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By George Niemann

PoHo contributor and R-LAND and UCAN activist

Friday, the jury came back with its verdict in the Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White sex trial at 5:10 p.m.

Jurors determined that 1) Commissioner Kevin White did sexually harass Alyssa Ogden during her employment with Hillsborough County and 2) that the sexual harassment played a part in her firing.

The awarded damages as follows:

Medical expenses incurred: $15,000

Mental Anguish: $60,000

It took approximately three hours for the jury to sort things out. Everyone waited patiently in and around the courtroom – Kevin White, his immediate family, his father, both his current Hillsborough County Commission aides (I wonder who was answering the phones in his office?), his friends, a whole contingent of lawyers from the County Attorney’s office, plaintiff Alyssa Ogden, her mother, her sister, and what appeared to be other family and friends.

Now that the jury has ruled against him, White and Hillsborough County will have to also pay for Ogden’s lawyers fees and court costs. Judge Richard A. Lazzarra told all the attorneys that they have up to 14 days to agree on what Ogden’s attorney's fees will be.

When you hear that a verdict was reached, you first feel relieved that this event is over. Ah-h-h, but don’t jump to conclusions so fast.

In a sense, it is just the beginning. Keep in mind that both White, as well as, Hillsborough County, could file appeals. Judge Lazzarra took great care when he pondered all of the motions throughout the trial. He said at one point earlier in the trial that he didn’t like trying cases twice so he was going to be diligent in deciding on the motions (to make them air-tight).

Now for the biggest question that Hillsborough County taxpayers face – who is going to pay for Commissioner White’s indiscretions?

County commissioners may want to help White because they consider him as one of their own. They might want to argue that since he was performing his job as an elected official for the county, we all must accept the responsibility for any lawsuits that occur during the execution of his duties.

They may want to help their buddy now that he got caught, but that approach isn’t going to cut it with their constituents. In his capacity as an elected official, he must carry out his duties using good judgment while honoring the county's policies. As professed during the trial, ad nauseam, Hillsborough County has a no-tolerance policy regarding sexual harassment. If White decides to ignore the county’s policies and sexually harass his employees on a severe and pervasive basis, then he should pay for the consequences of his actions.

This decision to violate Hillsborough’s policies has cost us $139,000 so far. The award was $75,000 plus the plaintiff’s attorney fee and court costs. When that figure is finally calculated, who knows, we might end up with something in the neighborhood of $300,000. If you add in all of the costs that will accrue if the county decides to appeal the verdict, it will be much higher.

Why should taxpayers pay for any of it? Here’s a good analogy – if White was on his way to a county meeting in his car and he gets a speeding ticket, we wouldn’t pay for that ticket, would we? Certainly not. The same principle should hold true for his refusal to conduct the county’s business in a lawful way. Don't forget, he's filed for bankruptcy twice in the past, so he's going to be looking for the county to pick up the tab this time around. I’m afraid Commissioner White may have to start selling lemonade in the lobby of County Center to meet his financial responsibilities in this case, but we’re not going to pay for this one.

If you agree, please write or call your county commissioner and tell them that we don’t want to pay for one of our commissioners to live his or her sexual fantasies.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention another hidden taxpayer cost that has come to light during this trial.

The name of Jarvis Glover has been thrown around quite freely during this trial. He testified as a friendly witness for White yesterday. This trial has brought to light that Jarvis, a county employee, is chauffeuring everyone and doing a host of odd jobs for privileged members of staff, as well as, the commissioners.

Today, I saw Jarvis pull up at the entrance to the federal courthouse with a county SUV four times within about 20 minutes. He would pull up, jump out, run around to the passenger’s side, open the door. Out would step just one Hillsborough County attorney. Then he’d jump back into the car and drive away, only to come back within five minutes with another attorney. The last attorney to arrive in Jarvis’s SUV was Renee Lee. Mike Salinero of the Tampa Tribune approached Lee and asked why four additional county attorneys came to the trial today, considering that the county already had two laywers working full time defending White during the trial. She said that they were there for support and review. How many of our attorney’s does it take to “review” a case? And another question comes to mind. Why are the attorneys being chauffeured a short distance (from county center to the federal courthouse), and why separately? Didn't Pat Bean and the other commissioners say we in the midst of a financial crisis?