired," said Lewis, who spent 26 years with the department, including 13 years as a lieutenant. "We had a long, hard struggle getting something close to equality."

Lewis and 10 other local black pioneers also will be honored Friday night — including the county's first African American female firefighter, county administrator, black woman FM radio station owner and NASA administration executive — during the fifth annual Black History Makers Awards Ceremony at the Pelican Yacht Club.

Lewis said he is humbled to be in such great company.

"It's a great privilege. This doesn't come around all the time. It's one of the best things that's happened to me," said Lewis who added another special moment occurred in 1999 when St. Lucie County dedicated and named fire station 15 in his honor. "It's quite an honor to be recognized with this class of people. I'm overjoyed."

As African Americans began to gain civil rights, Lewis said he and his fellow firefighters became a tight-knit family. Lewis recalled some high points throughout his extensive career, including the day he and his team resuscitated a clinically dead man in a tomato field. The father of four and grandfather of 16, who's been married to his wife, Mary Elizabeth for 43 years, said he also witnessed miracles during emergency calls.

"During my reign as an EMT, I had the chance to deliver three babies in their homes," said the Virginia native and Air Force veteran who currently works for the City of Fort Pierce as a community transit bus driver, a position he's held for nine years. "One of the women even named their baby after me."

Honoring pioneers

Rev. Dr. Howard D. Coleman, Sr., community activist

Faye W. Outlaw, first African American county administrator

Mary Helen Butler, first African American department chair of cosmetology at Indian River State College

Alice Hoskins Lee, first African American woman FM radio station owner

Gloria J. Watkins Johnson, first African American finance director for Fort Pierce

Robert Earl Lewis Sr., first African American firefighter in county

Major Lillie R. Miller, first African American woman major and director of the St. Lucie County Jail

Remer Clifton Prince, first African American NASA executive

LaToya Young, First African American woman firefighter in county

Posthumous award recipients:

Frances Kay Sweet, community activist for education of black students

Leroy C. Floyd Sr., founder of Lincoln Junior College and first African American dean at Indian River State College

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/feb/22/st-lucies-first-black-firefighter-once-reviled/?print=1

St. Lucie County Schools

School Board member, Kathryn Hensley, and board media staff, Janice Karst, took me on a tour of Fort Pierce Central High School today. Located at 4101 S. 25th St, this is St. Lucie's newest school. I saw impressive evidence of just a few of the specialized career courses they have, including aeronautical/aviation, allied health sciences, culinary arts, and digital production. FP Central partners with Embry Riddle Aviation and Moore Solution Software Learning Centers to help students be prepared for careers. The picture, taken from the second floor open corridor, shows lunch time beginning, with the mural, "Pride Makes the Difference." FP Central Assistant Principal, Susie Seal, gave the tour, and gave me a button, "Celebrate the B," celebrating the school's state rating increase to grade B from grade D.

Some St. Lucie Public Schools Fast Facts You Should Know and Celebrate!

83% A or B Schools in St. Lucie County

Graduation rate increase 10 points over 10 years

70 cents of every dollar goes to the classroom, the second lowest Florida county school system in cost of administration

Kids At Hope county, the only one in the nation

Access St. Lucie County Public Schools here:

http://www.stlucie.k12.fl.us/

Highwaymen Artists Alfred Hair and son, Kelvin Hair

Highwaymen artist has work displayed at Florida Capitol for Black History Month | Photo Gallery

By Jan Lindsey

Monday, February 13, 2012

A couple of art shows are coming up, but second-generation Highwaymen artist Kelvin Hair doesn't have any work to show.

The 15 canvasses he might have contributed are instead going on display at the Florida Capitol through March 29. Gov. Rick Scott chose Hair's work to honor as part of Black History Month.

"I was floored," said Hair, who also is a lieutenant with the St. Lucie County Fire District.

Hair has been with the fire department for more than 25 years and oversees Station 2 on Seaway Drive on Hutchinson Island.

"To me it's a wonderful way to work helping people and being paid," Hair said. "When you have someone who has coded, which means you're clinically dead, and they (later) walk into the fire station with tears in their eyes and they say, 'You guys saved my life,' ... You walk away with a total respect for this job."

Hair's love of doing for others also is evident in the free art classes he provides for underprivileged children.

"I make more money selling my artwork than I would teaching a class," for pay, Hair said. But he gives his time in the hope it will help children build better lives or help them escape, at least for a moment, things that are unpleasant in their world.

Art also is an escape for him.

"Nothing else around you seems like it is there ... you get so involved in it," Hair said of painting.

The result of that focus are paintings, often of Florida flora, that Hair said he sells for about $5 a square inch. That price might stun his father, Alfred Hair, who — as one of the original Highwaymen — sold paintings for $25 or $30 dollars at the side of the road in the 1950s and '60s, a time when galleries and art shows were not open to black artists.

Even then, Alfred Hair made with one painting what a farmworker made in a week.

"The Highwaymen have gotten — in Florida — to be a household name," Hair said. "I am a very good artist, but I am where I am because my dad paved the way for me."

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/feb/13/highwaymen-artist-has-work-displayed-at-florida/

Fort Pierce, St. Lucie Income, Joblessness, Schools

Fort Pierce Median Household Income $45,337

On Thursday, February 3, 2012, the Wall Street Journal reported that Fort Pierce median household income had decreased by 12.7 percent, from 2007 to 2010, the second largest decrease in the nation. Fort Pierce was tied for second with Flint, Michigan. Detroit Michigan decreased 11.6 percent. Albany, GA fell 11.5. Elkhart-Goshen Indiana decreased more than Fort Pierce at 13.6 percent.

St. Lucie Jobless Rate

In January of 2012, St. Lucie County's jobless rate fell to 11.9, down from 14 percent a year ago. Florida's jobless rate was 9.9 in January, down from its peak of 12 percent in December of 2010.

Unemployment Rate

Unemployment	Dec. 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2010
Indian River	11.4	12.0	13.7
Martin	9.8	10.3	11.6
St. Lucie	11.9	12.3	14.0
Treasure Coast*	11.2	11.7	13.3
Florida**	9.9	10.0	12.0

*Combined rate for three-county area
** Seasonally adjusted rate

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/jan/20/treasure-coast-state-see-lowest-jobless-rates/

St. Lucie School Performance

In a February 6 article in TC Palm about poverty as an indicator of academic performance, St. Lucie County had a poverty rate of 60.5, and ranked # 42 for FCAT achievement and poverty rate. Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers analyzed FCAT scores and poverty rates and found unsurprisingly that poverty is a strong predictor of student achievement.

HOW ST. LUCIE RIVER COUNTY SCHOOLS RANK

Elementary schools (1,795 in the state)

Rank.. School Name..... School Grade Points... Grade 2011.....% Free/reduced lunch rate

207... Morningside..................627........................A............................. 56

229... Frances K. Sweet..........624........................A..............................59

409... Floresta........................598....................... A..............................68

427... Fairlawn.......................596........................A..............................52

433... Rivers Edge..................595....................... B..............................64

610.... Savanna Ridge.............573........................A..............................72

666.... Mariposa......................567........................A..............................78

715.... Parkway.......................563........................A..............................79

849... Bayshore.....................550........................ A..............................68

872... White City....................548........................ A..............................92

899.... Village Green...............545.........................A..............................64

995.... Lawnwood...................536.........................A..............................84

1089.. St. Lucie.....................526......................... A..............................94

1200.. Windmill Point.............515.........................B...............................63

1314.. Weatherbee................503........................B................................94

1517.. Chester A. Moore........471........................C................................97

1568.. Lakewood Park...........461........................C................................82

Combination Elementary/Middle Schools (194 in the state)

Rank.. School Name...........School Grade Points..... Grade 2011........% Free/reduced lunch rate

36..... Palm Pointe (FAU charter)...608.................A................................51

57...... St. Lucie West K-8............. 580.................A................................62

63..... West Gate K-8................... 576.................A................................53

81...... Manatee Academy K-8....... 561.................A................................63

97...... Oak Hammock K-8.............540.................A................................59

100.... Allapattah Flats K-8............537.................A................................68

108.... Renaissance Charter..........530.................A................................ 42

125.... Northport K-8....................521.................B.................................75

151.... Nau Charter......................490.................C.................................48

161.... Fort Pierce Magnet K-8....... 469................C.................................78

170.... Samuel Gaines Academy.....444................C.................................92

174.... Dan McCarty..................... 438................C .................................94

Middle Schools (583 in the state)

Rank...School Name..........School Grade Points...Grade 2011......% Free/reduced lunch rate

207.... Southern Oaks..................563.................A..................................65

324.... Southport.........................530.................A..................................69

410.... Forest Grove.....................505.................B..................................82

Combination Schools (65 in state which includes high school elements)

Rank.. School Name..........School Grade Points....Grade 2011......% Free/reduced lunch rate

8....... Lincoln Park Academy .....1298....................A...............................39

High Schools (404 in state)

Rank...School Name...........School Grade Points......Grade 2011........% Free/reduced lunch rate

246.... Fort Pierce Central...........1089.......................B.............................72

276.... Treasure Coast.................1061.......................B.............................55

301.... St. Lucie West Centennial..1033......................B..............................51

351.... Port St. Lucie.....................975......................D..............................59

353.... Fort Pierce Westwood. ........974......................D..............................70

Florida Department of Education

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/feb/05/poverty-strong-predictor-of-student-achievement/