4A Sunday, November 18, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
LOCA^NATION
FLORIDA
Recount adds to reputation for bungling elections
BY TAMARA LUSH
Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG - Mark
Toepfer came to this spit of sand
on the Tampa Bay shore to soak up
the sun, drink a beer and maybe do
a little fishing — not to talk about
elections.
But talk he did when asked for
his thoughts on whether Florida,
as a judge recently put it, is “the
laughingstock of the world” when
it comes to voting.
“We’re the only state that has
problems year after year,” the
shirtless 58-year-old said, shaking
his head. “Why is it like this? Is
it the people in charge? Are our
machines not like other states’
machines? Fraud? Incompetence?
It’s hard to say.”
With races for U.S. Senate and
governor still officially unde
cided, the state’s latest recount
only adds to its reputation for bun
gling elections. To much of the
world, vote-counting confusion is
as authentically Florida as jam-
packed theme parks, alligators on
golf courses and the ubiquity of
Pitbull (the Miami rapper, not the
dog).
Florida’s history of election
woes dates back to 2000, when it
took more than five weeks for the
state to declare George W. Bush
the victor over Vice President
A1 Gore by 537 votes, thus giving
Bush the presidency. Back then,
punch-card ballots were punch
lines. Photos of election work
ers using magnifying glasses to
search for hanging chads and
pregnant chads symbolized the
painstaking process.
There are no chads this year, but
there are plenty of cracks about
flashbacks to the Bush-Gore con
test. And, just as in 2000, the Repub
lican candidates in the contested
races have declared themselves
winners and asked for the recount
to stop.
Add to this a litany of other vot
ing problems: Palm Beach Coun
ty’s tallying machines went on the
fritz during the recount due to age
and overwork. The electricity went
out in Hillsborough County during
a machine recount and resulted
in an 846-vote deficit. Broward
County missed the state deadline
to turn in recount results by two
minutes.
Those glitches led U.S. District
Judge Mark Walker to ask why
state officials have repeatedly
failed to anticipate problems in
elections.
“We have been the laughing
stock of the world, election after
election, and we chose not to fix
this,” he said. Walker is presid
ing over several election-related
lawsuits that have been filed since
Nov. 6.
On Friday, election workers
in all 67 counties began recount
ing by hand about 93,000 ballots
that were not recorded by voting
machines. Many counties finished
up the Senate recount on the first
day. All results are supposed to be
turned in by Sunday at noon. State
officials will officially certify the
totals next week.
The entire spectacle drew late-
night TV jokes. Ally Hoard, Bro
ward county native and writer on
“Late Night With Seth Myers,” was
merciless in a video clip.
“How will Florida handle this
recount? Not great,” she said.
“Florida is a mess. The people
are confused and the system is
corrupt.”
But some others, like 74-year-old
Dunedin resident Mary Sanders,
said the “laughingstock” comment,
and all the jokes, are unwarranted.
“I don’t think that now that I live
here,” the New Jersey transplant
said. “I guess I’m becoming more
pro-Florida.”
SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
New Hall County Fire Services Chief Chris Armstrong, who got his start in the Miami suburb
of Miramar, Florida, was hired after an 11-month gap since former fire chief Jeff Hood’s
resignation.
Prison inmate death after
staff incident ruled homicide
FIRE
■ Continued from 1A
local firefighters’ union
holding a vote of no-confi-
dence for its former chief.
Success, Armstrong said,
came from the department
being ready to embrace
change, something he said
he feels he may be able to
duplicate here.
Armstrong shared an
anecdote about scrolling
through the Hall County
department’s Instagram
feed, asking his wife Debbie
to tell him what she saw.
“What I see is members
of a department that are
very professional, take a lot
of pride in our organization
— and what I think what is
unfortunate is they let the
events of a couple of individ
uals dictate who they think
they are,” he said.
The new chief said he
hopes to do some station vis
its beyond his first two staff
meetings.
“As far as my message, it
was really an opportunity
for me to speak to them
about my background, my
experience, where I come
from, some things that I’ve
done, how my experiences
align with what I feel are
some of the needs of Hall
County from things I’ve read
and the research that I’ve
done and my leadership phi
losophy,” he said.
That research included
going through comprehen
sive financial reports, the
organizational chart, demo
graphics as well as learning
about the other members of
the county government.
Crumley said Armstrong
was described by those on
the search committee as
someone “driven by data
and numbers” and having
done his homework.
Hall County Fire Services
is a bigger department than
what Armstrong is used to,
something he considered a
“nice challenge.” The sys
tem and services here align
with what he left in Littleton,
Colorado — fire services-
based EMS, paramedics on
medical transport units and
a dive team.
The first 90 days of his
time in office will be a “lis
ten and learn” period, Arm
strong said, as he touted
himself as an inclusive
leader not wanting to make
decisions in a vacuum.
One of those inclusive pol
icies he shared was an idea
to create volunteer “shift
stewards” who would meet
once per month with com
mand staff to discuss any
operational issues.
Hall County human
resources director Bill
Moats said there are 22
vacancies in operations,
meaning firefighter/EMTs
and paramedics.
Regarding any policy
revisions, Armstrong said he
would like to put them out
for a 10-day review period
seeking commentary.
Armstrong said an Insur
ance Service Office review
took place Oct. 24, and the
new chief said he doesn’t
expect anything will change
with the rating.
Hall County is Arm
strong’s third department
in a roughly 30-year fire
career. He started with
the Miramar, Florida, fire
department in 1988 before
retiring as deputy chief of
emergency operations 26
years later.
Not ready to hang up his
helmet, Armstrong headed
to Littleton with his family
in 2014.
When not spending time
with his family and two
Boxer dogs, Armstrong said
he enjoys taking his Jeep
out.
“I love the fire service.
I wouldn’t dream of doing
anything else,” he said. “I
tell the firefighters I got too
much fuel in the tank. I can’t
sit still for five minutes. I do
it because I love it. I like the
people, I like serving my
community, I like working
with the firefighters.”
Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -
The death of an inmate
following an “altercation
with correctional staff” at
Western Illinois Correc
tional Center in May has
been ruled a homicide,
according to an autopsy
report provided to The
Associated Press under a
Freedom of Information
request.
Larry Earvin died from
blunt trauma to the chest
and abdomen, the death
certificate from Clinton
County in southern Illi
nois said. The 65-year-old
Earvin sustained 15 rib
fractures and two dozen
or more abrasions, hem
orrhages and lacerations.
Surgery to remove a por
tion of his bowel appears
to have followed the injury,
the report says.
The FBI is investigating
the May 17 incident at the
prison in Mount Sterling,
about 250 miles southwest
of Chicago. Illinois Depart
ment of Corrections offi
cials declined to disclose
details of the altercation.
At least four Western
Illinois employees were
placed on administrative
leave with pay on May 22,
according to documents
provided under the Free
dom of Information Act.
Suspended for allegedly
violating conduct stan
dards were correctional
Sgt. Willie Hedden, 40, of
Mount Sterling; correc
tional Lts. Benjamin Bur
nett, 33, of Winchester,
and Blake Haubrich, 30,
of Quincy and correctional
officer Alex Banta, 27, of
Quincy.
Earvin was black. The
race of the officers alleg
edly involved in the alter
cation is uncertain.
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