East Lake Blister

He Says Retirement, They Say Retirement, But Being Escorted Off The Property Is Anything But. We will present a group of facts, which the voters can weigh with their scales called common sense and stranger than hell events, when you add it all up. It just doesn’t have that ring of 24-karat belief. Therefore, the story will have multiple parts, this being the first of them with a few more to come. You’re the taxpayer; the East Lake Blister will just provide the facts. You're the voter, make up your mind whether or not you will vote this individual in for a seat on the East Lake Tarpon Special Fire Districts Board of Commissioners on November 2, 2010.

It was a bright sunny day, Thursday, July 2, 2009 as I drove into the parking lot of Bldg #57, the Administration Building of the East Lake Tarpon Springs Tarpon Special Fire District. On the right hand side of the drive was a crew of firemen dressed in the work garb, hooking hoses up to a truck from the fire hydrant, practicing an operation in order to keep their proficiency peaked.

While in the parking lot behind the official vehicle of Deputy Fire Chief Tom May parked with its trunk open was a small yellow person vehicle blocking the road. As I walked by this scene, there was Deputy Chief Jamison, standing there with arms crossed over his waist, observing Deputy Chief Tom May, in civilian clothes, removing his personal items from the official vehicle and placing them into the small yellow vehicle. I commented, “gee Tom, in all the years I have known you this is the first time I have seen you wearing civilian clothes.” His reply was, “That will be the only way you will see me from now on.”

Being in a rush, I continued into the headquarters building and asked to see the Chief and was escorted into his office. I sat down and stated to the Chief, that this was the first time I had seen Chief May in civilian clothes. Needless to say the Chief had a glazed look of dismay on his face and it did not take much to deduct that he was totally uncomfortable.

In a few minutes from where I was sitting. into the building came Tom May and immediately behind him Deputy Chief Jamison. About five minutes later walking out with a cardboard box in hand came Tom May and again, behind him Deputy Chief Jamison. I looked over my shoulder out into the parking lot, Tom May entered his little yellow automobile and sped off the property. There was a knock on the Chief’s door, he stuck his head into the office and said Tom May has left the property, do you want to say anything to the crew out there training? The Chief replied curtly, NO!, and Deputy Jamison closed the office door.

I looked Chief Malzone straight in the eye and said Tom May just got fired, didn’t he? His reply was, “Mr. Wheeler I cannot answer that question”. I came back quickly. You may not be able to answer that one, but I know when someone is walked off the property like that it is not a start of a farewell party and did not say anything more.

Weeks later, the word came out that Tom May was on annual leave and also taking his compensation time and upon completion of that period he would be retired. When mentioning his name in the office it seemed everyone was walking on eggs and no one wanted to engage in conversation about the Deputy Chief, his whereabouts, or what had caused him to suddenly to retire.

This part one of how they do things with the taxpayers money and they expect you to vote this one into office.

The story will get even get stranger when we write how the entire board of commissioners knew about why Tom May "retired. " Fire Chief Malzone spoke to each Commissioner separately and disclosed the unsavory facts why Tom May was retiring. When I asked the chief what he told each commissioner once again he simply stated he could not say anything as he had signed a letter of confidentiality. He has not broken that agreement. But by letting the Chief of the Fire Department run the department it would pass the “smell test.”

Had Tom May taken his retirement of approximately $73,000 per year and faded into history this article would not have been written but Tom May came back and decided to run for Seat 1 on the Board of East Lake Tarpon Special Fire District this coming November 2^nd, 2010. We now have what could be called "a new ball game."

The next article on this subject will bring some salient facts to the forefront on both the agreement and the cast of characters included in this retirement episode.