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In defense of Norma Jean
front page article (submitted as untitled Letter to Editor)
[Published in Key West The Newspaper on March 2, 2012.]
In defense of Norma Jean
There was a glaring error in your front page article “From the Very Beginning, the Real Purpose of the BCCLT was to Provide Norma Jean Sawyer with a Hefty Income”. The glaring error is that her income only came up to the “$90,000 per year” level that you mentioned for a very brief time (less than six months) at the very end of the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust’s run. People seem to assume she has made that much all along, but nothing could be further from the truth.
For well over TEN YEARS Norma worked for a pittance, running the BCCLT out of her bedroom and living in what many Key Westers would consider poverty. It was only in 2008 that the BCCLT Board sought to make up some of that long-running deficiency by increasing her salary to a level closer to that of other Land Trust directors across the US. But soon after, at the beginning of 2009, her salary was cut substantially when the newer Board accepted the fact that BCCLT funds couldn’t cover what she deserved.
The only solid case the States Attorney had was with regard to the grant money spent on the tiny BCCLT office (which moved BCCLT operations out of Norma’s bedroom). For some misguided reason they chose to charge Norma with a CRIME for that rather than support a CIVIL case against the BCCLT itself for sloppy grant handling. Indeed the grant provider has subsequently agreed that just converting the offending office into a small affordable apartment meets their requirements. Yet for some strange reason Norma Jean now faces up to THIRTY YEARS IN PRISON over the issue. WTF? Investigate THAT, Blue Paper…
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Beyond the office issue, there were some billing errors that have subsequently been corrected (all BCCLT debts have been paid now), a few questionable restaurant bills and a fishing outing. Hardly the mark of a hardened criminal, as the up-for-re-election States Attorney would have you believe.
The financial woes of the BCCLT at “the end” were a culmination of underfunded spending for the actual mission of the Land Trust. In fact, even after the extensive (and expensive) forensic audit, there has not been a pattern of evidence shown that the funds of the BCCLT were spent outside the benefit of the BCCLT itself, its tenants or Bahama Village! Yes, there were those couple of bills for dinners and a fishing outing – but those were claimed to be BCCLT business related, and should have been a matter for the BCCLT directors to deal with – certainly not a matter for the courts.
Had the City been more willing to work with the Trust in the past rather than forcing the BCCLT to pull teeth for every nickel, the desperation that lead to mismanagement of the grant funding would likely not have happened. Norma Jean worked her butt off for the people of Bahama Village, and absolutely does not deserve the vilification of the Blue Paper. Or of a jury, for that matter. It’s amazing that her lawyers had trouble showing that. It definitely shows that she didn’t have the money to afford lawyers with the skills to do so…
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